By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Aug 20, 2020 at 7:01 PM

The Tokyo Olympics may have been postponed to next year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but at least we got one heck of a fireworks show, right? 

Social media has been oohing and ahhing this month at this incredible fireworks presentation caught on video courtesy of Tokyo, Japan, which had this remarkable show planned for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics but had to scrap it due to the pandemic. But while the show could be held until next year, apparently the firecrackers themselves couldn't, threatening to spoil in storage. As a result, we got this blindingly beautiful, dazzlingly intricate taste of the Olympics a year early.

It's an Olympics-sized show that's fittingly higher, faster, stronger. And completely fictional. 

Not to splash water all over your fireworks festivities, but according to the essential internet detectives at Snopes, this is not really the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics fireworks show, taking off early as a break from our pandemic-invaded lives. It's not even from 2020; according to Snopes, this particular fireworks show first launched in 2015. 

Hell, they're not even real fireworks. 

As Snopes reports, this is an explosion of pixels as opposed to gunpowder: the product of a computer program called FWsim that designs and simulates fireworks shows that are mesmerizing, complex, colorful ... and fake.

In fact, this isn't even the first time the internet's been duped by FWsim's spectacular shows; Snopes already rained on social media's fireworks parade back in 2015, when a different digital display was also falsely attributed to China – in that case, an alleged New Year's celebration. As it turns out, people really think highly of Chinese fireworks shows – and after you watch one of their REAL ones, fair enough.

As for any actual fireworks at the Tokyo Olympics, you'll have to tune in next year when they're scheduled for July 23 through Aug. 8. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.