The video clip showed Branson riding his bike toward New
Mexico's state-owned Spaceport America near the town of Truth or Consequences,
flanked by two SUVs, and handing his safety helmet to an assistant upon
arrival.
Branson, 70, is then seen greeting crewmates dressed in
their flight suits with a hug, with one of them, Beth Moses, the company's
chief astronaut instructor, telling him, “You’re late, hurry up.”
On Tuesday, a Virgin Galactic official, speaking
anonymously, affirmed to Reuters by text that the video in question was filmed
on July 5, the Monday before the flight, and that Branson did not ride his bike
at all the day of the launch.
“The footage of Sir Richard Branson shown during the event
Sunday was prerecorded and misidentified in the broadcast. We regret the error
and any confusion it may have caused,” the official said in a text message.
It was unclear whether the disclosure that the Sunday
cycling ride was fictional would complicate Virgin Galactic's cross-promotional
deal with Wisconsin-based Trek Bicycle Corp. Trek had claimed that Branson rode
one of its custom-made bikes to the spaceport on launch day.
Representatives of Trek were not immediately available to
comment on the matter.
Branson has touted his rocket plane ride, the company's
first fully crewed test flight of the vehicle to space, as a precursor to a new
era of astro-tourism, with the company he founded poised to begin commercial
operations next year.
The purported Sunday bike ride seemed to typify his public
persona as the adventuresome business executive whose Virgin brands - from
airlines to music companies - have been associated with ocean-crossing exploits
in sailboats and hot-air balloons.
The bicycle video clip was posted to Branson's Twitter feed
shortly before Sunday's launch. Virgin also broadcast the clip, with the
tagline "earlier today," during its livestream presentation of the
flight.
Branson, himself, made mention of the bike ride from the
stage of a post-flight celebration back at the spaceport, telling a crowd of
supporters, "It's so awesome to arrive on a bicycle, across this beautiful
New Mexico countryside.”
Reuters, along with many other news outlets, included the
videotaped account of Branson's bike ride in some of its launch-day coverage on
Sunday. Reuters dropped the bicycle ride from its story when doubts about its
timing emerged early on Sunday.
© Reuters