Is the Torenza passport woman story real or fake? Viral claim debunked

A video on Facebook went viral, which claimed a woman from the country of Torenza allegedly showed her passport at the John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The airport staff could not find any country called Torenza on the map. However, the passport was supposedly perfect, with a biometric chip, perfect holograms, and dozens of stamps from countries that do not exist.

The unidentified woman who arrived from Tokyo seemingly "froze" when she was informed that Torenza is not a real country.

Then she allegedly replied, saying that it was not her "world." The viral video stated that the woman was kept in a room for surveillance for hours before vanishing from there.

The Torenza video is fake, as there are no reports of such an incident happening. There are no official airport statements either.

The video appears to be AI-generated as well. It is unclear who created it. However, the Torenza video is spreading on both TikTok and Facebook.

The viral Torenza story is seemingly inspired by a popular urban legend

Similar to the Torenza story, a popular urban legend from Japan claims that in July 1954, an unidentified White man showed his passport from a country called Taured.

When the Tokyo airport staff asked him to point out his country on the map, he supposedly claimed it was a sovereign state between France and Spain.

The man was reportedly fluent in foreign languages and had different European currencies. The airport staff also noticed that his passport had stamps from other countries.

He was then allegedly told to stay in a nearby hotel room for further inquiries. However, he seemingly disappeared from his room, along with his luggage. The room was locked from the inside.

The Taured Man
In the 1950s, a man arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport with a passport from Taured, a country that didn't exist. He spoke multiple languages, had valid currency, and claimed to be on a business trip. He later vanished from his hotel room, leaving an unsolved mystery pic.twitter.com/oHn3ZDPdyK

— Storyteller (@Fakes_n_Facts) September 3, 2023

According to Snopes' report, the urban legend is based on a real story. In 1959, a White man named John Allen Kuchar Zegrus arrived in Japan with his Korean wife.

He was arrested months later for identity fraud when it was discovered that the stamps on his passport were fake.

According to reports by Japanese news outlets, Zegrus was a former spy who came to Japan to recruit Japanese military volunteers for the United Arab Republic.

In 1960, he was sentenced to a year-long prison sentence. He tried to commit suicide.

However, he failed. After his sentence was over, he was deported to Hong Kong, and his wife was deported to South Korea.

Inspired by John Allen Kuchar Zegrus' story, the urban legend of Taured spread in Japan. It is unclear what happened to him or his wife after deportation.

In forums, people assumed that the man in the urban legend is a time traveler, an extraterrestrial, or an interdimensional being. However, none of the speculations is true.

In other news, a surge of fake videos made using AI has been noticed. On social media apps, many users share false information to gain views and engagement.

In most cases, netizens end up believing the fake videos. Stay tuned for more details on such viral videos.