The video below the fold might be the first footage of Halo: Reach. Granted, it’s just an animation reel (and you’ll have to fast forward or wait about 20 seconds to see the possible Reach footage), but it’s offering much more substance than the E3 2009 reveal trailer for the prequel. Which had, by the way, nothing more than excited voices, shots of space and a planet, and a logo.

We’re filing this under rumor for a good reason: we've got nothing more than reasonable speculation. Bungie animator Will Christiansen, who happens to be working on Halo: Reach, supposedly created the reel to share what he can do. The story behind the video fits and the animations looks new to our untrained eyes, but we're not sold yet. We’re working to confirm that this is Halo: Reach footage, but for right now, sit back, relax, and laugh -- the video shows a Jackal and a soldier roughing each other up. Notice the iconic Battle Rifle and Assault rifle. Also, how the Jackal’s head looks like a pony’s.

[X-cult via GameSetWatch] 

[Update: This reel isn't fake, but it's certainly not Halo: Reach. Bungie's community manager Brian Jarrard spoke with Destructoid this afternoon and confirmed that the reel doesn't have any "specific relation" to Bungie's prequel. The animator who created this, did so as part of Bungie's hiring process, obviously before he worked on Reach.

"Here's the deal," Jarrard told Destructoid via e-mail, "while it's flattering to see how even the smallest pebble can cause massive ripples, the reality is that there's no story here. The animation sections you are referring to are actually just general animation tests that our applicants / new hires prepare as part of the hiring process," he continued. "The artist in question was hired to work on Reach, but, these animations have no specific relation to Reach at all other than that the subject matter deals with Halo models. This reel is real and it is work done by the animator, but it's not tied to any game and isn't part of actual game development for past or future titles."

As Jarrard said, this thing generated quite a bit of buzz in certain Halo ... circles, but it was all for nothing.]