Was a viral video of a flying egg-shaped object part of the Pentagon UFO files release? No, that's not true: Lead Stories reviewed the first -- and the only available, as of this writing -- batch of the released materials and did not find the video in question there. It also did not match the visual style of other released…
Does a real video show a female military captain named Elena Carter not saluting President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The video was posted on an account that contains self-described AI videos. Details in the video also point to it being AI-generated. The claim appeared in a post made on Threads on May 14, 2026 (archived here). It included…
Does a video show a real encounter with a strange woman in the woods who asked hikers, "Did you see my other two guys?" No, that's not true: This video is a small clip from a long-format skit published by a paranormal YouTube channel in September 2023. The channel features mysterious adventures guided by an exploring app called Randonautica. Many…
Does a video show a real attacker threatening Michael Jackson with a rifle on stage? No, that's not true: The footage shows a staged theatrical moment from Jackson's 1996-1997 HIStory World Tour. The scene took place during "Earth Song," which explored themes of environmental destruction and human conflict. The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) by the…
Did Starbucks place signs in its U.K., U.S. and Ireland coffee shops saying that the company bans pets to become halal-certified? No, that's not true: The sign in the images shared as supposed proof was located in Singapore. However, a Starbucks spokesperson told Lead Stories the sign was posted erroneously and has since been removed. The claim appeared in a…
Does a real photo show President Donald Trump and tech CEOs Elon Musk and Jensen Huang raising their fists in front of a Chinese flag? No, that's not true: The image shows common signs of AI generation. There are no credible news reports that the three men pledged allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, nor any documentation of the fist-raising…
Does a real image show how Gaza looks in 2026 compared to how it looked in 2023? No, that's not true: The "before image" really shows the Al Rasheed coastal road in 2022 or 2023 but the "after image" purporting to show 2026 is fake. The modern architecture of the Sheikh Ajlin Mosque's upright minaret tower serves as a landmark…
Did Justin Bieber say Jim Carrey "died of Kuru" (a rare disease linked to cannibalism), from eating child meat at Hollywood parties? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Bieber ever made the comments about Carrey. The viral article in which the quotes appear cites no sources and provides no recordings or documentation. The website that published the…
Does a video of doctors and nurses in masks and protective gear show medical professionals treating a hantavirus patient during the 2026 outbreak? No, that's not true: The video is from 2020 and shows doctors and nurses in Italy treating a patient with COVID-19. The video does not depict a patient with hantavirus in May 2026. The claim appeared in…
Is a memo about an "unidentified humanoid" a real Department of War document released with other "UFO files" in May 2026? No, that's not true: The document does not appear in the publicly available UFO files released by the Trump administration or the Department of War as of the time of publication. A search for "1994" in the files, the…
Does a real photo show the golden Trump statue at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami covered in toilet paper and trash? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the statue was vandalized, and no credible news reports confirm that it happened. The image appears to be an alteration of a photograph that first appeared in the…
Are social media posts claiming that a long list of celebrities were mocked and denied entry at a Louis Vuitton store for "dressing too casually" real? No, that's not true: None of the celebrities named in the posts made any such statement. The claims came from AI-generated Facebook posts produced by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Among the false…
Does the viral image of President Donald Trump and a girl wearing traditional Chinese dress show a real-life scene? No, that's not true: The image was created with AI. It originated from a meme account, not an evidence-based content creator. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on May 13, 2026. The caption read: This poor…
Does a real video show an enormous whale breaching near the deck of a ship, swamping the crew with a giant wave? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated and contains unrealistic glitches in the whale's anatomy, notably the area of ventral grooves on the whale's throat. The detection tool at Hive Moderation determined with 99.9% confidence that the…
Did Mariah Carey make a rude comment aimed at Justin Bieber, saying, "At least I never attended any Diddy parties"? No, that's not true: The account that posted the quote is a parody account. There are no news reports of Carey making the comment about Bieber attending parties hosted by Sean "Diddy" Combs, the music mogul convicted of prostitution-related felonies.…
Does a viral image of U.S. President Donald Trump and tech billionaires Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Tim Cook, plus money manager Larry Fink eating Panda Express food show a real scene aboard Air Force One en route to China for an official visit in May 2026? No, that's not true: The image was generated or altered using AI. It…
Did the U.S. Supreme Court issue a 7-2 ruling that abolishes income tax under case number 24-1791? No, that's not true: A docket search on the website of the Supreme Court of the United States found no case under that number. All Supreme Court rulings, also known as opinions, are public records. While portions of a case record may be…
Are social media posts claiming that a long list of celebrities have each said "powerful pro-Israel American billionaires" are working to undermine their careers real? No, that's not true: None of the celebrities named in the posts made any such statement. The claims came from AI-generated Facebook posts produced by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Among the false posts…
Is a video that shows an elderly Michael Jackson sitting on a bus in Brazil legitimate? No, that's not true: The video was originally posted by an account with a bio that states it is an artificial intelligence portal. An AI-generated content detection tool rated the video 94.2% likely to be AI-generated. Jackson died in 2009 and Lead Stories obtained…
