Does a viral image actually show a real-life judge hugging an 88-year-old Vietnam veteran who was about to lose his home? No, that's not true: The image contained characteristic AI generation artifact. Four online AI detectors ruled the image was highly unlikely to be an authentic photo. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @feelgoodtale…
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…
Was Bruce Springsteen's summer tour canceled over his politics and lack of ticket sales? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a satirical Facebook page run by Christopher Blair, a self-described liberal with a documented history of creating fake content to trick conservatives into sharing it. The disclaimer from the account says "nothing on this page is real" and…
Was Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of shooting at attendees at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner, on the payroll of the Democratic National Committee and several California Democratic politicians, including Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris and Adam Schiff? No, that's not true: A DNC spokesperson, a Newsom spokesperson, and a Pelosi spokesperson all told Lead Stories the…
Did Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, attend the same 2017 conference as White House Correspondents' Dinner suspect Cole Tomas Allen? No, that's not true: The communications office of the Office of the Second Lady at the White House told Lead Stories that it "can confirm that it was not her." There is also no evidence that…
Did the Orion spacecraft from Artemis II take exactly 42 minutes 50 seconds to pass the dark side of the moon, the same as the runtime of the Pink Floyd album by that name? No, that's not true: NASA told Lead Stories that the spacecraft's transit around the Moon's far side was close to 50 minutes. Another way to measure…
Does an Artemis II photo taken in April 2026 show the same cloud patterns as an Apollo 8 photo from 1968? No, that's not true: The "Artemis 2" image, dated April 6, 2026, is AI-generated and is based on the famous Apollo 8 photo known as "Earthrise." There are no official NASA photos from Artemis II that match the fake…
Does a real photo show that a bald eagle landed on top of the Artemis II rocket on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026, just before liftoff? No, that's not true: The bird is an AI creation, about three times larger than a real bald eagle. Online AI image detection tools also found it to…
Does a satellite image show fires currently burning in the Middle East? No, that's not true: This satellite image dates back to April 1991. It does not show anything currently burning in the Middle East, but shows oil well fires burning in Kuwait during the Gulf War. The image appeared in a post on X (archived here) where it was…
Did Donald Trump tell Norway's Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, that he wants complete and total control of Greenland because he was not granted the Nobel Peace Prize? Yes, that's true: Some questioned if the text message from Trump to Norway's Prime Minister published on X by PBS correspondent Nick Schifrin was real. Norway's Prime Minister published a statement on…
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