Does a viral video claiming to show a strike on a U.S. military base in Jordan or the Gulf actually show such an attack? No, that's not true: Lead Stories' analysis found multiple inconsistencies pointing to AI, including a fake U.S. flag missing all 50 stars that represent the 50 states. The video did not originate from a credible media…
Do pictures shared on social media show 173 American Delta Force soldiers captured in Iran after a failed U.S. air operation in Tehran? No, that's not true: One image, purportedly showing soldiers parachuting near helicopters, was rated 100% likely to be AI-generated. A second image, purportedly showing captured soldiers marching with their hands behind their backs, bears a visible Google…
Do videos actually show real U.S. military members saying 'God Bless America and God bless all of you"? No, that's not true: An online AI video detection tool flagged the video as 99.5% likely to be AI-generated. A separate analysis identified several hallmarks of AI-generated or digitally simulated content, including unusually smooth and consistent skin and lighting, mouth movements that…
Did a U.S. military commander tell troops that President Trump was "anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon"? Here's what we know so far: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) said on its website that it has received hundreds of similar complaints. Asked to provide the original email or identifying information, the organization declined,…
Does a viral clip prove that Iran sank the American aircraft carrier "Abraham Lincoln" involved in the military operation in the region? No, that's not true: The U.S. military denied the rumors twice. No credible media organizations reported the purported news and there were no higher quality versions of the clip or different angles available. The claim appeared in a…
Does a video show the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln burning in the Red Sea after being hit by Iranian missiles in 2026? No, that's not true: The video appears to have been generated by the Arma 3 video game. It first appeared online on June 23, 2025, in a post making a similar false claim during the 12-day war…
Does a video show U.S. fighter jets in a real dogfight over Iran in the Feb. 28, 2026, conflict? No, that's not true: The clip from a video game was posted on a U.S. Army spoof account two days ahead of the conflict and has been circulating on social media since at least May 2025. It was originally purported to…
Do these viral videos show the U.S. seizing oil tankers linked to Venezuela on January 7, 2026? No, that's not true: Those clips are unrelated to the U.S. pursuit of the tankers "Bella-1" and "Sophia". The clips can be found in posts that predate the capture of the ships. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) on…
Does a viral image show a real news report saying that U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office "tried to tip off" Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro before his capture? No, that's not true: No such report could be found. Neither CBS News, nor any other media outlet published news of such a leak. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…
False claims about the Charlie Kirk assassination, the Jeffrey Epstein files, and purported verbal gaffes by President Trump topped the list of most-read Lead Stories fact checks in 2025. Here are our most read fact checks of the past year, reflecting our reader's interest in finding out the truth about various viral stories. If you see something suspicious in 2026,…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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