F-35

Does an authentic video show Hilary Knight, captain of the 2026 gold medal-winning U.S. women's hockey team, saying she was "mortified" for the U.S. men's team? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Knight ever said that, but she did call President Donald Trump's invitation to the White House a "distasteful joke." Also, the creator of the original…

Are completed California Proposition 50 redistricting ballots visible through Sacramento County's mail-in envelopes? Yes, but that is missing context. A mark on a Prop 50 ballot can be seen through a hole in the vote-by-mail envelope from Sacramento County, Ca. if the ballot is folded with text on the outside and placed facing one of the holes on the envelope.…

Did a video shared widely in June 2025 show a real military base under Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel? No, that's not true: The computer-generated animation began as a satirical reference to earlier Israeli claims about the hiding of missiles in civilian contexts. The hospital was hit by an Iranian missile strike on June 19. The claim appeared in…

Does a video on TikTok capture the moment of the F-35B crash in South Carolina on September 17, 2023? No, that's not true: the clip does not accurately portray the location. It was originally published by an account specializing in sharing "realistic" fragments from flight simulator video games. Its author confirmed to Lead Stories that the video was artificially generated.…

Does a social media post prove that a U.S. F-35 fighter jet landed safely "at the Chinese base in Cuba"? No, that's not true: The debris of an F-35 that vanished in September 2023 was found after a daylong search; its pilot had safely ejected before its crash. No official statements contradicted this version of events, and a national security…

Did U.S. Marine Corps jets sink a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) barge off the coast of California around July 19, 2023? No, that's not true: The Department of Defense press office told Lead Stories that the purported attack never happened. FEMA also said there was no truth to the report. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published…

Does a photo of a man in a military flight suit appearing to wear a #TEAMCHEMTRAIL patch as he stands in front of a large silver tank provide evidence that the military is spraying "chemtrails"? No, that's not true: This image has been altered. The photo originally showed the master sergeant's Air Force Reserve Command patch. A #TEAMCHEMTRAIL patch has…

Did the world's first female F-35 pilot crash a plane on its first flight? No, that's not true: According to Lt. Col. (retired) Christine Mau, she has "never crashed any airplane." A public affairs officer with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) confirmed that the woman pictured is Mau. According to Air Force public affairs, she was the first female pilot…

Are NATO F-35, Mirage-2000 and F-16 aircraft "suddenly fly entering warzone" amid the Russian war against Ukraine? No, that's not true: The U.S. Air Force has deployed F-35 fighter jets to Estonia to increase protection of NATO airspace, not in Russia or Ukraine, as of July 15, 2022. The headline on this news story is clickbait, falsely claiming that Russia…

Did U.S. Air Force F-35s carry out an air raid in the Black Sea destroying Russian forces in June 2022? No, that's not true: The United States, while offering billions of dollars in military aid, equipment and training to Ukrainian forces since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has not been involved in any direct military operations against Russian…