Texas Fires

Did U.S. Special Forces destroy a DEW, which stands for directed energy weapon, plane? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories the story is "false." The website that made the claim regularly publishes completely fabricated content. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on March 10, 2024, titled "Special Forces Destroy DEW…

Does a video prove Bill Gates suggested destroying agricultural land? No, that's not true: A convoluted post on social media cut out portions of Gates' response to a question, changing the context of what he said. The edited clip of Gates speaking at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., in 2019 was merged with an unrelated video showing cattle running…

Was "80 percent of Texas' cattle grazing land" destroyed in the 2024 wildfires burning across the Texas Panhandle, as is claimed in a post and video on Instagram? No, that's not true: As of this writing, more than 1.2 million acres have been burned in the state in four active fires in the Texas Panhandle, which contains less than 10…

Did Joe Biden let slip that there is a "right roof" with a certain color that will protect a home from being destroyed by lasers or directed energy weapons during wildfires as some conspiracists suggest? No, that's not true: In a video clip of Joe Biden speaking in Brownsville, Texas, he does say how in the aftermath of a wildfire…

Does a viral video of a "green laser" authentically show a beam igniting a Texas wildfire that started in late February 2024? No, that's not true: The clip was posted two months before the blaze. It was first published in a social media account of a person describing themselves as a "video creator" who made no references to Texas…

Did U.S. Marines in Maui "tactically abort a gunfight with National Guardsmen"? No, that's not true: The website this claim was made on carries a disclaimer stating that it publishes satirical content. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on September 11, 2023, titled "Marines in Maui: "We're in the Shit!"" (archived here), which opened: United…

Did U.S. Marines "neutralize" a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) convoy on Maui around August 20, 2023? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that there's "absolutely no truth to this claim." Also, the website this claim originated from carries a disclaimer stating that it publishes satirical content. The claim appeared in an article published by…

Did U.S. military "White Hats" arrest Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on April 26, 2022? No, that's not true: The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the Secretary of Defense told Lead Stories that Vilsack was not arrested. Vilsack also made public appearances on the day of the alleged arrest and in the days afterward. The only source…

Did American food processing facilities mysteriously and suspiciously begin to catch fire after President Joe Biden predicted that there could be real food shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine? No, that's not true: Several incidents on a list of food processing facilities where incidents have occurred predate Biden's comments on food shortages and also predate Russia's invasion. Some…

Does this collection of photos show the inner workings of airplanes that spray "chemtrails" and has this information been "declassified"? No, that's not true: These photos do not show "chemtrail spraying equipment." The photos are either misidentified, are a joke, or are intentionally unidentified, but they have been presented in a false context allowing imaginations to run wild. There is…