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 made of self-described AI videos. Details of 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…
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