Drone

Did viral videos document that Ukrainian soldiers started to surrender en masse in Pokrovsk, as of November 5, 2025? No, that's not true: The clips showed a watermark of a generative AI tool. As of this writing, Ukraine denied that its soldiers in Pokrovsk were surrendering in large numbers. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published…

Does a real video show a mother and child cowering from the shadows of two soldiers and their rifles? No, that's not true: The day after it was originally posted without an AI label, the original poster edited the description to add, in Arabic: "AI generated video." The scene includes visual anomalies that make it plain it is not a…

Did the Civil Guard and Army enter the chambers of the Congress of Deputies of Spain to arrest lawmakers? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. Some versions of the video are published with a watermark labeling them as created by the Sora AI video-maker and disclaimer. Other versions have digital stickers added to obscure the Sora watermark A…

Did Qatar "demand" returning the jet it gave to the Trump administration in the late spring of 2025? No, that's not true: As of September 12, 2025, Lead Stories found no credible reports corroborating the claim. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs made no such public demands. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on September…

Was a Secret Service agent standing with Donald Trump after he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, also standing close to Charlie Kirk when he was fatally shot in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025? No, that's not true: The male Secret Service agent holding Trump's left arm as Trump raised his right fist in the air…

Does a viral video show a real instance of a delivery drone dropping a car battery through the windshield of a parked car? No, that's not true: An auto repair business created the video as an April Fool's Day marketing stunt. The video has been on the repair shop's YouTube channel since 2015. Few, if any, civilian drones available in…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy react to his August 2025 meeting at the White House by suggesting that Donald Trump rejects a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, believing it would hurt his chances of winning the Nobel Peace Prize? No, that's not true: Official government webpages of the Ukrainian president don't contain such a statement. Lead Stories could not find…

Was American Derek Huffman killed in a drone strike while fighting for the Russian military in Ukraine in July 2025? A YouTube account used by his wife claimed in a comment that Huffman is alive and well. Another American acquaintance of Huffman also told Lead Stories that Huffman is alive, but definitive proof was not immediately available. Here's what we…

Is a viral story about two missing hikers named "Sarah Bennett" and "Andrew Miller" found dead in a cave in 2019 consistent with reality? No, that's not true: Several details in the tale about the missing couple from Colorado don't add up, such as a non-existent newspaper quote of a sister named "Emily Bennett" in the Denver Post and an…

Did a widely-shared image provide an authentic record of Niagara Falls turning "blood red" in June 2025? No, that's not true: The image was first posted by a Facebook page that regularly posts fictional content and AI-generated images. A spokesperson for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation confirmed that the story and image were "not…