Marine

Did a widely-shared video show a submarine appearintg at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina? No, that's not true: The local Coast Guard unit told Lead Stories that no such thing happened. The viral reel was consistent with previously documented instances of a school of fish traveling together in the area, and that was confirmed to Lead Stories by South Carolina's Department…

Does a widely-shared video prove that U.S. military tanks patrolled the streets of Washington, D.C. on June 11, 2025? No, that's not true: The person who recorded it told Lead Stories that the 10-second clip showed an armored vehicle that was in the nation's capital to participate in a military parade on June 14, 2025. That account was consistent with…

Is Donald Trump's June 2025 mobilization of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles just like President George H.W. Bush's 1992 decision to mobilize the National Guard during riots in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: In 1992, both Gov. Pete Wilson and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley asked the President for National Guard to stop riots in Los…

Was there a WhatsApp leak in France that revealed the imminent arrest on May 6, 2025 of right-wing politicians Marine Le Pen, Marion Maréchal, Sarah Knafo and Florian Philippot as reported in a video from the "FP+" channel ? No, that's not true: That channel is part of the website of French magazine Front Populaire, which did not publish any…

Is a video of a "gas cargo ship" hitting a bridge and exploding real? No, that's not true: The viral video of the explosion that seems to lift part of the ship over the bridge originated on a TikTok account that indicated it was made using AI tools. The account frequently posts AI generated videos involving accidents with ships, including…

Is a viral Facebook post legitimately warning people about an "18 year old boy known as MONICO ORONA" who supposedly stabbed "Ryan Tyler" and "Chloe Tyler" to death? No, that's not true: There are dozens of such posts going around, all mentioning different locations, and the mugshot used in the posts actually shows a man with a different name who…

Does a video show a long line of military trucks in Texas hauling tanks to the U.S. southern border in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency in 2025? No, that's not true: The video dates back to August 2024 and does not show events in the U.S. The footage shows a military…

Does a video captured by a New Jersey resident show a drone spraying something in the sky? No, that's not true: The video showed a commercial Boeing 777 jetliner gradually descending as it nears the end of a transatlantic flight from London to Baltimore. Lead Stories cross-referenced the timestamp and location tag from the original video with flight and weather…

Did Rep. Dan Crenshaw share a post on X that included inflammatory language boasting of "over 300 confirmed kills," as an image on the platform suggested? No, that's not true: The quote is known colloquially as the "Navy Seal Copypasta," a phrase used to mock aggressive rhetoric online. The supposed screenshot of Crenshaw's post shows signs of manipulation, including its…

Do videos in a social media post show drones firing weapons in New Jersey in December 2024? No, that's not true: A military spokesperson at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst told Lead Stories that both videos show a "U.S. Marine helicopter conducting nighttime aerial gunnery training." The spokesperson added, "This is normal training conducted monthly." The claim appeared in a post that…