Does a satellite image show fires currently burning in the Middle East? No, that's not true: This satellite image dates back to April 1991. It does not show anything currently burning in the Middle East, but shows oil well fires burning in Kuwait during the Gulf War. The image appeared in a post on X (archived here) where it was…
Did Donald Trump tell Norway's Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, that he wants complete and total control of Greenland because he was not granted the Nobel Peace Prize? Yes, that's true: Some questioned if the text message from Trump to Norway's Prime Minister published on X by PBS correspondent Nick Schifrin was real. Norway's Prime Minister published a statement on…
Did prominent Americans like Elon Musk, Caitlin Clark, Stephen Colbert, and Joy Behar each pay down $667,000 of schoolkids' lunchroom debts? No, there's no evidence that's true: In the case of FBI Director Kash Patel, the gift was inflated to $979,000, which would be more than five times his FBI salary.The posts making the claims include no evidence by which…
Does a video clip show new footage of the Comet 3I/ATLAS? No, that's not true: This video did not originate from any research astronomy agency monitoring the interstellar comet. It is uncredited footage showing a microscopic single-celled organism, a paramecium. The mislabeled video appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @BGatesIsaPyscho on Oct. 27, 2025. The post…
Did CNN report the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has contacted Earth, as a viral social media post declared? No, that's not true: There's no such report on CNN.com. CNN has not used the chyron "IT'S GETTING SERIOUS" on any of its reports about 3I/ATLAS, which was first spotted in July 2025. The claim was made in an October 22, 2025 X…
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…
Do images described as tree stumps provide proof that there were once giant ancient trees which were felled by angels? No, that's not true: The photos show natural geological features around the world which came to be through several geological processes over millions of years. Volcanoes erupting, erosion of different materials at different speeds, and the lifting and folding of…
Will the earth experience "colder weather than ever before" during the "aphelion phenomenon" in August, 2025, as its elliptical orbit takes it to its most distant-from-the-Sun position of the year, as multiple social media posts claim? No, that's not true: Earth's distance from the Sun changes daily and at aphelion, the Earth's distance from the Sun is only about 3%…
Does the scientific community as a whole share the notion that a newly discovered interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is an alien spacecraft heading to Earth for a "surprise attack" in November 2025? No, that's not true: The NASA website says that it's a comet and that it doesn't pose any risk to Earth. Three astronomers told Lead Stories that, as of…
Did a viral social media video really show "incredibly rare white auroras" over Norway? No, that's not true: According to specialized detection tools the video was generated using artificial intelligence. It featured stars moving in the sky like dots in some kind of jelly instead of in straight lines, another clue the video was not a real recording. The video…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
Spotted something? Let us know!.
