Outer Space

Is Mount Meru, a magnetic mountain, located at or under the North Pole at the center of a flat Earth -- and is this mountain the reason why all compasses point to the magnetic north? No, that's not true: In Hindu and Buddhist mythology, Mount Meru is the central axis of the world where gods live and the sun and…

Can the Alaska-based HAARP project, a former military research facility for studying the ionosphere, remotely initiate natural disasters such as earthquakes anywhere on Earth? No, that's not true: An "explanation" of its purported capabilities to manufacture disasters, posted on social media, contradicts well-established scientific facts. The manager of the HAARP project told Lead Stories that the facility "cannot create or…

Does a NASA photograph show a "perfectly built" pyramid located on the surface of Mars? No, that's not true: A photo shared on Facebook in December 2022 said to show a pyramid on Mars is a digitally altered image using actual NASA photos, with an Egyptian pyramid added. An Egyptologist told Lead Stories that the top image in the post…

Does a map showing "Terra-Infinita" show a real place composed of 178 worlds that exist beyond the domed territory of the "Known Lands" of Earth, ringed by a giant wall of ice and guarded by "custodians"? No, that's not true: This detailed map is an illustration from a science fiction series written and published by Claudio Nocelli, also known by…

Does former President Richard Nixon's call without a string of cellphone towers prove that NASA never put astronauts on the moon? No, that's not true: A NASA spokesman explained to Lead Stories that the agency used massive radio antennas and ground tracking stations to connect Nixon with the astronauts. The nonexistence of cellphones in 1969, therefore, does not prove that…

Is the Earth flat and surrounded by a transparent barrier that prevents rockets from leaving the Earth's atmosphere? Beyond this barrier, is there a firmament composed of water or a liquid-like substance? Does this explain why the U.S. government in 1962 launched Operation Fish Bowl -- to use nuclear weapons to try and break through that barrier? No, that's not…

Is it impossible to find a "real photo" of Earth taken from space that is not computer generated? No, that's not true: Seventy-six years ago, on October 24, 1946, the first photo of Earth was taken from a V-2 rocket 65 miles above the New Mexico desert. The rocket fell back to Earth as planned, crashing in the desert, and…

Do astronauts only train in swimming pools, and not vacuum chambers, because space is not a vacuum and "Outer Space is a hoax"? No, that's not true: A spokesperson at NASA told Lead Stories that its astronauts have "limited training" in vacuum chambers, which NASA has used for decades to test materials that go into space. Astronauts also train in…

Are Starlink satellites not in space? No, that's not true: The images used to claim that Starlink satellites are not in space are of balloons that are in the South Pole and have been frequently photographed and reported on. The claim appeared in an Instagram post on October 19, 2022. It opened: STARLINK is NOT in SPACE!!!When you start to…

Are satellites a myth because there is no way they could survive high temperatures in space? No, that's not true: A NASA spokesperson called this claim about satellites "misleading." According to NASA, artificial satellites are built to survive high temperatures in space, but they orbit in a layer of the atmosphere, the thermosphere, where sufficient gas molecules do not exist…