Satellite

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…

Does a viral photo show the damage from an airstrike against an early warning radar system in Qatar? No, that's not true: This picture is fake and does not show the radar system in question. There are many differences between the fake image and the real facility visible on satellite images. The fake image appeared in a post (archived here)…

Is this picture showing the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia on fire after a drone attack real? No, that's not true: An online detection tool rated the image 99.7% likely to be AI-generated and it contained a watermark from an AI image generator. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense did say there was "limited fire and minor material damage to the…

Do these viral videos show real footage from flooded tents in Gaza? No, that's not true: While there were credible reports about December 2025 flooding in that region, some of the Gaza flood clips shared on social media were not real. The signs pointing to AI included strangely shaped hands, distorted faces and scene elements inconsistent with real natural disaster…

Did a "retired sergeant" in Texas say that Muslims have set up a command center with weapons, armored vehicles and a training facility - on top of Muslim-only communities and Sharia courts? No, that's not true: A social media post has misrepresented what a retired training sergeant for the Plano, Texas, police department said during a Collin County Commissioner's Court…

Did the New York Stock Exchange react to Zohran Mamdani's victory in the mayoral election by relocating to Texas from its 230-year base on New York City's Wall Street? No, that's not true: Intercontinental Exchange, the company that owns and operates the New York Stock Exchange, announced in February, when polls showed Mamdani with a single-digit pool of support, that…

Did MSNBC air old 2017 footage of a large crowd in Boston Common and misrepresent it as live footage of the Oct.2025 No Kings protest? No, that's not true: The footage shows the October 18, 2025 No Kings protest as it was taking place. The 2017 protest mentioned on social media took place in a different area of the Boston…

Does the viral story about missing hikers "Steve and Natalie Brody" who were supposedly found dead in Alaska's Denali National Park add up? No, that's not true: There were no news reports on the case and several details in the posts about the case are verifiably not real. The website of Interpol does not mention the "Lars Anderson" the story…

Is an image showing the Florida prison known as "Alligator Alcatraz" surrounded by a moat authentic? No, that's not true: The photo that has been shared on social platforms does not accurately depict the immigrant detention center erected at a Miami-Dade County, Florida, airport in June 2025. An AI detection tool concluded with 99.9% certainty that it was not real.…

Is the pyramidal peak in Antarctica's Ellsworth Mountains the topic of an expert debate over whether it is a masonry pyramid constructed during Antarctica's last warm period, millions of years ago? No, that's not true: There is no credentialled scholar or explorer with on-the-ground knowledge making that case. The nameless mountain in Antarctica's Ellsworth Range sits in a well-studied range…