Water

Did an Aug. 3, 2026, procession in Louisville bring the corpse of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to the coroner's office there? No, that's not true: The Louisville Metro Police Department told Lead Stories that reports involving McConnell were "completely false" and said authorities were escorting the body of an officer who had died. As of Aug. 5, 2026, there…

Does a real video show a transgender woman threatening her neighbor with guns after she was misgendered? No, that's not true: The scene depicted in the video is a skit from the social media creator Spicy Jayy. The apartment door with a Ring doorbell camera appears in several Spicy Jayy videos -- sometimes with the door open and members of…

Did Reuters publish a photo which shows a Moroccan police officer about to throw a rock down on a migrant who is crawling up a rocky embankment? No, that's not true: This image was made with OpenAI tools, it was not published by Reuters. The image closely resembles a scene which really did occur in or near the Spanish territory…

Is there a real photo of WNBA players Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark wearing T-shirts with the words "XX-XY Athletics" printed on them? No, that's not true: The image was created with AI, as a verification tool showed. There are no credible news reports of the image being real. The claim appeared in a post made on X by user…

Does a real photo show an army officer with the "nuclear football" chained to what is described on social media as a "diaper bag" carried by Trump aide Natalie Harp? No, that's not true: The original photo didn't display an army officer or the briefcase allowing access to the nuclear arsenal. The image was digitally altered by AI. The claim…

Did a novice skydiver pull her parachuteless friend out of the plane, leaving the freefalling woman to be rescued by another skydiver? No, that's not true: This video was made with AI. It was originally published by an account called Built With AI which promotes a platform that teaches people how to make realistic AI characters and turn them into…

Does a viral post about "a 26-year-old man from Chicago" arrested over "hacking into the Cook County Human Services system" to approve all food stamp applications describe a real-life incident? No, that's not true: The mugshot of the imaginary suspect was generated by AI. Earlier versions of the rumor started years ago as pranks and satire. The claim appeared in…

Is a video showing an Iranian ballistic missile attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier real? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Iran hit a U.S. aircraft carrier with ballistic missiles, and no credible news organizations had reported such an incident as of July 24, 2026. Plus, an online AI detection tool concluded that the video was very…

Does a real video show an incident where a wedding party dancing on a balcony fell to the street when the balcony suddenly collapsed? No, that's not true: The video posted on Instagram as early as January 28, 2026, has a disclaimer added by the creator that the video was made with AI. The AI-generated content detection tool from Hive…

Does a viral video actually document an attack by a giant reptile? No, that's not true: After a visual inspection, Lead Stories found signs of AI-generated content in the video. Three online detectors concluded the clip was between 99 and 99.9% likely made by generative AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) on X where it…