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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…

Did President Donald Trump publish a post on Truth Social saying that he would "turn the giant faucet" located in California toward Canada as that country's wildfires burn? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that such a post was ever made on Trump's official Truth Social account. The fabricated post seems to reference previous statements made by Trump…

Have you seen viral videos showing fights between captive insects and small animals? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. A growing number of social media accounts feature nothing but AI-generated videos of staged fights between captive insects, small reptiles, and animals. Many of these are…

Does a viral image of actor Elliot Page actually show him on the August 2026 Men's Health magazine cover? No, that's not true: The magazine told Lead Stories it didn't publish such a cover. The picture shared on social media originated from a self-described satire account, but later variations removed the watermark linking the image with that account. The claim…

Does a real yearbook photo show an edgy punk teenage Pete Hegseth with black spiky hair and eyeliner? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated and is not Pete Hegseth's yearbook photo. Forest Lake High School has an archive of past yearbooks and the real yearbook photos of Hegseth in his sophomore, junior, and senior year are different. The…