Does a "newly leaked report" from the RAND Corporation, a U.S. think tank, reveal the "true motives behind European Destabilization & The Russia/Ukraine War"? No, that's not true: In an email to Lead Stories and a news release on its website, the RAND Corp. called the "supposedly leaked" report "fake." The claim appeared in the September 12, 2022, issue of…

Did Pope Francis slap Donald Trump's hand away when Trump tried to hold his hand? No, that's not true: The pope and Trump did meet at the Vatican on May 24, 2017, but the hand-touching clip is not real. That clip is from "Jimmy Kimmel Live," a late-night TV talk show. A good indicator that this clip is fake is…

Was Queen Elizabeth II photographed in the cockpit of a World-War-II-era Spitfire fighter plane? No, that's not true: An image on social media that allegedly shows the late British monarch in a Spitfire is derived from two separate photos: an image of Spitfire pilot Charlie Brown that was part of an advertisement for Herring Shoes and a photo of Queen…

Was a letter "S" recently added to LGBTQIA to represent "satanism"? Do the brown and black stripes on the pride and trans flags represent an acknowledgment of stolen Native American land and Black Lives Matter? No, that's not true: The S does not stand for satanism. The S at the end of the acronym can be plural, as in "LGBTQIAs,"…

Is the interior Earth actually hollow, with access points at the North and South Poles that lead to a mythical land that is home to superhumans and extraterrestrial beings with advanced technology? No, that's not true: Though treated as a scientific supposition in the 17th century, the so-called "hollow Earth theory" has been disproved through modern science; yet it remains…

Does aluminum foil cause deadly diseases? No, there's no evidence that's true: This claim distorts a study that looks at the risks of using aluminum foil in food preparation. Although the study found that cooking with aluminum foil can leach aluminum into food and may pose health risks, it did not say that such foil is the cause of deadly…

Did Rep. Elise Stefanik angrily call Rep. Adam Schiff a "lying son of a bitch" during a meeting in Congress? No, that's not true: This post has a clickbait headline apparently to draw attention to a Facebook page. In only a portion of the video in this post, Stefanik criticized Schiff during her remarks over a whistleblower in a 2019…

Did the television show "The Simpsons" predict Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022? No, that's not true: An image showing the queen in a coffin with the dates 1926-2022 is not a real still from "The Simpsons." The queen's death does not appear in any episodes of this series. Lead Stories previously debunked a claim that used a similar image…

Does a seven-day, once-a-year, water-only fast reduce your risk of cancer by 95%? No, that's not true: There is no scientific evidence to support this claim and Lead Stories spoke to experts who refuted it. The claim appeared in an Instagram post and video published on September 5, 2022 by Ben Azadi with the title "World Renowned Cancer Researcher Reveals…

by: Marlo Lee Did the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Challenger survive the 1986 explosion? No, that's not true: The seven astronauts who were onboard the Challenger died on January 28, 1986. Four of the individuals whom one video narrator presents as survivors of the explosion are individuals without established family or professional ties to the crew. In two cases,…