Flat Earth

Does a video shared on social media show "leaked footage of our flat Earth from 1977"? No, that's not true: A 22-second clip that was first posted to TikTok in February 2023 was created by a satirical account that uses computer-generated imagery (CGI). Versions of the video were later shared to social media accounts without the satirical disclaimer to suggest…

Did a NASA study find that snake plants, a type of houseplant, improve air quality in your home while you sleep? No, that's not true: A public affairs officer for NASA told Lead Stories that NASA has not made this claim and that the results taken from a 1989 study it ran on air-quality factors have been misinterpreted. A 2019…

Did Elon Musk write that "the world is flat" on Twitter in April 2022? No, that's not true: The viral image of the supposed entry appears to have been digitally altered. Archived versions of Musk's account do not contain such a tweet. The claim appeared in a post published on Instagram on May 23, 2023. The caption said: This is…

Do jumpy cuts in the asparagus-eating video recorded by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield while in the zero-gravity environment in 2013 prove it was shot in a "Hollywood basement," outer space does not exist and Earth is flat? No, that's not true: In 2015, Hadfield, who became known not only as a space explorer but also as a space video blogger,…

Have temperatures in Antarctica not increased in more than 70 years? No, that's not true: A climatologist and global climate expert told Lead Stories that it is "evident that temperatures are increasing across the Antarctic." According to official data, land surface temperatures in the region have increased an average of .16 degrees Fahrenheit (.09 degrees Celsius) per decade since 1950,…

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…

Does a video on social media show former NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg faking a visit to the International Space Station (ISS) in front of a green screen? No, that's not true: In the original version of the clip, the narrator never identifies the woman in the video as Nyberg. He calls her Paige. One iteration of the video posted by…

Did the word "horizon" come from the word "horizontal," and is this evidence that the Earth must be flat? No, that's not true: The word "horizon" came first, and the adjective "horizontal" followed. The adjective describes something "relating to or near the horizon." The word "horizon" originated from the ancient Greek term "ὁρίζων κύκλος" (horízōn kýklos), which means "separating (or…

Did an aerial video capture a deep and wide chasm in the Earth's crust in southern Turkey's Hatay province, part of the area hit by earthquakes in early February 2023? No, that's not true: This video footage does not show earthquake fault lines in Turkey. It shows China's Loess Plateau, which is a drainage basin for the Yellow River. The…

Does a time-lapse video of the midnight sun in Alaska show that the sun appears to get smaller as it approaches the horizon -- thus proving that this is a "local sun" that is very close to Earth in a closed environment, part of the firmament? No, that's not true: The footage of slightly more than one full day has…