Does a video on social media show what it looked like when a pilot accidentally hit the "chemtrail switch" too early while taking off in -45 degrees Celsius in Siberia? No, that's not true: The false caption poking fun at chemtrail conspiracists originated with an r/aviation forum Reddit repost with a satire tag. This video, originally posted in 2012 by…
Does satellite imagery show the moments when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was surrounded by three circling UFOs before suddenly vanishing in a bright flash of light? No, that's not true: This video does not show satellite imagery or the actual disappearance of Flight 370. The images of the clouds came from a website that supplies background images for 3D artists.…
Did authentic social media posts offer genuine concern over a missing teen named Kaniesa Perez? No, that's not true: The posts exploit a real missing teen story and falsely say that Kaniesa Perez went missing on the same day from Dover, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, among other locations more than a thousand miles apart. In reality, the teen went…
Does a video compilation of clips showing extreme weather include authentic footage of Hurricane Beryl striking Cancun, Mexico, on July 5, 2024? No, there's no evidence that's true: At least two of the clips were available online before the hurricane formed. This means they could not possibly depict Hurricane Beryl. The claim appeared in a post on Facebook Reels on…
Does a video on social media capture a meteor over Budapest, Hungary, in July 2024? No, that's not true: The original video was taken during mass protests in the Hungarian capital on February 16, 2024 and other videos from the event do not show any meteor. People's outfits were much more consistent with winter weather than with midsummer temperatures in…
Does footage showing what appears to be a shadowy profile of a man moving behind what looks to be a small model space shuttle prove that this footage and the entire 1983 Challenger mission was faked? No, that's not true: The astronaut was filming from inside Challenger's flight deck looking out over the payload bay through a window. His reflection…
Did NASA secretly drop a manned space capsule out of a plane in order to stage a hoax return of astronauts from outer space? No, that's not true: The footage that shows a space capsule sliding out of the back of a C-130 cargo plane was not part of a staged hoax. This was one of several drop tests conducted…
Does a warmer average temperature in May 1895 compared to May 2024 disprove global warming, as a post with a chart on social media implied? No, that's not true: Climate experts contacted by Lead Stories said the data was cherry-picked and misleading and that the data chart was altered so as to mislead readers about the long-term trend. Short-term fluctuations…
Did Universal Studios first introduce the concept of the world as a globe in 1927 before NASA had photographed it from space in the 1960s? No, that's not true on several counts: It did not take NASA's space program to discover that the Earth was round. Greek philosophers had already described the Earth as a sphere as early as the…
Does a "leaked photo" authentically show a "city on the other side of the ice at Antarctica," as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: The image was created using artificial intelligence, based on the results of three image analysis tools used by Lead Stories. Many conspiracy theorists use the ice wall argument to make unfounded arguments, such…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
Spotted something? Let us know!.
Get more fact-checks in your Google Search results by setting up leadstories.com as one of your preferred sources.
