Russia

Did someone in Alaska capture video in early January 2025 showing military jets flying in formation alongside saucer-shaped UFOs? No, that's not true: The UFO video was originally posted on YouTube in October 2023 and the account it came from features computer-generated imagery sourced from video games and flight simulators. Although this video did not carry a specific disclaimer when…

Does the swinging action of stuffed toys hanging from the ceiling of the Soyuz crew capsule prove that the spacecraft is not really producing the expected G forces during a launch into orbit, suggesting fakery? No, that's not true: A spacecraft will experience varying G forces and vibrations during launch. A social media post's short video clip was taken from…

Did President-elect Donald Trump call Elon Musk a "two bit car salesman" in a post shared on Truth Social? No, that's not true: Lead Stories searched Trump's Truth Social account and found that he did not share such a post as of this publication. No information about this supposed post has been reported on the website of any news outlets…

Did President-elect Donald Trump tell Elon Musk to "stay in your lane" in a post shared to Truth Social? No, that's not true: This supposed post was fabricated. Lead Stories checked Trump's verified Truth Social account and did not find such a post as of this publication. The post in question was also not included in a website that archives…

Did Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum propose annexing Guatemala so it would become the "33rd state" in Mexico? No, that's not true: The rumor about Mexico annexing Guatemala was first debunked by Mexican outlets during the previous president's administration. Lead Stories found no actual news reports that confirmed the purported "annexation" plan under the new administration in Mexico. The claim appeared…

Did an authentic ABC newscast state that "in 2.5 years of war, about a million Ukrainian soldiers have died"? No, that's not true: TrueMedia's AI detector found "substantial evidence" that the voice heard in the social media post was created by artificial intelligence. The ABC video was originally about wounded Ukrainian soldiers receiving prosthetic legs from a nonprofit. The claim…

Was there ballot cheating during a bomb threat search when the vote-counting livestream went offline in Orange County, California, in November 2024? No, that's not true: The Orange County registrar of voters told Lead Stories that "the ballots always remained secure under the custody of the Sheriff's Department." There's also no evidence of fraud at any time during the ballot-counting…

Does a photograph shared on Facebook genuinely show a "horrific accident" in which "at least 135 people died after a truck collided with a bus"? No, that's not true: While the photo is real it was first shared to X on June 14, 2021, following a chemical plant fire in Illinois. Nobody was killed at the time of that fire.…

Does a video prove that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bought a hotel in Courchevel, France, for 88 million euros ($93 million) in November 2024? No, that's not true: The video was based on a screenshot of a fake website mimicking the online page of a currently closed hotel. The current owner of the hotel described the posts sharing the video…

Was a prominent HIV researcher who died in the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 planning to declare the virus a "man-made disease"? No, that's not true: Dr. Joep Lange's work in the field of HIV/AIDS focused largely on developing treatment options and the global inequities of treating the disease, not the origin of AIDS itself. A Google News…