Isolated

Did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas claim "aborted fetus cells" are in COVID vaccines in writing a decision by the Court to not take up a legal challenge by New York health care workers who opposed the state's vaccine mandate on religious grounds? No, that's not true: Thomas was quoting the petitioners' argument in the case. COVID vaccines are developed…

Do Kansas ranchers have no idea what might have killed hundreds or thousands of cattle during an extreme heat wave and believe their feed or water was poisoned? No, that's not true: The cause of death is not a mystery to the people in the industry. The cattle died after days of high temperatures, high humidity, nights that did not…

Was the Titanic sunk intentionally in order to kill specific people who opposed a central banking system, thus clearing the way to establish the Federal Reserve? No, that's not true: This antisemitic conspiracy theory was already floating around the internet before it was promoted to followers of QAnon. There is no evidence to support this. In November 2017, a series…

Did scientists fraudulently claim that they had isolated and sequenced viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19? No, that's not true: The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been independently isolated and sequenced by multiple scientists around the world since January 7, 2020. Claims that the virus has never been isolated have circulated since vaccines for COVID-19 were introduced in early 2020, including in…

Does this compilation of video clips provide evidence of a race of shape-shifting reptilian beings who live among us? No, that's not true: This collection of videos shows an assortment of interesting video artifacts with a variety of explanations, but a shape-shifting reptilian humanoid life form is not one of them. The individuals appearing in the clips are normal people.…

Did travel restrictions for unvaccinated individuals in Australia make it impossible for the omicron variant to enter the country? No, that's not true: Unvaccinated individuals can enter the country by following the guidelines of the state where they arrive. They can leave the country by applying for a travel exemption. Vaccinated Australians -- who could travel freely before the emergence…

Is humanity being held hostage by a new world order pushing COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: The video in this Facebook post recycles previously debunked claims about COVID and plays into the rhetoric of an elaborate QAnon story of a cabal of blood-drinking elites working for global dominion. The claims appear in a post (archived here) on November 16,…

Has the "Emergency Broadcast System" been activated? No, that's not true: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed to Lead Stories that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) has not been activated. If it had been, the protocol would be that the president of the United States would address the nation within 10 minutes of a national emergency. This has not…

Is SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, "not a truly isolated human virus" because it was only replicated in monkey cell lines? No, that's not true: While the origin of the virus is hypothesized to be from an animal, the virus was isolated from human patients soon after its emergence in humans. SARS-CoV-2 replication in human cell lines has…

Does a video posted to Facebook show a rigged digital voting machine used in Middletown Township, New Jersey, during the state's general election in 2021? There is no evidence to suggest that it does: While there were reports of touch screens occasionally locking up on digital voting equipment in New Jersey during the election, those machines are set up to…