Radar

Does a video captured by a New Jersey resident show a drone spraying something in the sky? No, that's not true: The video showed a commercial Boeing 777 jetliner gradually descending as it nears the end of a transatlantic flight from London to Baltimore. Lead Stories cross-referenced the timestamp and location tag from the original video with flight and weather…

Has a hurricane never before formed in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Milton's original location, then tracked eastward to Florida? No, that's not true: At least 10 recorded hurricanes including Milton have formed in the Gulf and moved eastward since the 19th century, according to the government's hurricane tracking records. Lead Stories found records of hurricanes following that pattern as…

Did government agencies conspire to direct Hurricane Helene to cause damage in the town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina -- to depress the value of properties needed to open a $90 million lithium mine? No, that's not true: This conspiracy is flawed at its foundation -- an expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told Lead Stories that "no…

Was Hurricane Helene pushed "up the east coast" with purported weather modification systems such as NEXRAD, Doppler and HAARP? No, that's not true: An expert at the government's Air Resources Laboratory told Lead Stories that neither HAARP nor NEXRAD -- a network of high-resolution Doppler weather radars -- can "create, destroy, modify, intensify, or steer hurricanes in any way, shape,…

Did a private jet fly through the eye of Hurricane Helene on the evening of September 26, 2024, when it was a powerful Category 4 storm? No, that's not true: Experts contacted by Lead Stories said it appears the flight either flew over the top or passed through a "ragged" eyewall on its southern side, where there was blue sky.…

Do archived radar images show that 5G or NEXRAD towers emit pulses of weaponized microwave energy targeting the U.S. population while they sleep? No, that's not true: An expert in radar ornithology says the radar has picked up "bird echoes" with the blooms appearing around each radar station about an hour after sunset when birds take off in large numbers…

Does a viral photo show a Haitian immigrant in Springfield, Ohio, holding what appears to be a dead goose? No, that's not true: The man who snapped the picture said it was taken in Columbus, Ohio, not Springfield. A city official in Springfield stated there are "no credible reports or specific claims" in the city's immigrant community about a man…

Are Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, "kidnapping and eating their neighbors' cats" in 2024? No, that's not true: Springfield police said they had no reports of pets being stolen and eaten. A city official told Lead Stories that there are "no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community." The…

Does a video compilation show Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica on July 3, 2024? No, that's not true: The compilation consists of older, unrelated video clips from intense weather events in other places. None of the footage was shot in Jamaica. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on July 3, 2024. It was captioned: Hurricane Beryl Caribbean…

Does the Coriolis effect fail to affect aircraft trajectory, which proves that the Earth is flat, as is implied in a video shared on social media? No, that's not true: A professor emeritus of physics and astronomy told Lead Stories that "the Coriolis effect is, of course, well known and thoroughly analyzed." Though airplanes experience Coriolis force, it is "pretty…