Does a real photo show then-President George W. Bush, then-Vice President Dick Cheney, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Osama bin Laden sitting together? No, that's not true: The image is an edited version of a photo taken at the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2001, the day after the 9/11 attacks. Osama bin Laden was edited into the original photo,…
Is time-stamped surveillance camera footage from James Talarico's house real? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated, according to analysis by online detection tools. One tool assessed the image as 99.9% "Likely to be AI-generated," while another indicated it was created using OpenAI tools. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) by the @RheinAmacher account on X on…
Does a viral picture actually document a real-life event during which U.S. servicemembers shot "reptilians"? No, that's not true: Three online tools said that the image was AI-generated. Available government sources do not support the idea of such an encounter ever taking place. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where it was published on Oct. 10,…
Do real photos show Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wearing a bunny costume or an off-the-shoulder cocktail dress? No, that's not true: Hive Moderation found all of the images highly likely to be AI-generated. Searches with Google Lens did not find any copies of these images originating from a verified source. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) by the @cryptocyberia…
Did "South Park" tease an episode featuring Susan Dell and did she rage in response? No, that's not true: The image of Dell appearing with the characters from the TV show is AI-generated and was made by a digital creator. Neither the show nor Dell had posted any messages about such an episode at the time of writing. The claim…
Does a real video show the moment a Houthi missile hit a Saudia airliner parked near an airport terminal in Riyadh? No, that's not true: A Saudia airliner really was destroyed in attacks at the King Khalid International Airport on Oct. 8, 2026, but the footage of the missile blowing the plane apart is fabricated. Real photos and videos do…
Have you seen viral videos showing astonishing "stunt running" up steep ramps, which sometimes end with impossible jumps? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence, probably as clickbait. The word "parkour" that appeared in many descriptions of such clips is a real athletic discipline, but…
Is a video that shows Princess Leonor of Spain wearing a yellow mini dress real? No, that's not true: An online detection tool rated the video as 99.9% likely generated by AI. The fake video appears to have been created by manipulating real footage filmed during a July 2024 event when the Spanish national football team met with the royal…
Does a video show a real instance of a woman rescuing a white baby reindeer on the side of the road? No, that's not true: The account that first shared the video labeled it as AI content, and Meta flagged it as well. A visual analysis found physical impossibilities -- including antlers passing through a person's body. The claim appeared…
Does a real video show a large ship completely engulfed by a massive wave crashing over the bow? No, that's not true: Two AI detection tools -- Hive Moderation and Sightengine -- determined the video was likely AI-generated, with Hive Moderation identifying ByteDance's Seedance2 as the probable source. Earlier copies of the video found online since at least March 2026…
Does a real video filmed from a helicopter show the excavation of Noah's Ark near the top of Mount Ararat? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. The OpenAI Verify tool found a SynthID watermark indicating that the video was made with OpenAI tools. The video appeared in a post (archived here) by the @JohnmichealC1 account on X on…
Does a real video show a bus driver named Linda Thompson or Derek Harris being hit by a rock thrown by children? No, that's not true: The names were inserted into template-based stories where the details are essentially the same except for the bus driver's name. There is no evidence that people by those names were involved in such incidents,…
Is a video that shows gymnasts forming a human pyramid in 10 seconds real? No, that's not true: The video carries an "AI content" label in certain areas of the world due to automated labeling rules and transparency displays. While the human pyramid in the video takes 10 seconds to build, the Guinness World Record for the tallest human pyramid…
Does a real video show an officer helping to free a baby bear stuck in a concrete highway median when the mother bear failed? No, that's not true: The video is AI-generated. The OpenAI Verify tool found a SynthID watermark indicating that the video was made with OpenAI tools. The video appeared in a post (archived here) by the @0ivankaTrump1…
Does a viral image show Trump's aide Natalie Harp sitting next to the president in a car while wearing blue surgical gloves? No, that's not true: The real photo was digitally altered to add two hands wearing blue surgical gloves that do not appear in the original. The account that first posted the edited image said it was not meant…
Is a video that shows Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese collapsing and falling face first into the ground real? No, that's not true: Video published by an international news outlet did not show Albanese falling when he arrived in Fiji on Oct. 5, 2026. An AI detection tool determined the video was 98.8% likely to have been created with AI.…
Are receipts from Sam's Club in 1983 and 2026 that show a huge price increase over the years real? No, that's not true: There are several signs that the receipts are fake, including nonexistent addresses, an incorrect logo from 1983 and wrong price totals on the receipts. An online detection tool rated the image as 88% likely to be AI…
Have you seen viral videos showing dramatic encounters with whales at sea, frequently presented with a boat for scale? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. While there are many real whale watching videos of whales breaching or swimming beneath the surface, the popular topic…
Does a real "leaked video" show an argument between FlyDubai pilots? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool assessed the clip and concluded that it was 95.8% "Likely to be AI-generated," while the audio came from a 2017 road-rage video. Lead Stories found no matching news reports about a leaked video involving FlyDubai pilots. The claim appeared in a…
Does a real photo from 1965 show Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale gathered for a meal overlooking the sea in Malibu, California? No, that's not true: This image originated from a Facebook account specializing in AI-generated nostalgic scenes of celebrities from years ago. The OpenAI Verify tool found a SynthID watermark in the image…
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