Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Military Combat Helicopters, Including Blackhawks And Osprey, Flying Low Over Washington, D.C. On January 15, 2021

Fact Check

  • by: Alan Duke
Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Military Combat Helicopters, Including Blackhawks And Osprey, Flying Low Over Washington, D.C. On January 15, 2021 Not In USA

Did an assortment of military combat helicopters, including Blackhawks and Ospreys, buzz Washington, D.C. on the morning of January 15, 2021 as shown in an online video? No, that's not true: The video posted on Friday that purported to be "50min ago" was shared months earlier on TikTok and appears to have been recorded at an airshow in Denmark at least nine months earlier. There is no other video circulating publicly that shows the same aircraft flying low over the U.S. capitol on or about January 15, 2021.

The claim appeared in a post (archived here) shared on Facebook on January 15 2021. The accompanying text, which implied that the aircraft would be used in some military operation in Washington, read:

🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🚨🚨🚨🚨 Washington, DC 50min ago. "Preparing for inauguration" Blackhawks, ospreys, scout helos. ...dont think so...

This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:

Facebook screenshot

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Sat Jan 16 20:26:48 2021 UTC)

First, there is nothing in the video that indicates the video was recording in Washington. No local landmarks or signs are visible.

Since the Facebook video purportedly showing the helicopters flying over Washington on January 15, 2021 is identical to a video uploaded more than a week earlier on TikTok, it could not have been recorded that day.

@jaymb1719

Flyover! ##militaryaircraft ##military ##goviral ##foryoupage ##cv22osprey ##helicopter ##coolvideos ##fyp ##viral_video ##tiktokvideo

♬ original sound - Jabree McCants-Barbe

The same TikTok account also uploaded a video in April 2020 that appeared to be recorded at the same time and place:

@jaymb1719

osprey. ##aircraft ##militarylife ##militaryaircraft ##tiktokvideo ##viralvideo ##flyinghigh ##fyp ##foryoupage ##coolvideos ##osprey ##v22 ##tiktok_denmark

♬ original sound - Jabree McCants-Barbe

The hashtag ##tiktok_denmark suggests it was recorded in Denmark. Also, a car license plate seen in the video is consistent with Danish tags:

image (75).png

While we cannot conclusively say the flyover was in Denmark or exactly when it happened, we can decisively say it was before April 27, 2020 and not on January 15, 2021 in Washington, D.C.

Want to inform others about the accuracy of this story?

See who is sharing it (it might even be your friends...) and leave the link in the comments.:


  Alan Duke

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke

About Us

International Fact-Checking Organization Meta Third-Party Fact Checker

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!.

Lead Stories is a:


WhatsApp Tipline

Have a tip or a question? Chat with our friendly robots on WhatsApp!

Add our number +1 (404) 655-4223, follow this link or scan the image below with your phone:

@leadstories

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Lead Stories LLC:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Most Read

Most Recent

Share your opinion