Recently, amidst the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States, an image resembling a satellite photo has been circulating on social media. It is claimed that to thwart airstrikes, Iran has painted pictures of fake fighter jets on its airbase runways and relocated the real aircraft to underground bunkers. Among the three fighter jets depicted on the ground in the circulated image, the middle one appears to be destroyed.
See the Facebook posts circulating with this image here (archive), and here (archive).
Fact-check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team reveals that the circulated image is not authentic. In fact, it was generated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Upon investigating the image in question, no evidence was found from any reliable international media sources to support the claim that the image is real. A closer observation of the circulated photo reveals inconsistencies in certain areas, which are typical hallmarks of AI-generated imagery.
To further verify whether the image was created using AI, the Rumor Scanner team utilized Google’s specialized detection technology, ‘SynthID’. An analysis of the image using SynthID confirmed that it was generated with the assistance of Google’s AI technology.
Therefore, the viral image claiming to show fighter jets painted on an Iranian airbase to evade airstrikes is fake, and entirely AI-generated.
Sources
- SynthID
- Rumor Scanner’s analysis