Fake images of an explosion at Pentagon got viral – Read Fact Check

An image of explosion at Pentagon is going viral on social media. Several media outlets and millions of Twitter users shared this picture with the same claim.

An Indian media outlet by the name of Republic Bharat too posted on the same claim, but later deleted it.

The tweet spooked some investors. The S&P 500 dropped sharply in the minutes after the image was amplified by well-followed accounts. It later recovered those losses, reports NBC News.

Fact Check:

To investigate the viral claim DFRAC team used some keywords and found a tweet from Arlington Fire and EMS, the local fire and safety service which confirms that there had been no fire or explosion near the Pentagon.

Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) was also tagged in the above tweet.

Moreover, many social media users noted some features typical of AI-generated images, which have made it easier for non-specialists to create fake news with speed.

Conclusion:

With the investigation, it is clear that there is no explosion at Pentagon, but the images were AI generated, hence the claim of social media users it fake.