Was the Pentagon just hit by a large explosion?! Take a look at the viral photo, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Pentagon Was Just Hit By A Large Explosion!
A photo of an explosion at the Pentagon has gone viral on social media, with multiple “blue check” Twitter accounts, an Indian media outlet and Russian state media sharing it!
RT : Reports of an explosion near the Pentagon in Washington DC
Bloomberg Feed : Large Explosion near The Pentagon Complex in Washington D.C. – Initial Report
⚠️BREAKING – Initial Reports of a Large Explosion near The Pentagon Complex in Washington D.C.
A Fire is currently Burning at the Location of the Blast with Fire and Rescue Crews arriving On-Scene.
Initial Reports of a Large Explosion near The #Pentagon Complex in #Washington D.C.
A Fire is currently Burning at the Location of the Blast with Fire and Rescue Crews arriving On-Scene.
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Truth : Pentagon Was Not Hit By A Large Explosion!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created using AI technology, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : There Was No Pentagon Explosion
First, let me just confirmed that there was no explosion at the Pentagon yesterday or today. The Pentagon did not come under attack, as many people have claimed.
For one thing – no legitimate media outlet has reported on such an explosion. No, propaganda outlets like Russia Today (RT) do not count.
This incident has shown just how unreliable RT really is – it was the only state media agency to post the fake photo. RT deleted the photo hours later, but did not appear to apologise for the “mistake”.
Furthermore, police and fire officials in Arlington, Virgina, have confirmed that the viral photo is fake, and that there was no incident at the Pentagon. No explosion. No fire. No smoke.
@PFPAOfficial and the ACFD are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon.
There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.
Fact #2 : That Is Not The Pentagon
Anyone who has seen the facade / side profile of the Pentagon will immediately realise that the photo does not show the famous building.
The fake building looks like like a university than the Pentagon, which has a flat, sloping roof without a triangular Gable roof.
The facade of the Pentagon is also almost flat and uniform, with uniform, same-sized windows throughout.
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Fact #3 : The Photo Was AI Generated
The viral photo appears to be created using an AI image generator. If you look closely at the photo, you will see many discrepancies that suggest it was AI-generated:
- The facade of the building is distorted, with some windows merging together.
- The fence suddenly turns into crowd barriers, both of which have distortions with holes too.
- The lamp post appears to be distorted and cut off from its base, literally floating sideways.
Not shown below, but the concrete walkway also gradually fades into grass, which is another sign it was AI-generated.
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Fact #4 : Twitter Blue + Gold Accounts Helped Spread Fake Photo!
It is important to point out that while this viral photo tricked many people into thinking it was real, it was the new Twitter Blue and Twitter Gold accounts that helped it go viral.
The photo went viral because multiple Twitter Blue accounts shared the fake photo. Because many people still believe that blue check Twitter accounts are “verified” and therefore trustworthy, they shared it out too.
Elon Musk is responsible for this debacle, by allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry to purchase a blue check to masquerade as a “verified” Twitter account. That was how the fake Bloomberg Feed account was able to trick so many people to share this fake photo.
On top of that, Russian state media – RT (Russia Today) boosted the fake photo by reposting it on its Twitter Gold account, which is a paid and verified account. Even though RT finally deleted the tweet hours later, more than 38,000 people had already viewed the post, and many shared it because they believed RT verified the news.
Fact #5 : Indian News Channel Helped Spread Fake Photo
It also did not help that Republic TV – a right-wing, English language news channel in India, broadcasted a “Live & Breaking” news of the Pentagon explosion using nothing more than that fake photo!
To top it off, they even invited Professor Madhav Nalapat – “an international affairs expert” to opine on the fake explosion!
To be fair – Republic TV relied on RT to verify that news, with a chyron saying, “RT REPORTS EXPLOSION NEAR PENTAGON“. That ought to teach them for relying on Russian state media for facts…
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Republic TV claims the Pentagon was just hit by a massive explosion! 😲🤔
Here is my fact check : https://t.co/GndMXdMr4I#TechARP #Pentagon #Explosion #Military #USDOD #UnitedStates #Facts #FactsMatter #FactCheck #Hoax #Fake #FakeNews #AIGenerated #AI #ArtificialIntelligence pic.twitter.com/XaqglBsV3T
— Dr. Adrian Wong (@DrAdrianWong) May 24, 2023
Fact #6 : This Is Just AI-Generated Fake News!
This is yet another example of fake photos / videos / news created by artificial intelligence. Here are some other examples I fact checked recently:
- Did Morgan Freeman Just Call Joe Biden A Fool?!
- Did Pope Francis Suddenly Become A Fashion Icon?!
- Viral Donald Trump Arrest + Escape Photos Explained!
- Did Vladimir Putin Kneel Before Xi Jinping?!
- Was Bill Gates Destroyed In ABC News Interview?!
- 2023 Turkey Earthquake : Fake Photos + Scam Alert!
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Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
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