Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
A US ship carrying F-16 fighter jets has reached Israel’s west coast.
Fact
The video shows a US Navy ships narrowly avoiding head-on collision in San Diego Bay back in 2022 and has no connection with the recent Israel-Palestine Conflict.
A 21-second video showing two ships moving side-by-side in the sea is going viral on social media with the claim that it showed “USS aircraft carriers safely arriving in Israel, carrying 5 F-16 fighter jets.” Users sharing the claim further claimed that it showed America’s commitment to defending Israel.
One such post, shared by Anurag Kanaujia can be viewed here.| Archive link
This video has been shared by many other users on X with the same claim. Those posts can be viewed by clicking here, here and here.
Several Facebook users have also shared the video with similar claims. Such posts can be viewed here, here and here.
Fact Check / Verification
In order to ascertain the facts behind the viral video, we extracted the keyframes of the viral video and conducted reverse image searches on Google and Yandex. This lead us to several web reports that carried the viral video.
One such report by THE INDEPENDENT published on December 1, 2022, revealed that the video was from a channel of California’s San Diego Bay.
According to the report, “two US Navy warships were forced to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a head-on collision in San Diego Bay. Video captured by San Diego Webcam shows the guided-missile destroyer Momsen entering the harbour as the dock landing ship Harper’s Ferry exits. The ships appear to be moving directly towards each other before the Momsen makes a hard turn to the left to avoid the larger ship.”
We also found a 32.53-minute video on the YouTube channel ‘San Deigo Web Cam’ referenced in the report by Independent. The video was uploaded on November, 30, 2022, under the title ‘Warship Chicken – More Context.’ The segment of the video that went viral can be seen here.
We found another report published by the ‘NBC San Diago’ titled, “Navy Ships Steer Last Minute to Avoid Head-On Crash in San Diego Bay” published on 30 November 2022. Relaying the same information, the report read, ‘a potentially close encounter unfolded as two US Navy ships, namely the USS Momsen and USS Harpers Ferry, passed each other in San Diego Bay. The incident occurred between North Island’s Ammunition Pier and the western tip of Shelter Island and was recorded by a webcam, subsequently leading to a Naval inquiry.’
The same news had been published by ABC News, NewYork Post, Fox News with the same video back in 2022.
It was also broadcasted by several news channels, which can ben seen here, here and here.
Conclusion
Our investigation confirms that the viral video claiming to show US ships carrying F16s to Israel is actually from 2022 and portrays a close encounter between two ships in US’ San Diego Bay. The video has no link to the recent Israel-Palestine conflict.
Result: False
Our Sources:
1. Report published by The Independent, dated 1 December, 2022
3. Report published by NBC San Diago, dated 1 December, 2022
4. Video published by The Independent, dated 1 December, 2022
5. Report published by ABC News, dated 2 December, 2022
6. Video published by San deigo Web cam, dated 30 November, 2022
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form.
Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
