Social media has made it possible for stories to go viral and travel around the world in a matter of minutes. When a post triggers a strong emotional reaction, whether amusement, fear, or awe, people tend to share it immediately without pausing to question if the images or claims are legitimate.
That speed often leaves truth playing catch-up. From AI-generated imagery and photoshopped hoaxes to misattributed video clips and long-standing urban legends, some of the most widely shared internet moments fall apart as soon as someone checks the original source. These 11 viral claims captured millions of eyeballs before fact-checkers, scientists, and official records set the story straight.
1. The Pope’s viral designer puffer jacket was created by AI
In March 2023, a striking image of Pope Francis strolling down the street in a plush white designer-style puffer jacket took social media by storm. The image appeared remarkably realistic at first glance, prompting widespread discussion about fashion and religious figures. However, investigators quickly traced the picture to the AI image generator Midjourney. A closer look at the render revealed key glitches, including blurred textures and distorted details around the pontiff’s right hand and coffee cup. Fact-checkers at Full Fact and AFP Fact Check documented the origin, making the image one of the first high-profile examples of generative AI misleading millions of internet users.
2. A fake Pentagon explosion briefly shook the stock market
On May 22, 2023, an image showing a column of black smoke rising near a building identified as the Pentagon spread rapidly across social platforms. The post gained traction after being shared by verified accounts, including one impersonating a Bloomberg news feed. Emergency officials in Arlington, Virginia, quickly confirmed that no explosion or hazard had occurred. Before the clarification could circulate, the false report caused brief real-world turbulence, with the S&P 500 dipping roughly 0.3 percent in a matter of minutes, as reported by The Washington Post.
3. The Hollywood sign never burned in those viral wildfire photos
During the severe wildfires in Southern California in January 2025, dramatic images began circulating online showing flames sweeping up Mount Lee and engulfing the famous Hollywood sign. While the fires caused widespread damage across the region, the Hollywood Sign Trust confirmed that the landmark remained completely untouched. Fact-checkers at Full Fact and AFP Fact Check analyzed the viral posts, noting obvious digital manipulation and AI-generated artifacts, including one widely shared version that accidentally spelled the landmark with an extra letter.
4. The Eiffel Tower fire video was actually a visual-effects project
In January 2024, dramatic video clips allegedly showing the Eiffel Tower engulfed in massive flames and surrounded by billowing smoke swept across TikTok and X. The clips gathered millions of views, leading many users to believe a major disaster was unfolding in Paris. However, live camera feeds and local news confirmed the landmark was entirely fine. Fact-checkers at Euronews traced the footage to a visual-effects project originally uploaded to YouTube in July 2023, where the creator had clearly tagged the video as a digital animation project.
5. The shark swimming down a flooded highway kept appearing in different hurricanes
Whenever a major storm strikes the United States, a familiar image of a large shark swimming along a submerged highway inevitably resurfaces online. The manipulated graphic has been falsely claimed as footage from Hurricane Irene in Puerto Rico in 2011, Hurricane Harvey in Houston in 2015 and 2017, Hurricane Florence in North Carolina in 2018, and Hurricane Ian in Florida in 2022. According to PolitiFact, the shark in the image was lifted from a 2005 magazine photograph of a great white, making it one of the longest-running hoaxes in internet history.
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6. Dolphins didn’t return to Venice’s canals during lockdown
When Italy instituted strict pandemic lockdowns in March 2020, peaceful videos appeared on social media showing dolphins swimming through clear waterways, accompanied by claims that marine life was reclaiming Venice’s main canals. While the story was widely celebrated as a silver lining of reduced human activity, National Geographic revealed that the video was actually filmed at a port in Cagliari, Sardinia, hundreds of miles away. Venice’s canals did appear clearer during the period, but that was due to reduced boat traffic settling sediment rather than the arrival of dolphins.
7. The elephants that supposedly got drunk during lockdown were just resting
Another widely shared story from spring 2020 claimed that a herd of 14 wild elephants in China’s Yunnan province had broken into a village, drank 66 pounds of corn wine, and passed out in a nearby tea garden. Endearing photos of two sleeping elephants in a field accompanied the posts. However, local authorities confirmed to National Geographic that while elephants had passed through the village, they had not raided wine stores or passed out drunk. Outlets that originally shared the report, including Live Science, subsequently issued corrections clarifying that the animals were simply taking a routine nap.
8. The giant human skeleton was actually made for a Photoshop contest
For over two decades, internet forum posts have claimed that archaeologists uncovered the giant skeleton of an ancient human, often alleging a cover-up by scientific institutions. A frequently shared photograph depicts a massive skull being brushed off by tiny excavation workers, with captions sometimes falsely attributing the find to National Geographic. The publication set the record straight by tracing the image to a 2002 digital art competition on the site Worth1000, where a user named IronKite created the image as an entry for an archaeological design challenge.
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9. The mysterious face on Mars turned out to be an ordinary landform
In 1976, NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft captured an image of a two-kilometer-long landform in the Cydonia region of Mars that bore a striking resemblance to a human face. The photograph fueled decades of speculative theories regarding ancient extraterrestrial monuments. However, when the Mars Global Surveyor flew over the region in 1998 and 2001, it captured high-resolution images under direct sunlight. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed that the “face” was simply a natural mesa, and the earlier appearance was caused by low-resolution cameras combined with long shadows.
10. The Great Wall of China isn’t visible from the Moon
A belief dating back to the early 20th century holds that the Great Wall of China is the only human-made structure visible to the naked eye from the Moon. NASA has debunked the claim on multiple occasions, explaining that seeing the Great Wall from the Moon without optical aid is physically impossible, given that the wall is relatively narrow and constructed from materials that blend into the surrounding terrain. In 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei confirmed the reality after his spaceflight, stating that he was unable to spot the landmark from orbit.
11. The Ghost of Kyiv was never a single superhuman fighter pilot
In the opening days of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, social media users began sharing stories about a heroic Ukrainian jet pilot nicknamed the “Ghost of Kyiv,” who was allegedly shooting down multiple enemy aircraft single-handedly. Video clips circulating online claimed to capture his dogfights. In April 2022, Ukraine’s Air Force Command issued an official statement clarifying that the Ghost of Kyiv was a collective symbol representing the bravery of tactical aviation pilots rather than a single individual, while news organizations noted that several popular video clips were created using a commercial flight simulator.
Explore more mind-blowing facts:
A critical look at the sources behind trending stories shows that online popularity is rarely a guarantee of accuracy. Exploring how rumors spread and how facts are uncovered can offer a fresh perspective on the information we consume every day. If you are in the mood for more fascinating facts and stories, make sure to explore these 20 Myths People Still Believe Are True or these 14 Unbelievable 20th Century Events That Sound Like Movies. You can also check out these 15 U.S. Law Myths Movies and Social Media Get Wrong.
