AI image of crashed jet falsely linked to Iran-Israel war

After Iranian state media said its forces had shot down two Israeli fighter jets, a report dismissed as "fake news" by an Israeli official, an image surfaced in posts falsely claiming it shows a downed F-35. But the picture contains visual inconsistencies typical of AI-generated content, an AFP analysis found.

"The F-35 shot down by Iran. Much bigger than I thought," reads the Korean-language caption of an image shared on Threads on June 15, 2025.

The image appears to show a massive fighter jet that has crashed in the desert and is missing its left wing. A crowd appears to have gathered around its nose.

It circulated after Iranian state media said the country's forces had downed two Israeli fighter jets during a massive Israeli air raid on June 13 (archived link). An Israeli official rejected the report as "fake news" (archived link).

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Screenshot of the false Threads post taken June 19, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same image was shared on South Korean forum Aagag, and a wider crop appearing to show the plane next to a road surfaced in similar Threads and X posts as well as in other forums such as SVR Forum, Ruliweb, MLB Park and Inven.

But the image has tell-tale signs of being AI generated, and the purported F-35 fighter jet does not match photos of the warplane.

In the version that shows the plane next to a road, the people surrounding the aircraft appear to be as large as the buses and one vehicle appears to be fused to the road.

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Visual insistencies contained in the falsely shared image -- highlighted and magnified by AFP

Moreover, the shape and size of the purported crashed jet -- which according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin measures just under 16 metres (52 feet) -- differs from F-35s as seen in photos available in AFP's archives (archived link).

An AFP photo of an Israeli F-35 also shows the symbol on its wing -- a Star of David on a circle -- is different to the symbol on the purported crashed jet's wing, which appears to be a star with a thick border.

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and photos of F-35s (right), with differences highlighted by AFP

While generative AI technology is rapidly improving, visual inconsistencies persist and are the best way to identify fabricated content.

The Iran-Israel conflict has triggered a wave of misinformation, which AFP has debunked here.