Clip of B-2 Spirit passing warships is digital creation
- Published on April 16, 2026 at 20:25
- 2 min read
- By AFP USA
The United States has deployed B-2 bombers to conduct strikes on Iran, but a widespread video claimed to show a Spirit stealth plane flying next to warships at sea is a digital creation. The account that first posted the clip specializes in mixed reality digital aviation videos, and the visual contains signs of inauthenticity, including a failure to react by the people on the ship's deck as the bomber approaches.
"Why does their morale need to be raised?" prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who lost a defamation lawsuit after calling the Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax, said in an April 13, 2026 post on X. "Trump has said over 25 times that we won the war!"
Jones's post continues, saying the video shows a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying "by a US Carrier in the Persian Gulf to raise troop morale during intense conflict" -- repeating a claim found in posts across social media.
The post came days after US President Donald Trump angrily lashed out at Jones and other well-known conservative commentators who have criticized the war against Iran.
The United States is enforcing a naval blockade on Tehran's ports following a failed attempt to broker a deal to end the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
Multiple US warships have been in the region since the outbreak of the war, and US Central Command did release footage of B-2 bombers taking off as part of Operation Epic Fury on March 13.
But reverse image searches revealed that the clip Jones shared originated on an account which labeled it as digitally created.
The video traces to March 3 posts on YouTube and Instagram from the profile "iceman_fox1," which says it is dedicated to "mixed reality digital aviation videos" (archived here and here). Both posts carry the disclaimer that the clip was "created digitally."
On Threads, "iceman_fox1" says its clips are "realistic DCS videos" -- a reference to the Digital Combat Simulator program (archived here).
Visual elements also hint at the video's inauthenticity, including the behavior of the people depicted standing on the deck of the aircraft carrier. They remain nearly motionless, making no reaction to the plane as it cruises past.
However, the "iceman_fox1" account shared the same clip to Facebook without any disclosure in the caption. Despite being debunked by British fact-checking organization Full Fact, it has circulated since in posts portraying it as footage of an actual event.
The owner of the account, whose videos AFP has found regularly mischaracterized online, previously confirmed that every video on their channels is created with Digital Combat Simulator.
"I do think it is irresponsible when other channels steal my videos and repost them solely for the purpose of convincing people that these videos are real," the user told AFP in October 2023.
AFP also reached out to the Pentagon to ask about the clip, but a response was not forthcoming. Official images of Operation Epic Fury are being released by the US government via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
Find more of AFP's reporting about the war in the Middle East here.
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