"The first casualty of war is truth." —U.S. Senator Hiram Warren Johnson, 1917
"In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." —U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 1943
"Let's make up some crazy stuff and see who believes it." —Everyone on the internet, circa 2025
It all began so simply, and very nearly believably, with a professional-looking video showing how Israel stashes Star Destroyers under residential buildings.
From there, things got absurd.
No one knows where the video came from, but it was posted Friday — seemingly without irony — by Islamic propagandist Sulaiman Ahmed (or as he styles himself: “Journalist, Geo-Politics, MA Philosophy, PGCE Mathematics, LLB Law”).
It starts slowly, showing various fighter jets stashed inside an otherwise innocent-looking high-rise apartment. Sure, the scale is off, and there's no answer to this one tiny little lingering question: "How do they fly them out?" But people tend to believe what they want to — particularly when they're getting their bee-hinds whipped in a lopsided war.
Still, anyone foolish enough to believe the Israelis had mastered the art of the vertical air force base should have had second thoughts at the stupidly fat missile where the elevator shaft would be. Or the aircraft carrier instead of an underground parking garage. And, yes, the Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars.
One Community Note claims the video was "released in response to Israel’s bombing of civilian areas in Palestine—including hospitals—under absurd pretexts." Except for the part where Hamas does use hospitals, schools, and residential areas as terrorist bases, as has been widely documented.
Let's be clear: Gaza is Hamas. Tel Aviv is just a nice city.
My guess — just a guess — is the Star Destroyer video was created by a pro-Israeli prankster, and then released into the wild to see what would happen. I say this mostly because I've seen the pro-Iran stuff, and it in no way measures up.
That brings us to the weekend's yuge absurdity. And I do mean yuge.
Somebody — perhaps at Iran's Tasnim news agency, which aired the claim — took a photo of an experimental F-35B that crashed last year at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, and altered it a bit. Tasnim cited it as proof that Iran had shot down an Israeli stealth fighter, with a female pilot, no less.
There's just one little problem. And I do mean little.
This image is circulating in Irani telegram channels. Some say its fake, but I say its proof of 3 meter tall Iranians around a super sized F-35, which until now was top secret. pic.twitter.com/IUKzccWTLY
— Montoya 🎗️ (@montoya_test) June 15, 2025
Somebody doesn't understand scale — that one-man cockpit could fit Captain Kirk's entire bridge crew. Either that jet crashed in Lilliput, or the Israelis have secretly developed a 300-foot-long F-35. (The real deal is about 51 feet long.)
Anyway, enjoy the fruits of internet randos doing what they do best.
UPDATE: Iran has announced it has shot down Israel’s Star Destroyer https://t.co/2Z1by5izhN pic.twitter.com/Jy3vMkcE6E
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) June 15, 2025
BREAKING 🚨: Iran has shot down a S.H.E.I.L.D. Helicarrier per Reuters pic.twitter.com/NLDGP2DEAA
— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) June 16, 2025
IRAN HAS SHOT DOWN A GIANT ZIONIST SQUID pic.twitter.com/FK1VdZXRcc
— Joo🎗️ (@JoosyJew) June 15, 2025
And for reasons I cannot explain, my personal fave.
Incredible, Iran claims to have shot down the zionist Israeli space raygun pic.twitter.com/6tOHMI4D1O
— Tapas (@Tapas1776) June 16, 2025
Let's finish with a video that I assure you is 100% real.
IRGC propaganda arm just hit
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 16, 2025
Alleged video shows the moment an IDF airstrike hit the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran. https://t.co/fLLnzag538 pic.twitter.com/5i8WWH3EfR
Nice shooting, fellas.
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