Fact-Check: Did Pakistan Shoot Down a US Air Force F-35 Jet in New Mexico? No!

The video dates back to May 2024 and shows a fighter jet which crashed in a military accident in USA's New Mexico.

An old video of a crash is being shared to falsely claim that it shows a USAF F-35A fighter jet that was shot down by Pakistan Air Force in US' Albuquerque, New Mexico.

(Source: X/Altered by The Quint)

A video showing fire and billowing smoke on a hillside is being shared on social media, where users have claimed that it shows a US Air Force (USAF) F-35 fighter jet which was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force in US' Albuquerque, New Mexico.

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

At the time of writing this report, this post by X user '@defencealerts' had gathered over six lakh views and more than 8,000 likes.

(Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, there are no credible reports about such an incident happening.

• Moreover, the video in the claim dates back to May 2024 and shows a USAF F-35 which crashed in New Mexico due to an accident.

How did we find out the truth?: We ran a reverse image search on the video using Google Lens, which led us to a NDTV report dated 29 May 2024.

• This report carried a screenshot of the video and said that a F-35 fighter jet had crashed in Albuquerque, New Mexico while en route to the Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California after refuelling at the Kirtland Air Force Base.

• It added that the pilot, though conscious, was seriously injured after ejecting from the jet and had been hospitalised after a military accident.

The report, carrying the same visuals, was published in May 2024.

(Source: NDTV/Screenshot)

The search also returned a result showing a video report by The Telegraph, which carried the same visuals as the clip in the claim.

• Stock visuals website Getty Images also shared footage of the military crash on 29 May.

• The caption noted that defense company Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the jet, "confirmed that an F-35B fighter jet went down after refueling at Kirtland Air Force Base."

Getty, too, shared the same clip.

(Source: Getty Images/Screenshot)

• The Kirtland Air Force Base also issued a statement about the crash on 11 June 2024, saying that "the cause of the crash is still under investigation."

• None of the credible sources which shared news of the crash mentioned the jet being shot down by Pakistani forces.

Conclusion: An old video of a military accident is being shared to falsely claim that it shows a USAF F-35 jet which was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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