Fact Check: Is the viral clip real footage of a US plane downed over Iran?

WASHINGTON, DC: A video has gone viral claiming to show a US fighter jet being shot down over Iran on April 3, 2026. This comes after Iranian media reported wreckage and a rescued crew member. But does the video actually show what it claims? Let’s fact‑check the footage and the claim.

Claim: A US F-15 was downed by Iran’s IRGC, as shown in this video

An X user account, @GBX_Press, posted a claim that Iran’s IRGC had shot down a US F-15 fighter jet over Qeshm Island. The post included a video showing a jet being hit by missiles.

The caption read, “BREAKING: The Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) announce the downing of an American F-15 fighter jet on Qeshm Island.”

The video depicts a US fighter jet attempting to evade a missile, ending with the pilot ejecting. Within a day of posting, the video received over 3.5 million views and more than 1,300 comments, with many users questioning its authenticity.

Some asked, “Is this true?”

Others wrote, “Examine this claim and the video with close attention to detail, and provide a well-supported response backed by dependable sources."

Another user specifically questioned, “Is this video footage of a US F-15 fighter jet getting shot down real?"

Fact Check: Fake, simulation game footage misleadingly circulates as real US jet crash

A video claimed to show a US warplane shot down over Iran on April 3, 2026, but it was first posted on February 28, the day US-Israeli strikes on Tehran sparked war in the Middle East, by social media accounts labeling it as footage from a military simulation game.

While Iranian media reported a warplane was downed, and US forces rescued one of the two crew members, the viral video circulating on X is unrelated to the real incident.

Clues like fake-looking trees and English voice effects reveal it’s computer-generated. Reverse image searches traced the clip to Instagram, posted by a 'gaming video creator' whose bio states, “All scenes shown are from a digital flight simulator. No real aircraft or weapons involved.”

An earlier version appeared on YouTube via the channel '@IgniteFluxYT,' which specializes in military simulation gameplay. The clip clearly identifies the aircraft as an F/A-18 Hornet simulation and includes the hashtag #flightsim. In reality, news reports from The New York Times and CBS confirm that the plane actually downed over Iran was an F-15E fighter jet.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.