Old video of fighter jets viral as video of US Navy flying in Taiwan ahead of Nancy Pelosi’s visit

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on August 2, 2022, amid tensions with China. Nancy Pelosi issued a statement after arriving in Taiwan. In the official address, she said that the visit of the American congressional delegation to Taiwan honours the country’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.

Against this backdrop, a video of multiple fighter planes flying simultaneously is viral on social media. This video has been recorded from a ship in the middle of the sea. While sharing the clip, many have claimed that US Navy fighter jets were seen flying near Taiwan ahead of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

Journalist Aji Rasheed Ali associated with Zee Media tweeted the video and wrote that the world was on the verge of World War III as US Navy warplanes were flying near Taiwan. He added, “Before Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, there were still many strong statements from China. Tension in the region has reached its highest level.” (Archived link)

World War III is on the verge.❗️
US Navy warplanes fly near Taiwan. Before Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, there are still very strong statements from China. Tension in the region has reached its highest level.‌‌ pic.twitter.com/sKtTXzwQ31

— Aji Rasheed Ali اجی رشید علی (@ajirasheed) August 3, 2022

A user named Vinod Mishra tweeted this video and wrote that a fleet of 20 fighter planes reached Taiwan with Nancy Pelosi. They have all been given permission to fire back in case of an attack. This is called the ‘security circle’. (Archived link)

नैंसी पेलोसी के साथ 20 फाइटर्स प्लेन का बेड़ा ताइवान गया था। इन सभी को हमला के वक़्त जवाबी हमले का पहले से ही आदेश था। इसे कहते है सुरक्षा चक्र।#Taiwan #NancyPelosi #ChinaTaiwanCrisis pic.twitter.com/rFc25LXNpS

— Vinod Mishra ‘बिनोद’ (@vinod9live) August 3, 2022

Hindi daily ‘Rajmangal Times’ tweeted this video with a similar claim. (Archived link)

Turkish media EHA News also made a similar claim while tweeting this video. (Archived link)

The footage is also widespread on Facebook and Twitter as a fleet of 20 fighter planes arriving in Taiwan with Nancy Pelosi.

Fact-check

Alt News performed a reverse image search of several frames of the viral video using Google and Yandex. We found the original video on Youtube, which had been uploaded on April 15, 2021. Another YouTube video from June 27, 2021, contains better visuals of the viral video.

The title of these videos mentions the “US Navy”, “SA West Philippine Sea”, etc. However, we could not find any related news reports to corroborate this claim. Hence, Alt News cannot independently verify this bit of information as of yet. We will update this article when we receive more information. But, it is clear that this video was shared at least a year before Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit.

To sum it up, several social media users falsely shared an old video as footage of US Navy fighter jets flying near Taiwan ahead of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the country.