Claim: Video allegedly shows US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford burning after attack by Iranian missiles.
Conclusion: The claim is false. No credible evidence supports an Iranian missile strike setting the USS Gerald R. Ford on fire or forcing its permanent departure in September 2026. The USS Gerald R. Ford did catch on fire in March 2026 but that was not related to Iranian strikes. The video is a recycled AI-generated fabrication and no such real event occurred.
Rating: False 
Several social media users have claimed that Iranian missiles have set the US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford on fire. Verified X user ‘UsaReport07’ shared such a post with the caption : “Breaking: The US aircraft carrier Ford, which Trump underestimates and threatens with, is now burning under Iranian missiles and will leave forever!” Attached to the post is a 37 second video purporting to show the ship on fire after missile strikes. View the post below –
Other users have shared similar claims that can be seen here and here
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found it to be false. No reliable evidence indicates that Iranian missiles ignited a fire aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford or compelled its permanent withdrawal in September 2026. While the carrier did experience a fire in March 2026, the incident was not connected to Iranian military action. The circulating video is an AI-generated fabrication, reused to portray a fictional event as real.
Details:
We first conducted a reverse image search on various keyframes of the video to learn more about the origin. The search took us to an Instagram post uploaded on March 17, 2026 that has the same video. The post’s caption (translated into English) clarifies that “there is no official confirmation of the authenticity of the images or the exact location of the incident and warn about the large number of manipulated or AI-generated videos that circulate during conflicts…”
Next, we investigated whether the USS Gerald R. Ford had been set on fire by Iranian missiles during the conflict in March 2026. According to an official statement released by the US Navy, the fire “originated in the ship’s main laundry spaces.” The statement clarified that the “cause of the fire was not combat-related and is contained.”
Several news reports including one by News on Air and USNI News have also reported the same as above. None of these videos state that the fire was caused by Iranian missiles or any attack by Iran. CNN on their Facebook page has shared exclusive footage after the fire and some analysis. View a screenshot from CNN’s video below –
(Courtesy:CNN)
Lastly, we downloaded the video from the claim and ran it through Zero GPT’s AI detector to check its authenticity. The results proved that the video is likely created using AI and no such event occurred. View the screenshot of the results below –
According to an article on the current location of US carriers, the USS Gerald R. Ford completed a record-setting 326-day deployment and returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on May 16, 2026. As of early-to-mid September 2026 reporting, it remains in port/shipyard in the US, sidelined for the rest of 2026 and is not operating in the Middle East or under attack.
Thus, the claim is false.
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