Fact Check: Clip of Iranian Missile Chasing and Blowing Up US Jet Is From a Game

March 11, 2026 | 10:00 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A video claiming that an Iranian missile destroyed a United States fighter jet circulated on Instagram [archive], Threads, and Facebook on March 2, 2026. The footage shows a missile chasing a fighter jet while leaving a condensation trail in the sky. At the end of the clip, the missile appears to hit the aircraft’s fuselage, sending two crew members ejecting into the air.

The caption accompanying the video states that the incident shows the moment Iran crippled the United States air fleet in an initial attack on February 28, 2026. But does the video really show an Iranian missile successfully destroying a U.S. aircraft?

FACT CHECK

Tempo verified the content using reverse image search. The results show that the footage is not from a war between Iran and the United States and Israel, but rather a clip from a video game.

Tempo’s investigation found the original video on the TikTok account games4642, uploaded on January 9, 2026. Although the post does not provide a full description, it includes the hashtags #games and #pubgmobile, confirming the content as an electronic game clip. The account contains around 35 posts, all of which display simulations of air and naval warfare.

The Game War Thunder

Some internet users said the fighter jet in the video is an F-4 Phantom. Tempo also found several similarities with the appearance of the F-4 Phantom II in the visuals of the video game War Thunder.

The similarities can be seen in the three fins on the tail, two jet engines, two elements resembling the right and left shoulders, wings with zig-zag cuts at the front, and a nose section resembling the tip of a certain type of ammunition.

About the F-4C Phantom II

According to the U.S. Air Force Museum (USAF) website, the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II first flew in May 1958 as part of the United States Navy’s fighter fleet. The U.S. Air Force began operating it in May 1963.

Historically, the F-4 Phantom served as a backbone aircraft during the Vietnam War (1965) and the Arab-Israeli War (1973). The aircraft can carry up to 16 missiles. However, its golden era in the United States has long ended; its production was officially halted in 1979, according to records from the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

A report by The Wall Street Journal reveals the opposite situation: Iran still relies on the F-4 Phantom to this day. Meanwhile, monitoring by Al Jazeera found no mention of the F-4 Phantom among the fighter jets deployed by the United States to confront Iran in the latest conflict.

CONCLUSION

Tempo’s verification concludes that the claim circulating online, which states that the video shows an Iranian missile successfully hunting down a U.S. fighter jet in a war that allegedly began on April 28, 2026, is false.

TEMPO FACT-CHECK TEAM

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