Viral Claims of Pakistani Pilot Capture Found to Be False

New Delhi, India – Recent images claiming to show a Pakistani Air Force pilot captured by the Indian Army have been proven false by fact-checkers. The images circulated online following an incident near Jaisalmer, but investigations revealed a different story.

Newschecker began by conducting a reverse image search on the photos. The search led to an uncropped version taken on December 12, 2016, that depicted Turkish military personnel near a crashed F16 jet in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Reports from the time confirmed that the pilot safely ejected before the crash.

The investigation revealed that the glossy texture of the viral images raised suspicions of AI manipulation. An analysis using AI content detection tools indicated that the images had a 79.6% chance of being AI-generated.

As the false claims spread, the Indian Armed Forces had recently launched a campaign involving a Pakistani Ranger at the India-Pakistan border on May 7, 2025. The images were later confirmed to be computer-generated and used for representational purposes only.

Newschecker reached out to defense officials for comment on the viral images and awaits a response. The initiative remains committed to providing accurate information to combat misinformation.