“‘Satellites’ are on balloons and not in space.”
Social media posts
in an Instagram post. Claim dated 5 Feb 2023.
PolitiFact rated thisPants on Fire
What PolitiFact found
High-altitude surveillance balloons are not the same as satellites, which are launched into space by rockets. Satellites also orbit at much higher altitudes than balloon-powered devices.
Their words, from the summary they publish with the rating.
In short
This claim spread on social media around 5 February 2023. PolitiFact (United States) looked into it and published its finding on 7 February 2023, 2 days later. Its rating was “Pants on Fire”.
Where the claim appeared
- Saved copy of the posthttps://archive.is/JxLZO
- Saved copy of the posthttps://ghostarchive.org/archive/qMgjJ
Links recorded by PolitiFact. Some posts may have been deleted since.
This check was done by PolitiFact, not by DoesItStand. We list it so you can find it. Their full evidence and reasoning are in their article.