The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) has become the latest subject of unfounded rumours.
Earlier today, a tweet from Ashton Forbes (@JustXAshton), who identifies as a citizen journalist, appears to spread misinformation that the USS Eisenhower had been sunk.
This shocking statement has already caused significant confusion online.
Forbes tweeted, “🚨Breaking🚨 A source has informed me that the USS Eisenhower has been SUNK. Mainstream media reports from yesterday claim the ship was not hit by Houthi missiles. Social media shows conflicting reports of damage.” The tweet quickly gained traction, with many users expressing concern and seeking more information.
Forbes later added, “Yeah I wanted to hold back on this story in case it’s not true but I trust my source and the media reports stink to me. If this ends up being wrong I’ll retract but the implications are too huge to not report.”
However, responsible journalism does not operate this way. Credible reporting requires thorough verification of facts before disseminating information to the public. Spreading unverified claims can cause unnecessary panic and confusion, undermining the public’s trust in media.
The commanding officer of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Capt. Christopher F. Hill, known as “Chowdah,” did not address the rumors directly. Instead, he posted videos on Twitter showing the ship conducting normal operations and, more importantly for myself trying to make dinner, footage of the ship’s crew baking some cookies in the ship’s bakery.
I infiltrated the bake shop because I smelled something interesting from way down the p-way. pic.twitter.com/8BkWFdI5LU
— Chowdah Hill (@ChowdahHill) May 31, 2024
Image Analysis: Discrepancies Unveiled
The image circulating on social media, posted Forbes and purportedly showing the sinking was identified as a screenshot from the video game Arma 3. The image depicted the fictional carrier USS Freedom (CVN-83), not the real USS Eisenhower.
To provide further clarity, we analyzed the images in question. The first image shows the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the second depicts the fictional USS Freedom from the game Arma 3, and the third image is the one tweeted by Ashton Forbes, which he claimed showed the sinking of the Eisenhower.
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
- The real carrier has a distinct superstructure (island) with specific radar and communication equipment configurations unique to the Nimitz-class carriers.
- The design and placement of the various antennas and radar domes on the Eisenhower are characteristic of this class and differ significantly from the fictional USS Freedom.
USS Freedom (Arma 3)
- The fictional carrier in the game Arma 3, designated as USS Freedom (CVN-83), has a different island design.
- The superstructure features different shapes and placements of radars and antennas compared to the Nimitz-class carriers.
- The screenshot clearly shows these unique features, which match the superstructure in the image tweeted by Forbes.
Tweeted Image Analysis
- The image tweeted by Ashton Forbes, which allegedly shows the Eisenhower sinking, matches the superstructure of the fictional USS Freedom, not the real USS Eisenhower.
- The distinctive radar and communication array visible in the tweeted image aligns with the Arma 3 depiction, not the actual configuration of the Eisenhower.
Oh, and forgetting all that, it’s from January.
This incident underscores the challenges of the digital age, where false information can quickly overshadow verified facts. The U.S. Navy has confirmed that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower remains unharmed and operational, continuing its mission.
Ashton Forbes, despite his self-identified role as a citizen journalist, has (I’m told) a history of posting sensational and often unverified claims, particularly about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370). MH370 was a commercial flight that disappeared in 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, leading to numerous conspiracy theories and widespread speculation about its fate.
Forbes’ involvement in propagating these theories has raised questions about the reliability of his reporting, but I’m not very familiar with this topic, so I would encourage you to verify them for yourself.
His latest post about the USS Eisenhower serves as a reminder of the importance of skepticism and the need to verify information from reliable sources. As misinformation continues to circulate, it is crucial for the public to rely on credible sources and official statements for accurate news.
For now, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower sails on, and its crew can continue baking cookies and performing their duties without concern.
nonsense utter fabrication just click bait for the retarded
Any news of UFO’s landings or Lord Lucan?
Orany evidence of a hard 2.5% defence budget!
As part of the Government’s commitment to upgrade service families’ accommodation over the next decade, long lead items such as kitchen sinks are being preordered. To achieve best value for money, all kitchen, toilet and bathroom sinks owned by central and local government are being replaced at the same time, the order being placed through DE&S, MOD’s procurement arm, and included in MOD’s budget. A final order of kitchen sinks for Ukraine to help start the post-war rebuilding effort has been added. James Cartlidge, Minister for Defence Procurement has hailed this as a triumph for his new Integrated Procurement Model.
In answer to a written question by former MP James Healey, Mr Cartlidge said, by adding everything including the kitchen sinks into MOD’s budget, Defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP this year, six years ahead of schedule.
A spokesperson for Slough-based Edwardian Plumbing, rumoured to have been granted the £5bn contract without competition, said it was the largest Black Friday Sale order they’d ever had. It includes enough fittings to sink an American aircraft carrier, he quipped.
Some unconfirmed elements may have been included in this report and I am waiting to see if anything can be verified later by responsible journalists. I thought it was too important not to share and I can always retract it later.
A lot talk about it and huffing and puffing but no real hard evidence.
I heard Lord Xenu sank the Eisenhower because there wasn’t enough Scientologists on board. Damn pesky Thetans!!
Its an understandable story 🤣…certain quarters still believe Invincible was sunk in 82, replaced by another CVS we had in our back pocket and the loss of the crew covered up…
And that was in the days before t’interweb net!
“certain quarters still believe Invincible was sunk in 82, replaced by another CVS we had in our back pocket and the loss of the crew covered up…”
I heard this story just recently and I thought there is no way anyone was stupid enough to believe such rubbish but apparently there was a quite a few conspiracy theorist types who did. Now it seems it’s gotten a new lease on life on the internet and if there is one thing I’ve learn is that no matter how obviously absurd a story is, there is someone somewhere who will believe it.
Indeed. Hence the persistence of ‘phishing’ scams that look pathetically obvious to 99.9…% of the population, but can still turn a profit successfully scamming the remainder.
The two survivng Argentine A4 Skyhawk pilots reported seeing Invincible ‘on fire’. Exeter’s captain (Hugh Balfour) generously suggested that they may have seen his ship covered in the ‘smoke’ from the Sea Dart firings that had knocked-down two of the Skyhawks.
Where is the Eisenhower on the marine radar maps? Looking but can’t find it. Can find other uss carriers.
Oh he was squirming on the hell site yesterday!
Damage control in full flow trying to justify what he did.
It was comedy gold.
I think that it’s important to give credit where it’s due and leadership matters…
It is now normalized for Americans to believe in Alternative Facts thanks to the leadership of the former president #45, know as convict trump.
Who could not be persuaded by a platform called truth social dot com filled with the first amendment free speech rage posts of a former leader of the free world.
Talking about victimless crimes and projecting political bias onto city and state judiciary adds to the debate, and contrasts the political bias of the Supreme Court that no longer upholds the Constitution.
Nobody can say that some 246 years wasn’t a good attempt at running a democratic Republic but when it’s had it’s time, change is needed and dictatorship should have its turn…
60 presidential elections before abolition would be 59 more than Hamas managed.
To be fair to the current SCOTUS, it upholds the Constitution, although to the letter rather than to its spirit. Some Founding Fathers warned against enumerated rights, but the others just scoffed and said nobody would be that literal. If Americans no longer have Federal protection of Roe v Wade, it’s up to the states’ legislators and the people of those states who vote them in. Is that really undemocratic?
There’s a good chance that the abolition of Roe vs Wade will impact 50% of the US voters so that they do vote against going back a couple of centuries as some states have already done.
SCOTUS has chosen not to be textual by ignoring Amendment 14 section 3 to deliver political bias and inconsistency with their recent approach.
Thus they are engaged in insurrection or supporting the same. Sadly for America there is no democracy once a Supreme Court judge is appointed for life. So term limits are proposed to end the corruption.
The bias for elected public office within the Republic has been misunderstood that party politics should trump Jurisprudence which was supposed to be the core function of SCOTUS, pun intended.
Quite an irony that appointment for life means the judges have no tenure risk from the next president so are well placed to uphold the Constitution textually and with Jurisprudence, unlike the politicians.
Amazing that they have not considered the impact of a candidate who plans to repeal the Constitution and abolition of the three coequal branches of government i.e. no Judiciary at all, just dictatorship.
Methinks you clowns doth protest too much. Carriers are floating coffins. Welcome to the future, where the houthis just humiliated America. Talk is cheap but interceptor missiles aren’t.
Hi Ashton.
😄
I could call myself a ‘citizen journalist’ and post a lot of random nonsense on Twitter, and so could anyone else. There’s not a lot that can be done about that, or about the gullibility of many readers.
In a similar vein, there’s a guy called ‘Brandon Weichert’ who produces copious articles for nationalinterest.org, almost all of which boil down to ‘I hate aircraft carriers’ followed by the same spurious rationalisations as to why they’re obsolete.