Skip to main content

PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Religion & belief fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about religion & belief. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,371 published reviews in this topic

Fact CrescendoReligion & belief

Claim: Fake news that Noah used ark put up for exhibition in Israel

Publisher’s rating: False

Fact Crescendo investigated a social-media post describing a photograph of a large wooden ship as “Noah’s Ark in Israel.” The review says the image was shared on Facebook by C M Jacob on May 1, 2021, and that it was circulating with a caption identifying Israel as the location. The investigation’s conclusion was that the pictured structure was neither an ancient ark nor in Israel: it was a replica in Kentucky, in the United States. To check the image’s location, the review says it performed a reverse-image search. It traced the photograph to vaalexpressmedia.co.za, which identified the structure as part of a Christian theme park in Kentucky, created in 2016. The review also consulted the park’s website, arkencounter.com. It reports that the park’s creators described the structure as built to resemble the biblical Noah’s Ark. This evidence identifies the photographed ship as a modern replica rather than the historical vessel asserted in the post. The review further states that it found no information indicating that Noah’s Ark was in Israel. Its finding rests on the image’s reported provenance and the identification of the structure at the Kentucky park—not on evidence that the biblical story itself can be verified. It concludes that presenting this photograph as Noah’s Ark in Israel is false.

FACTLYReligion & belief

10 grams of ghee can produce 1 ton of oxygen during yajna

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examines a social-media video claiming that burning 10 grams of ghee during a yajna would produce one ton of oxygen. Its central objection is the scale of the claim: one ton is 1,000 kilograms, far more mass than the 10 grams of starting material. The review says that producing that much oxygen from the ghee would violate conservation laws, because the mass of the product cannot exceed the mass of the ghee in the reaction. The review also cites a scientist’s explanation of what happens when ghee burns: rather than releasing oxygen, its fatty acids consume oxygen in the fire. That account addresses the claimed mechanism as well as the implausible quantity. The article says it found the scientist’s explanation in a Facebook post and notes that The Hindu had also published an article debunking the claim; the supplied excerpt does not provide further details about either source. Taken together, the review’s mass-balance argument and its description of combustion directly contradict the claim that 10 grams of ghee can yield a ton of oxygen during a yajna. The supplied text identifies the accompanying item as a video but does not provide details that would independently establish its provenance or show how the claim was measured.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Mamata Banerjee has not been allowed to enter Puri Jagannath Temple yesterday. The temple administration told her that she is not a Hindu

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post alleged that Mamata Banerjee had tried to visit Puri Jagannath Temple on 19 April 2021, but temple authorities barred her because she was not Hindu. The review says its search found no recent reports of such a visit or denial: “When we searched about Mamata’s visit to the temple yesterday, no recent reports were found about her visit to the Puri Jagannath Temple.” It adds that a denial of entry would likely have been covered by prominent news agencies, but reports of such an incident were absent. The review also checked what Banerjee was doing on the date named in the post. It points to videos posted on the All India Trinamool Congress’s official Facebook page: “the live video of Mamata’s public meeting at Chakulia (Uttar Dinajpur) and the video of her press conference at Malda can be seen posted on the official Facebook page.” This supports the review’s conclusion that the post’s account of a temple visit that day was not substantiated. The allegation appears to draw on earlier controversy, but the review distinguishes that history from the claimed event. In 2017, some priests opposed Banerjee’s visit, yet the review says those who threatened to oppose it were detained and she went to the temple. It also notes a temple visit in February 2020. Those earlier events do not establish that she was turned away in April 2021; the review’s date-specific checks found no evidence of that claimed incident.