--- title: "Retired General Accidentally Tweets Video Game Footage Thinking It’s Real" description: "Retired US general Barry McCaffrey shared video game footage online, allegedly showing Ukrainian air defense systems shooting down Russian jets." date: "2022-05-17" modified: "2022-05-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/retired-general-video-game-footage" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "misinformation" - "Russia" - "the digest" - "tiktok" - "ukraine" --- # Retired General Accidentally Tweets Video Game Footage Thinking It’s Real ![Retired US general Barry McCaffrey shared video game footage online, allegedly showing Ukrainian air defense systems shooting down Russian jets.]() *\Image: Twitter\* ## Four Star Gullible Retired US four star general Barry McCaffrey, who also served as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under the Bill Clinton administration and [makes regular TV appearances]() as an expert on military affairs, shared a video yesterday of what he said was a "Russian aircraft getting nailed by \[Ukraine\] missile defense" on Twitter — only to realize minutes later that the choppy footage came from a video game. "Russians are losing large numbers of attack aircraft," McCaffrey argued in the [now-deleted tweet](). "Ukraine air defense becoming formidable." The incident goes to show how quickly misinformation can disseminate online, particularly when it comes to geopolitical conflict. Twitter users were quick to point out McCaffrey's blunder. "This is a video game, General," one user wrote. "Very realistic but a good lesson to verify sources/material before posting online." ![]() ## Fooled The [video](), which has been uploaded countless times to a number of social media platforms, shows several computer generated fighter jets succumbing to air defense missiles. The footage was recorded in the video game ARMA 3, a popular military tactical shooter from 2013. It's far from the first time altered or misleading footage has spread like wildfire, particularly when it comes to the conflict in Ukraine. Millions of people are sharing fake videos on TikTok about the war in Ukraine, as [the *BBC* reported last month](). Much of the footage comes from past conflicts or shows military drills, which ends up being presented as genuine and contemporary to tens of millions of people. Social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter have clearly struggled to contain the spread of these misleading videos, as demonstrated by McCaffrey's post. McCaffrey, for his part, didn't tweet anything acknowledging the error. It's a parallel conflict that itself may not end directly in bloodshed, but could end up swaying the minds of the larger population, an important weapon in the arsenal of superpowers like the US or Russia. **More on Ukraine:** *[Elon Musk Alarmed by Threat From Russian Space Program Chief]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()