No, Video Doesn’t Show Florida State Guard Firing Surface-to-Air Missiles at Migrant Boats

On June 26, 2024, an X user posted a video appearing to show rockets being launched from the U.S. coast and claimed it showed the Florida State Guard firing missiles at migrant boats attempting to reach the island city of Key West (archived here).

“BREAKING: Governor Ron DeSantis orders the Florida State Guard to launch surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at migrant boats trying to land in Key West. Do you support this type of military action to prevent a migrant invasion?” the X user wrote.

The post had amassed more than 170,000 views at the time of this writing.

Some X users replying to the video said they did support the use of missiles to prevent migrants reaching the U.S.

“Unironically yes, i do support this type of military action against an invasion,” one wrote.

Another said: “Yes, should have started some time ago.”

However, the video was reversed, and therefore manipulated, and its creator has intimated was a joke, which is why we have rated it as “Originated as Satire.” It actually showed SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket boosters returning to Earth after NASA launched its Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) weather satellite into space on June 25, 2024.

The original video was captured aboard a boat tour organized by Star Fleet Tours, a company that charters boats to give customers views of space launches from Cape Canaveral.

Star Fleet Tours’ post on its X account read: “Two Falcon Heavy side cores landing after NASA’s GOES-U launch.”

NASA posted a live stream video of the June 25 rocket launch on YouTube. Coverage of the landing could be seen from 1:20:27, where the presenter told viewers it was the first time a GOES satellite was launched using SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket boosters.

Both boosters touch down seconds after 1:22:24.

The X user who uploaded the manipulated footage later published another post suggesting his original was a joke.

His X account bio stated he is a “memer,” and also jokingly stated he was the assistant to the press secretary of Florida.

Sources