No, video doesn't show US drone shot down by Houthi rebels on September 16, 2024

What's the claim?

A video is circulating on TikTok with the false claim that it shows a U.S. drone shot down by Yemen's Houthi rebels on September 16, 2024. The viral video has text overlays saying "Breaking News" and "Yemen has used a modern Russian air defense system to shoot down the latest US aircraft." Another text overlay dates the incident as September 16, 2024. The first clip of the video appears to be of a military drone on fire in the sky and eventually crash landing at 9 seconds of the video. The video cuts in the last second to a separate clip of a wreckage on the ground. The archived link of the viral post can be found here. 

Screenshot of the Tiktok post claiming to be a video of an U.S drone shot down over Yemen on September 16 2024. (Source: TikTok/Modified by Logically Facts)

In response to the Israel-Hamas war, Yemen's Houthi rebels have engaged in a campaign attacking ships on the Red Sea and sending missiles towards Israel since November 2023. This has been met by airstrikes from the U.S. and the U.K. The U.S. military has acknowledged on September 18 2024 that Houthi rebels did shoot down a MQ-9 drone on September 16, 2024. 

However, we found that the clips in the viral video don't show the recent September 16 drone incident. 

The first clip

A reverse image search of keyframes from the first clip in the viral video led us to a Times of Israel report published on June 1, 2024. The same clip is attached to the report and is said to be an Israeli Hermes 900 UAV crashing in Southern Lebanon after being hit by a Hezbollah ground-to-air missile on June 1, 2024.

Screenshot of Times Of Israel article about an Israeli drone shot down over Southern Lebanon on June 1 2024. (Source: The Times of Israel)

This incident was also reported by other media outlets like Reuters and the Associated Press.

Hezbollah and Israel have engaged in several missile and drone attacks against each other since October 2023 when Hezbollah launched a rocket attack on Israel in support of Gaza after the October 8 attack.  

Where is the second clip from?

A reverse image search of keyframes from the second clip led us to local Yemeni reports containing images and videos resembling the viral clip. The reports term them as visuals released by the Yemeni military media of an American MQ-9 UAV that was shot down on August 4, 2024, over the Sa'ada governorate in Yemen. 

A comparison of the second video clip in the viral video with visuals uploaded by Yemeni news outlets on August 4. (Source: TikTok/Saba Net/Modified by Logically Facts)

We found another video report of the incident with the same details and visuals posted by Euronews (archived here) on its official YouTube channel on August 5, 2024. Other media outlets, including AFP, reported on the incident with visuals seen in the viral clip. We also found a longer version of the video clip uploaded on August 4, 2024, on the Yemeni military media website, as mentioned in the multiple reports. 

Was an American drone shot down on September 16?

The American military has now confirmed that two MQ-9 drones were shot down over Yemen on September 10 and September 16. However, the visuals released by the Yemeni military media website of the September 16 drone incident appeared quite different from the visuals of the viral video.

While we could not independently verify whether the clips in the viral video actually show the drone-related incidents mentioned in the media reports or as claimed by the Yemeni Military Media, it is clear that they are not related to the recent September 16 drone incident as they have been available online prior to that date. 

The verdict

While the U.S. Army has now confirmed that a U.S. drone was shot down on September 16 over Yemen, the viral video actually uses old video clips of drones reportedly taken out by Hezbollah over Southern Lebanon on June 2024 and a U.S. drone claimed to be taken out by the Yemeni military over Sa'ada governorate in Yemen on August 4, 2024.