Did US Space Force take over FAA’s air traffic control systems?

Earlier this week, people began sharing a rumor claiming the U.S. Space Force took over the Federal Aviation Administration, including air traffic control.

For example, on Nov. 5, a Facebook user posted (archived) the rumor, alleging President Donald Trump and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk were taking the U.S. into World War III. That post read in part:

LOOKS LIKE TRUMP AND MUSK ARE STILL TRYING TO KILL US ALL WITH WW3! Look what just happened LAST NIGHT WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING! WE ARE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET WITH THESE CRAZY PSYCHOS! SPACE FORCE JUST TOOK OVER THE FAA. AIR TRAFFIC IS NOW MILITARY.

From Lisa Derry (link at the end of this quote):

The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control system was transferred to the United States Space Force.

The corporate media is calling it a “temporary integration.” A “national security precaution.” A “seamless transition.”

THEY ARE LYING TO YOU BECAUSE THE FAA WAS NEVER JUST ABOUT AIRPLANES.

What they are hiding in total panic: At exactly 01:00 AM Eastern this morning, the authority over every civilian air traffic control tower in the United States was transferred to Space Force Command. The transfer was signed at 11:47 PM the night before. It was not a budget decision. It was not a security review. It was a takeover.

No congressional hearing. No public announcement. No explanation.

THE SKIES ARE NOW MILITARY AIRSPACE.

Other users shared the same claim on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived) and X (archived).

Snopes readers also emailed to inquire about the rumor. For example, one person asked, “Is this true? The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control system was transferred to the United States Space Force.”

Another reader sent, “This is going viral on the internet tonight. Is this true? The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control system was transferred to the United States Space Force.”

In sum, Snopes’ research, as well as our correspondence with Air Force and FAA officials, confirmed this rumor was false.

An FAA spokesperson told Snopes via email, “There is absolutely no truth to this rumor.” A Space Force spokesperson also said, “These claims are false.” (The government organizes Space Force under the Air Force, though both are still considered separate branches of the Armed Forces.)

Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo, as well as various social media platforms, found no news media outlets credibly reporting Space Force took over the FAA’s air traffic control systems.

According to those same search engine queries, X user Mr. Pool, or @looP_rM_3117211, appeared to first post (archived) the fabricated story, minus the World War III mention, on Monday.

(Mr. Pool (@looP_rM_3117211) via X)

The same user, Mr. Pool, also recently shared other false- or unfounded-appearing stories also with the same writing structure resembling artificial intelligence-generated text, both on Telegram and X. For example, on Monday, the user falsely alleged a patent on a “suppressed” cancer cure from 1971 “just expired,” adding that a “55-year cancer blockade” was “over.”

We attempted to contact the X user, who is also on Telegram, to ask questions, including to confirm the user created the story and used AI to write it. We will update this article if we receive further details.

How we know it’s written with AI

A scan of the post’s full text with the Pangram AI detection tool returned a result reading, “100% of this text is AI,” as well as, “We believe that this entire text is AI.” 

Snopes doesn’t rely solely on AI detection tools to identify AI-produced content. Since some tools appear to vary in reliability, we consider the tools’ results as one of several data points toward judging authenticity. For Pangram, we bear in mind the platform’s strong performance in third-party and internal evaluations, as well as criticisms of the tool.

Outside of AI detection tools, visible signs of AI included the tricolon writing style — which reports have said can be an indicator of AI writing — with the words, “No congressional hearing. No public announcement. No explanation.” 

Other signs of AI we observed included the post’s full text featuring three bullet points with emojis, as well as the following dramatic, forward-thinking conclusion for which we’ve found AI tools seem to commonly generate:

You don’t transfer the FAA to Space Force unless you are ready to take control of the entire airspace above the United States.

They told you the FAA was civilian. They called you crazy for questioning the transfer. They laughed when you said the sky was being militarized.

Look at the flight boards tonight. The planes are still flying. But the system that guides them is no longer civilian. The sky is not falling. It is being claimed.

The airspace was never yours. It was always theirs. And now it is being taken back.

For further reading, we previously reported whether Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut, said Trump forming the Space Force military branch was a dumb idea.

Sources