January 28, 2026
When flight maps get memed
Somebody used spoofed ADSB signals to raster the meme of JD Vance
Prank or felony? Fake 'VP plane' draws JD Vance meme over Mar‑a‑Lago, comments explode
TLDR: Someone faked plane-tracking signals to “draw” a JD Vance meme over Mar‑a‑Lago using the Air Force Two identity. Comments erupted over whether it’s a serious crime or just meme mischief, with confused readers asking for explanations and others posting archives to prove it’s real, raising security concerns.
A flight-tracker prank lit up the internet: someone allegedly faked plane location signals (the pings websites use to show aircraft on a map) and “drew” the JD Vance meme right over Mar‑a‑Lago — while pretending to be Air Force Two, the Vice President’s plane. Cue chaos. One comment thundered that it’s “gotta be a federal crime,” while the curious asked, “Wait, where would we even see this?” The drama centered on ADS‑B Exchange, a public map that shows aircraft based on signals broadcasts.
If you’re new here: ADS‑B is just how planes announce their location; spoofing means faking those announcements. Community sleuths dropped proof breadcrumbs — an archive and a meme explainer via Know Your Meme — while others claimed it was still live on the map. Hot takes split hard: half calling it dangerous sky‑graffiti with national‑security vibes, half declaring it the most chaotic art installation of 2026. There were jokes about “age‑verifying planes” and “skywriting for hackers,” plus arguments over whether trackers should tighten verification. In short: the internet can’t decide if this was a crime, a meme, or both — but they’re absolutely glued to the flight map.
Key Points
- •A blog post by Alec Muffett reports an ADS-B signal spoofing incident.
- •Spoofed signals were used to raster a JD Vance meme over Mar-a-Lago.
- •The spoof allegedly used an ICAO identity labeled “AF2.”
- •A link to ADSBExchange’s globe viewer shows the trace with specific coordinates and a date filter for 2026-01-28.
- •The post includes a screenshot and notes visibility may be transient; it offers no further technical details.