Fox Islands Campaign hoax

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Operation Piss Shoot
Part of the Kapresh Civil War

Photograph of a URM flag on a tree (proposedly) in South Fox Island
Date17 August 2021
Location
  • Drummond, Michigan (suggested by the photograph metadata)
  • Fox Islands (claimed by Evan Callies)
Result Determined as a hoax by numerous sources[1]
Belligerents
United Republics
Commanders and leaders
None present as operation was a hoax
Strength
3 ships
1 soldier
9 assissting civilians
(all disproven)
None present as operation was a hoax
Casualties and losses
1 wounded[a] None present as operation was a hoax

Operation Piss Shoot, better known as the codename for the Fox Islands Campaign, was a unsuccessful military operation mission carried out by 1 soldier of the United Republics Army and 9 assisting citizens of the United Republics on 17 August 2021. Claiming to "capture" both North & South Fox Island from Kapreburg and Baustralia, it was revealed to be a hoax through forensic analysis of image metadata, an uncommon tactic in micronational warfare. Mainly infamous are the photographs for this hoax; later being found to be taken on Drummond Island.

Preparation

In early July 2021, Evan Callies started planning an operation to take the Islands from the Baustralian and Kapresh crowns under the Grand Republic of Kapreburg. Jacob Vancapelle opposed to this operation due to the history of a pedophile ring on one of the islands, c. 1960. Callies and Vancapelle debated the operation before communication was broken between the two. After this, Callies decided to "invade" the Fox Islands anyway on behalf of his own nation.

Claimed occupation and disproval

On the early morning of 17 August 2021, the United Republics claimed to have set off of Beaver Island in Lake Michigan to the Fox Islands, taking three boats to the islands. When they arrived, they mounted two flags on trees: one for each island. Metadata embedded in the photographs revealed that the photographs were taken at a different location. A few hours later, although unlikely given the distance between the three islands, they returned to Beaver Island. King Jackson I of Kapreburg suggested this trip would have taken around eight hours, rather than "a few".

Two photographs were taken during this claimed campaign: United Republic forces purported (and retain) one image to be of the flag hung against a tree in South Fox Islands, while the other was taken of the same on the north.

KNAP investigation

Immediately upon the news of the invasion, many people found these claims to be extreme, and unlikely. The KNAP Central Intelligence Unit began an investigation into the matter the same day.

The Kapresh letter, with further investigation by the Baustralian Armed Forces, revealed the images were taken from an iPhone 6S, on 17 August 2021, at 9:00 p.m., ET. The time zone was found to be dubious, considering the time of year and the position of the sun in the pictures. The KNAP suggested that the picture would have to have been taken in Brazil for the time zones to match up.

Further evidence of the faked landing can be seen in the tagged location. The coordinates led to the outside of a wooded area, with a rocky beach, and a boat dock on Drummond Island. In one picture, a flag can be seen on a rocky beach, claimed to be South Fox Island. Satellite imagery can prove that Drummond Island does in fact have rocky beaches, but South Fox Island does not. Baustralians joked about the investigation taking five minutes to determine the campaign a hoax.

In the KNAP investigation, it is mentioned that the areas that Callies claimed to have landed on was private property, and it would have been trespassing to land on this part of the island. Nothing ever came of this accusation, however.

Notes

  1. Claimed by the URM, a citizen supposedly fell by accident on South Fox Island and wounded himself.

References

  1. Jackson I. "Disproval of the Fox Islands Campaign (Operation Piss Shoot)" (PDF). Retrieved 19 August 2021.