Conspiracy theorists have managed to go viral after spreading false claims that the devastating wildfires that have torn through the island of Maui in Hawaii were started by a 'space laser.'
93 people have died as a result of the fires making it the deadliest in modern US history and destroying most of the beautiful island's natural habitat.
Yet, whenever the climate is related to a tragic story it doesn't take long for conspiracy theorists to try and spin the narrative to make others think what they are seeing isn't really about the state of the planet.
One of the most farfetched theories doing the rounds in connection to the Hawaii fires is that they were caused by a space laser aimed at Maui, as noted by Forbes.
A verified account on Elon Musk's X website, formerly known as Twitter, asked its followers: "This photo is circulating social media. Apparently, this beam was captured before the Hawaii fires. Can anyone confirm?" The post has been liked more than 6000 times and had more than 300 shares.
The image does appear to show a beam of light hitting a leafy hillside next to a coast but it's not in Hawaii. In fact, it does have a connection to Elon Musk as the community note that has been added to the post declares that it is actually an image of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.
This isn't the only laser-related image that has circulated about Hawaii either. Another Twitter account asked: "If the fires in Hawaii were natural,...
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