Hawaii wildfires: 'Directed energy weapon' and other false claims go viral
False claims about the deadly wildfires in Hawaii - including that shadowy forces orchestrated the disaster with a laser beam - have gained traction online.
The misleading posts come from a variety of sources and accounts, but generally imply that "elites" or government agencies deliberately started the fires.
One video viewed 10 million times claims to show a large explosion in Maui just before the fires.
But the video was originally a viral clip shared on TikTok in May showing a transformer explosion in Chile.
An image of a church on fire in Hawaii has been viewed 9 million times, with people claiming it shows a laser beam rising from the church into the sky.
However, the image has been digitally altered. No laser beam or ray of light can be seen in the original Associated Press photo, which shows the Waiola Church in Lahaina in flames on 8 August.
Two other false images have been racking up huge numbers of views.
One shows a fireball and a bright streak of light rising up towards the night sky. It, too, has been accompanied by claims that wildfires are not a natural phenomenon.
Alongside the "directed energy weapon" rumours, speculation spread in viral posts that some of the island's rich inhabitants and second-home owners deliberately started the wildfires to grab valuable land in Lahaina.
One viral video includes claims by a podcaster that native landowners in Maui have refused to sell land to investment management companies and rich locals. He notes the false "directed energy weapon" rumours before going on to speculate that there might be something to them because news outlets have called the rumours "conspiracy theories".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66457091
False claims about the deadly wildfires in Hawaii - including that shadowy forces orchestrated the disaster with a laser beam - have gained traction online.
The misleading posts come from a variety of sources and accounts, but generally imply that "elites" or government agencies deliberately started the fires.
One video viewed 10 million times claims to show a large explosion in Maui just before the fires.
But the video was originally a viral clip shared on TikTok in May showing a transformer explosion in Chile.
An image of a church on fire in Hawaii has been viewed 9 million times, with people claiming it shows a laser beam rising from the church into the sky.
However, the image has been digitally altered. No laser beam or ray of light can be seen in the original Associated Press photo, which shows the Waiola Church in Lahaina in flames on 8 August.
Two other false images have been racking up huge numbers of views.
One shows a fireball and a bright streak of light rising up towards the night sky. It, too, has been accompanied by claims that wildfires are not a natural phenomenon.
Alongside the "directed energy weapon" rumours, speculation spread in viral posts that some of the island's rich inhabitants and second-home owners deliberately started the wildfires to grab valuable land in Lahaina.
One viral video includes claims by a podcaster that native landowners in Maui have refused to sell land to investment management companies and rich locals. He notes the false "directed energy weapon" rumours before going on to speculate that there might be something to them because news outlets have called the rumours "conspiracy theories".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66457091
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"