A rumor has emerged in the UFO conspiracy blogosphere claiming that an alien UFO “anomaly” caused explosion of the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket slated to carry Facebook’s Amos-6 satellite to space. The SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket exploded on Launch Pad 40 during a prelaunch static fire test at Cape Canaveral on Thursday morning, according to NASA Space Flight website.
The explosion, according to media reports, created a mushroom cloud over the launch site. It destroyed the launch vehicle and the Amos-6 communication satellite (the payload) designed to allow Facebook to beam broadband from orbit for the company’s Internet.org project.
The explosion, according to a statement released on Facebook by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), was caused by an “anomaly” that developed around the upper stage oxygen tank. Soon after SpaceX officials and a spokesperson for the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing confirmed that there were no injuries and that further investigation into the cause of the explosion had commenced, the UFO conspiracy theory blogosphere lit up with reports that the official video of the test firing of the rocket shows a UFO flying at “incredible rate of speed” past the space vessel and launch pad just before it exploded.
Update on this morning’s anomaly pic.twitter.com/1ogCMPCY44
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 1, 2016
Statement on this morning’s anomaly pic.twitter.com/3Xm2bRMS7T
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 1, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUZp-IXFqSk
A Reddit user, who claimed he worked as a welder at the site, posted a message that several minutes before the launch, personnel at the site had spotted UFOs in the sky over the facility. He claimed he was unable to provide photographic and video evidence of the alleged UFOs because personnel is not allowed to bring phones and cameras to the site.
“I am a welder at Kennedy Space Center and before launch a lot of us were noticing strange lights in the sky above the pad,” the Reddit user wrote. “About 20 minutes before launch there was an impression in the clouds of an oblong shape… 3 white lights appeared… and then just disappeared with a blink of an eye.”
“They (the UFOs) were visible for maybe 20 seconds. Twenty minutes later the rocket explodes on the pad. Maybe it’s a coincidence I don’t know…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=aGz-OUzh8Ug
YouTube videos have surfaced online purportedly showing a mysterious UFO craft hovering over the launch pad just before the explosion occurred.
The videos (see above) apparently show an object flying over and past the launch pad moments before the explosion. Conspiracy theory analysts insisted that the mysterious object was not a bird or a bug. “High magnification analysis” of the video, according to UFO researchers, shows an object that is clearly distinguishable in appearance and flight characteristics from all other birds that can be seen in the video flying in the vicinity of the launch pad before the explosion.
Pic of damage to launch tower from @SpaceX test firing explosion pic.twitter.com/ZPCiQ0p94B
— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) September 1, 2016
For anyone who wondered why launch prep takes weeks & why no one is allowed near, this is why #Falcon9 #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/ukCPmAhOhD
— SEND KISSINGER TO THE HAGUE (@2dogsinacoat) September 1, 2016
“There does appear to be bugs and birds flying in the area. Notice the trajectory of two bugs,” a conspiracy theorist noted on Reddit. “The UFO however flies in a very direct, straight line from outside camera view, across, and again outside view. How it appears and disappears is important, as you notice with the bugs, they actually appear from mid-screen, flying into the field of view. The UFO appears to be in the field of view at all times, and it travels a perfectly straight line.”
UFO hunters also claimed that the incident was the second UFO-linked explosion of a flying craft over Florida in one week and that it could not be a coincidence.
Alien conspiracy theorists had claimed that the explosion of the engine of a 737 American Airlines Flight 3472 over Florida last Saturday was caused by a UFO.
UFO enthusiasts speculated on several forums, including Reddit and Above Top Secret , that aliens may have destroyed the SpaceX rocket because they did not want it to launch to space. The suggestion sparked further speculation as to why aliens may have felt threatened by the launch, with conspiracy theorists questioning the official explanation of the purpose or mission of the Facebook satellite in space.
“The aliens hate Facebook, much as they did MySpace. And they seem determined to destroy the Social Network.”
Some conspiracy theorists alleged that the official story that the Amos-6 satellite was launching to “give the world free internet” was only “PR spin.” Others argued that involvement of the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) raises suspicion about a hidden space agenda that has not been disclosed to the public but caused alien species to feel threatened.
Conspiracy theorists argued that there were strong reasons for suspicion about the purpose and mission of the satellite in space because IAI is essentially a military defense-contracting company and an arm of the Israeli government.
“Was it a bad idea to let the world know what was being launched?” a conspiracy theorist commented. “The UFO could have been a secret man-made weapon… ya think?”
Other suggestions about the identity of the UFO were offered. Some thought it might have been a foreign government or corporate competitors in the defense contracting industry that sabotaged the project.
This is not the first time conspiracy theorists have claimed that aliens intervened to shoot down a space rocket.
UFO blogger and alien conspiracy theorist Scott C. Waring claimed in May of 2014 that a UFO missile hit a Russian Proton-M rocket moments after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, causing it to explode.
The Russian rocket, carrying an advanced Russian satellite, reportedly exploded a few minutes into its flight, and the incident was caught on video.
Waring claimed that footage showed (see below) a UFO approaching the rocket from the right and homing in on it like a missile.
“Russia says it was an engine error. I think they are saving face, but they know.”
Although the Russians claimed that the satellite was designed to bring internet access to remote parts of Russia, conspiracy theorists speculated it may have been carrying a secret weapon.
Waring also claimed in June of 2014 that a SpaceX video of the launch of a Falcon 9 experimental rocket (see rocket above) shows an alien orb UFO (see above) approaching the rocket.
[Photo by John Raoux/AP Images]