A report stated, “Around 9am EST, SpaceX's Falcon 9, a 604-ton rocket was being fueled with a concoction of liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellant when the upper region burst into flames. The entire craft was engulfed in what seemed like seconds, including Facebook’s $200 million communication satellite that was specifically designed to bring internet to Africa.” It is not such a shocker that alien theorists would jump on this opportunity, but what ignited the fire even in non-believers was the fact that SpaceX referred to there being “an anomaly” on the launch pad in a series of tweets - this is a term used by governments instead of UFOs. UFO conspiracy theory blogosphere immediately fired up reports showing an official video of the test firing that they claimed shows a UFO flying at “incredible rate of speed” past the space vessel and launch pad just before it exploded. Soon after, a Reddit user claiming to have worked as a welder at the site, posted a message stating that several minutes before the launch, personnel at the site had spotted UFOs in the sky over the facility.
The user 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. His message, that spread like wildfire amongst the ever-inquisitive community of extraterrestrial hunters said, “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. 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.” Soon UFO hunters and allied conspiracy theorists crowded the virtual space with their two bits of wisdom and comments. The video footage of the failed launch posted online showed a strange object that can be seen flying towards the rocket before and then several times after the explosion, capturing the attention of online truth-seekers, despite earlier claims that it could have been a drone that destroyed the rocket, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk continued to insist that the cause was yet unknown.
A small, silver shape “that climbed to at least 2000 feet in less than one second” can be found soaring over the flames, leading to rumours that it was a flying saucer. UFO expert Scott Waring said, “You know, when you see aliens involved in an explosion of a rocket, that the rocket could have had massively bad implications on humanity’s future.” He added, “Lucky the aliens destroyed it [SpaceX] before it started WW3.” Steve Svensson, who shared a version of the clip, wrote, “It appears that SpaceX may have been shot by a very fast moving drone, or possibly an explosive in the satellite was triggered? We all know people love to hate Elon Musk.” One commenter verbally eye-rolled at the speculations and wrote, “There are birds flittering around all over the place throughout the video. This is nothing unusual.” The destroyed satellite was intended to spread the use of Facebook to sub-Saharan Africa, but believers claim that the anti-social aliens hated the networking phenomenon as much as it did MySpace.
The theory-pushers were unmoved by SpaceX’s statement that read, “We are currently in the early process of reviewing approximately 3,000 channels of telemetry and video data covering a time period of just 35 to 55 milliseconds as part of an investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force to determine the exact cause of the explosion.” Israeli communications satellite operator Spacecom saw a one-third drop in its value after ‘Amos-6,’ its satellite on the SpaceX Falcon 9 was destroyed in the explosion. Shares plunged to a 10-year low of 49 percent, and Facebook and France-based satellite provider Eutelsat have announced the cancelling of service agreements with the firm. David Pollack, Spacecom Chief Executive Officer said, “We are actively seeking alternative options for satellite providers following the loss, including building a new satellite, which may take an estimated 24 months.” Spacecom's $285 million merger with Beijing Xinwei Technology Group is also being questioned.
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