Some pictures are going viral on social media showing laser beam attacks in some peri-urban areas of Hawaii. Users on social media are claiming that these pictures are related to an ongoing disaster in Maui, Hawaii.
Hawaii‘s Island of Maui has been witnessing unprecedented destructive wildfires in recent days. More than 55 have died and thousands of people have been evacuated. The death toll is expected to rise.
CBKNEWS, Media and News company tweeted some pictures on Twitter and wrote: “Maui Hawaii two nights ago, it was an attack!!!!!!!? Follow @CBKNEWS121 FOR MORE UPDATES #lahaina #maui #hawaii #frontstreet #lahainafire #vigilattemaui #MauiFires”
In addition to that, the company shared a different picture in another tweet with the caption : “This photo is circulating social media. Apparently this beam was captured before the Hawaii fires. Can anyone confirm?”
Furthermore, a user by the name of TaraBull shared one of the above pictures and wrote: “If the fires in Hawaii were natural, what in the h is this?”
Fact-Check
To verify the claims of the above viral pictures, the Dfrac team reverse-searched it on Google. During this process, we discovered a media report published on January 17, 2018, by a news website named ‘Click On detroit’ with the title: Amazing ‘light pillars’ spotted in Metro Detroit neighborhood”. According to this media report, “While a meteor apparently flew through the sky Tuesday night, others were seeing another beautiful phenomenon. Light pillars were spotted in South Lyon early Wednesday morning, around 4 a.m. Donna Brown, a Local 4 viewer, sent in photos showing the pillars”.
We also found a video on a YouTube channel named Mlive that was uploaded on January 17, 2018 with the caption: “Meteor flash across Michigan sky January 16, 2018”. Three viral pictures out of the above viral pictures were similar to that video found on the above mentioned YouTube Channel.
Remaining one picture out of the above viral pictures, can be seen in a report published on July 6, 2019, by a portal named Ars Technica with the headline: “Rocket Report: A Yellow Sea launch, SpaceX’s upcoming high-value mission”. In this report, Ars Technica stated: “Welcome to Edition 2.03 of the Rocket Report! We’re a week into June, and the small-space race is heating up, just like the Northern Hemisphere. While Stratolaunch appears to have gone by the wayside—official denials notwithstanding—Virgin Orbit is moving forward with plans to launch from both the United Kingdom and Japan. Meanwhile, efforts to build spaceports in Australia and Canada have also advanced”.
Conclusion
Dfrac’ s Fact-Check proves that the above viral pictures are not associated with the ongoing calamity in Hawaii. Hence, the claims of social media users regarding the above viral pictures are misleading.
