Manipulated Hawaii church photo fuels laser conspiracy theories

"Are you prepared to handle the truth?" says Matt Wallace, a far-right social media personality who has previously promoted misinformation, in an August 12, 2023 post with the image.

The photo spread across Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X," as users have pushed a conspiracy theory that blazes on the island of Maui were caused by directed energy weapons.

Image

Screenshot from Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X," taken August 16, 2023

The wildfires leveled Lahaina on Maui and killed at least 106 people, making them the deadliest in the United States in more than a century.

The picture circulating online was taken during the inferno -- but it has been manipulated.

The original image from Maui News photographer Matthew Thayer does not show a laser fired from the sky. The version shared online was cropped, flipped horizontally and altered to add the beam of light.

"The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii," says the original photo caption on The Maui News website and in the Associated Press's catalog of photos (archived here and here).

The Maui News also shared the shot on Instagram (archived here) without the beam of light extending from the church roof.

AFP previously debunked posts blaming the Hawaii fires on directed energy weapons, which use concentrated electromagnetic energy fired at the speed of light.

When asked about another image purportedly showing a laser, Iain Boyd, director of the University of Colorado's Center for National Security Initiatives, told AFP: "Modern high-energy lasers used for weapons operate at a wavelength in the infrared that cannot be seen with the naked eye."

Authorities are still probing the cause of the disaster, but the National Weather Service previously told AFP the agency alerted local officials up to a week in advance about dangerous fire weather conditions in Hawaii, issuing formal warnings in the days before the inferno began as a nearby hurricane brought intense winds to the area.

"A mix of dry vegetation, strong winds, dry subsiding air and low relative humidity helped to spread the deadly fires once they were ignited," Director of Public Affairs Susan Buchanan said August 11.

The Washington Post and other US media have reported that fallen power lines from the state's main utility may have triggered the first blazes.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Hawaiian Electric claiming the company "inexcusably kept their power lines energized during forecasted high fire danger conditions." The company's CEO has said it does not shut off power during fire conditions in part because electricity is needed for water pumps.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Hawaii wildfires here, here and here.