Blue objects in Hawaii do not prove lasers started wildfires
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 31, 2023 at 22:11
- 7 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Why the blue car did not burn in flames? Maui fire mystery," says text over a video that racked up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok, Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter.
The clip shows images of a blue car that appears less damaged than surrounding vehicles, followed by a picture of blue umbrellas standing among wreckage. The post also includes footage that appears to show a beam of light burning cloths of different colors -- except blue.
"Laser weapon can be programmed for different wavelengths," the text continues. "There was something blue they didn't want to burn."
Similar videos and posts spread widely across TikTok and other platforms, building on a conspiracy theory that the Hawaii blazes -- which scorched the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui and killed at least 115 people -- were started by directed energy weapons.
Such systems use concentrated electromagnetic energy and are being developed in the United States for drone and missile defense, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Several widespread posts on X come from an account called "Wall Street Apes," which has previously promoted misinformation.
"How Many Coincidences Are You Willing To Accept? Completely Untouched Blue Umbrellas. Completely Untouched Blue Car. And Now We Find Out Oprah's Maui, Hawaii Mansion Has A BLUE ROOF!!" says one August 22 post from the account.
"The Maui, Lahaina, Hawaii fires were a domestic terrorist attack. DEWs, Direct Energy Weapons."
But there is no evidence lasers are to blame -- AFP has debunked several images falsely claiming to show the weapons at work.
Photos from Hawaii show objects of various colors survived the disaster, highlighting what experts say is a common phenomenon in which some buildings and trees avoid catching fire or suffering extreme damage while other nearby structures burn.
'Really crazy'
Iain Boyd, an expert on directed energy weapons at the University of Colorado, told AFP that high-energy lasers can interact with certain materials differently, similar to how a black T-shirt can feel warmer in the sun than a white one.
But the notion that such weapons were used in Hawaii to specifically spare blue items is "really crazy," he said.
"If there is enough energy in a laser beam to start a large fire, then it will burn through the material no matter what its color," Boyd said.
"Even more relevant, though, is that these images show areas through which a fire has raged, and the damage caused no longer has anything to do with whatever caused the fire in the first place. If these images are genuine, they are saying that blue objects are not susceptible to fire, which we all know is not true."
Boyd previously told AFP a laser with enough power to spark the Hawaii blazes would require an "enormous" air or spacecraft that could not go unnoticed -- and that the type of laser used for weapons operates at a wavelength that is imperceptible to the naked eye.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the Hawaii wildfires, including whether downed power lines and decisions by the state's main utility contributed to the devastation.
But the National Weather Service issued advance warnings about dangerous fire conditions in the state as a nearby hurricane brought strong winds to an area with dry vegetation.
"With winds this severe and a large amount of dry grass surrounding the community, there is no need for an ignition from 'space,'" Michael Gollner, who researches fire dynamics at the University of California-Berkeley, previously told AFP of the laser conspiracy theories.
Why some homes survive
Trees, buildings and other materials fuel wildfires. But Arnaud Trouve, chair of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, told AFP it is "not uncommon to find objects, entire structures or clumps of vegetation that were left undamaged."
"There is enough variability in the exposure conditions of fuel elements to fire and in their response to explain the occasional absence of damage," he said.
Houses and other objects can sometimes escape relatively unscathed due to their distance from other fuel sources, which limits their exposure to flames and flying hot embers, Trouve said. A structure's ability to sustain high temperatures also plays a role.
Trouve said the alleged survival of several blue items in Hawaii is "an anecdotal observation rather than an explanation."
AFP captured photos of cars, homes and other non-blue items that withstood the inferno, including a red-roofed home that has become a symbol of hope in the community.
Trip Millikin, the home's owner, told NPR he and his wife installed a metal roof, added a stone barrier and got rid of vegetation along the drip line during a recent renovation project.
AFP also captured photos of blue materials decimated in the flames.
Winfrey's house not blue
Several posts claiming lasers targeted Maui share an image of a supposed article about American talk show host Oprah Winfrey, a part-time Hawaii resident.
"Why the Heck are Celebs All Painting Their Maui Properties the Same Weird Shade of Blue?" the headline says.
But no such article exists, as other independent fact-checking organizations have reported.
The bylines and date match a 2022 story from Architectural Digest about that year's top interior design trends (archived here). The piece does not mention Winfrey or her home.
A reverse image search revealed the photo in the post shows a blue house on Moloka'i -- not Maui (archived here). Winfrey's property on the latter island is not blue (archived here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation about Hawaii here.
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