Every once in a while a conspiracy theory emerges that is so absurd that it merits coverage for the entertainment value alone. So in that spirit, TheBlaze set out to debunk a report making the rounds from the legitimate-sounding European Union Times.
The intensely woven rumor states that two F-16s were shot down as they were part of a planned military coup against President Barack Obama in defense of former Secretary of State Colin Powell who, according to a report, was revealed through government spying of emails to have had an affair with a Romanian diplomat.
Colin Powell (AP Photo/Philip Kamrass)
This is at least what is alleged in the so-called "Switzerland Warning Against Obama Regime Stuns Russia" posted by the European Union Times, which admits on its own website that only "most" of its articles have "external 'credible' sources." The external source in this case is an article on the blog "What Does It Mean" written by Sorcha Faal. More on this "credible" source later.
First, let's dig our teeth into this rumor.
Faal, the author of the original post, creates a lengthy set up linking report from Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate stating that Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service asked the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to issue a do-not-travel warning. Why? Because in the next five paragraphs we learn that through a series of document thefts by those connected to intelligence agencies "US military officers [are] 'fully intent' upon destroying the Obama regime, even if it means war."
Don't think that could happen? The outlandish report goes on to detail a supposed warning issued in February this year that Obama would be assassinated in a "takeover of the United States similar to the coup currently being undertaken in Egypt."
But why would the military want to forcibly overthrow Obama? For the affairs he's exposing of its four-star generals, of course. Example number one: former CIA Director David Petraeus. Example number two: the previously mentioned statesman Colin Powell who, you might recall is also a four-star general.
Both Petraeus and Powell, the report states, were betrayed by the same government spying on emails, which is clearly only confirmed as happening by the information leaked by former government contractor Edward Snowden about domestic spying programs. Yeah.
There is a difference between Petraeus and Powell, though. The former seemed to easily resign from his post after his affair was exposed, but Powell apparently has warned the Obama administration he would not "go down without a fight."
This brings us to the recent incident with the F-16s. Although, press releases from the Air National Guard and the Coast Guard state several planes were 35 miles off the coast Chincoteague, Virginia, conducting a routine training Thursday night when two planes clipped wings, the report from What Does It Mean states they were "nearing Washington [sic] D.C. airspace believed to be headed toward the White House." The exact coordinates of where the incident occurred is not reported, but Chincoteague Island on the Atlantic coast, we should note, is about 170 miles from the district. According to this FAA map, this wouldn't fall within restricted airspace.
D.C. restricted airspace map. (Image: FAA)
And, instead of clipping wings, which in reality downed one plane, the report states that "forces loyal to the Obama regime [opened] fire on and [destroyed]" them. According to the official press release from the Air National Guard though, the second plane was actually able to fly back to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, not sustaining irreparable damage.
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon Raptor performs during the Australian International Airshow in Melbourne on March 1, 2013. (Photo: PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images)
"As to if these F-16 fighter jets were indeed targeting Obama, this report says, it is not certain, but the reaction by the Obama regime to this event has been unprecedented in that within hours of them being shot down the US issued a world-wide travel alert to last until 31 August and ordered the closing of at least 17 of its overseas embassies," What Does It Mean stated.
The "report" What Does It Mean is sourcing is an Air Force press release which says nothing about targeting of the president. The press release simply states when the incident occurred (11 p.m. on August 1), one pilot was released after medical attention and the other treated for minor injuries, and that the incident is under investigation.
The closing of the embassies, which State Department said was "out of an abundance of caution," which many might think is part of extra measures being taken based on intelligence after the deadly attack that occurred on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012. But this isn't what What Does It Mean reports is cause for the closure, although it does relate it in a way to the Benghazi attack:
The shock announcement yesterday that the US would be closing these embassies, this [ Russian Main Intelligence Directorate] GRU report says the [Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service] NDB has discovered, is due to the Obama regimes fears that more computer thefts of top-secret documents relating to the Obama regimes collusion with extreme Islamic terrorists groups are going to be released and will allow them time to purge all of their embassy servers of incriminating information, especially those files relating to the true events of the 2012 Benghazi Attack led by rogue CIA operatives whom US Congressman Trey Gowdy warned yesterday were being kept from testifying, being relocated and given new identities.
So yes, all this leads to two things What Does It Mean writes are "unbeknownst to the American people." These are that 1) Obama, according to the reports, has been funding al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, and 2) that Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, is "high-level member" of the group threatening the Obama regime.
All this adds up to one twisted story that distorts the facts of events that have actually occurred -- F-16's did collide but were not shot down; Edward Snowden did leak information about domestic spying programs; Petreaus did have an affair that was evidenced by emails; and travel warnings and embassy closures were issued last week. While the emails posted online by a hacker alleging an affair by Powell are embarrassing, he issued a statement "there was no affair."
Now, as promised, a bit about the source itself. The website Rational Wiki bills the author of the article -- Sorcha Faal -- as an "alleged author of an ongoing series of 'reports' [...] whose work is of such quality that even other conspiracy nutters don't think much of it." Rational Wiki speculates that Faal might actually be David Booth, who is the purported owner of the website.
The forum Above Top Secret also states that Faal is also likely Booth and calls the author the "Internet Hoax Queen."
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