This is a wild one. Variations of 'Aliens', 'Miami', and 'Aliens in Miami' have been trending over the past day or two. Some people claim to be convinced that shadowy 10-foot-tall alien creatures appeared in Miami a few days ago and that it's now being covered up. This all seems to start with an incident at a Florida shopping mall this past Monday, January 1st.
Newsweek has a good summary of the story, but basically more than 60 police cars responded to a call at Bayside Marketplace in Miami on Monday night. Local media reports that police were called in to stop a big fight with a group of teens throwing fireworks at one another. Four teenagers were arrested in connection and arrest reports use the phrases "causing a riot inside the mall" and "causing panic."
Conspiracy theorists point to the massive number of police officers who responded as proof that this incident was more than just a bunch of rowdy teens. Rumors quickly began spreading on social media that witnesses actually saw 8 to 10-foot-tall, shadowy alien creatures at the scene and that the panic was all people reacting to that. The video and stills people are pointing to as the creatures "caught on camera" are not super-convincing, but that hasn't stopped this from turning into a huge thing on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. Experts and supposed eyewitnesses are coming out of the woodwork and the memes are flowing.
Check out some sample posts below.
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