(PresidentialWire.com)- After a series of chemical accidents over the last few weeks, conspiracy theorists on social media wasted no time suggesting that something more insidious is afoot, according to Newsweek.
The string of accidents began on February 3 when a Norfolk Southern Railway Company train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, prompting officials to approve a controlled burn of the toxic chemicals contained in some train tanks to prevent a catastrophic explosion.
The controlled burn released vinyl chloride into the atmosphere. A colorless gas used in the manufacture of plastic, vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen. According to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency, five of the train cars contained vinyl chloride.
The East Palestine derailment alone was enough to fuel conspiracy theories, including one Twitter user who found a link between the Netflix movie “White Noise” and the derailment in East Palestine. “White Noise,” which was shot in Ohio, was about an industrial accident that forces the country to take cover.
But three additional chemical accidents last week pushed the conspiracy theorists over the edge.
A truck containing the toxic chemical nitric acid crashed in Arizona last Tuesday. This crash was followed by a chemical fire inside an Oklahoma storage tanker last Wednesday. The next day, a warehouse storing plastic pots for planting caught fire in Kissimmee, Florida.
Rather than chalk it up to bad luck, some on social media suggested that the accidents may be linked to the spate of aerial objects shot down in February while others noted that the rapid succession of accidents all occurred in “Red” states.
Two other train accidents also occurred last week, however, neither resulted in toxic chemicals being released.
A train carrying household chemicals slammed into a tractor-trailer in Splendora, Texas last Monday, however, none of the chemicals were released.
In another incident, an unoccupied car sitting on train tracks in Lake City, South Carolina was struck by a passing train. There were no hazardous chemicals on the train at the time.
