Social media was abuzz last week with a video that claimed to show a 10-foot alien outside a shopping mall in Miami. The clip showed huge police presence after a New Year's Day fight between teenagers at the mall, according to Forbes, which was presented as the alien video. The Miami Police later clarified that they were responding to the big fight, which resulted in multiple arrests, and told NBC6 that no extraterrestrials were present on the scene.
As news reports talked about an active shooter in the area and a large number of police cars gathering outside the mall, rumours quickly spread around X and other social media platforms claiming that the police were not there to handle the rowdy teenagers, but "8-10ft tall shadow aliens".
"I don't know if the rumours about the aliens at the Miami Mall are real but I do know I never seen this many police in one place," one X user posted.
Actor William Shatner shared his reaction on the viral clip, "So apparently space aliens visited a mall in Miami?"
One low quality video circulating on the platform allegedly showed a tall creature walking between the police cars and Miami's Bayside Marketplace, a two-story open air shopping centre.
However, a clearer video later appeared on X that showed 2 to 3 people, likely police officers, walking together between the squad cars and an area near the mall.
Those spreading the rumours also mixed videos of people running in panic from the area to claim a "creature" is actually present on the spot.
The sound that resembled a gunshot added to the conspiracy theories on the internet. But Miami Police said in a post on X that sounds came from the fireworks.
The city police later told NBC6, "No aliens, UFOs, or ET's. No airports were closed. No power outages."
