Earlier this week, retired vice admiral and former Navy SEAL Robert Harward appeared on Fox News to discuss the Iran war. But rather than anything he said, it was a weird, dark spot on his neck that quickly went viral online, with many suggesting that it was evidence of a mask or some kind of AI-powered face filter. And despite an official answer from Fox, the conspiracy theories are spreading everywhere.
On May 19, during an early morning segment on Fox News, Harward–who was previously the Deputy Commander of the United States Central Command–appeared for a few minutes to chat about the Iran War and offer his thoughts and expert opinions. This is the kind of shit that happens on 24/7 news networks all the time. It really shouldn’t have been much of a big deal. But the moment Harward appeared on screen, you can notice…something on his neck that looks wrong.
Over the last few days, this weird spot on the retired vice admiral’s neck quickly spread from some of the…let’s say “weirder” parts of the internet, like R/Aliens on Reddit, to Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and more. A lot of people are convinced that Harward is wearing some kind of mask in the clip. A viral post on R/Aliens called it a “hyper-realistic silicone mask.”
If you look around, you can find a lot of people and channels across the web covering this weird neck spot. Many of them believe he is wearing some kind of mask, pointing to what they claim to be a lack of movement and blinking. Others have floated the idea that it’s some kind of AI face filter that was used to make him look younger or cover up the face of a different person impersonating the retired vice admiral.
Eventually, the channel hosting the clip from Fox News, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, turned off comments. This led to more conspiracy theories.
TMZ reached out to Fox News about the viral clip and weird neck…thing, and the network sent back this explanation:
“Vice Admiral Robert Harward appeared on FOX News Channel earlier this week via a remote, mobile camera operated by an outside vendor. During the interview, lighting conditions in the van contrasted with the vice admiral’s jacket, which caused a shadow to appear on his neck.”
On May 21, a Polymarket bet went live about whether he was or wasn’t wearing a mask. The next day, when Harward appeared on Fox News again, he was wearing a suit and tie that covered up his chest and more of his neck.
None of this has quelled the theories that it’s a mask. In fact, now people are assuming this is all part of some big cover-up.
Of course, nobody has a good answer as to why Harward or someone else would wear a life-like mask on a random morning segment of Fox News. Nor can anybody explain why, later on during that same day, he was seen in other interviews and didn’t have the weird mark on his neck. Nor can anyone explain why the powers behind this supposed conspiracy would allow the footage to just float around the web or why the feed wasn’t cut the moment it went live if it was revealing part of a bizarre scheme.
Then again, it does look a lot like a mask. Maybe I need to be careful. Stop asking so many questions online. Oh, hey, what’s that noise? Wait a second, why is there a black helicopter over my house? Hmm…
