Washington, USA (CU)_ Speculations emerged following a mysterious tweet in the US Nuclear Command’s Twitter account, which tweeted, “;l;;gmlxzssaw”. Some joked that the cryptic tweet was a nuclear launch code from the United States. It was also rumored that the Pentagon’s security was breached. Some also interpreted it as a warning to political conspiracists. However, the US Strategic Command, which oversees the nation’s powerful nuclear weapons force, now claims that the cryptic tweet on its Twitter account was sent by a clever child.
Stratcom is based at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and is in charge of the US military’s strategic deterrence, which is the vast nuclear weapons force and missile defenses that are intended to prevent foreign powers from attacking the country. As a result, its media statements are closely scrutinized for any indications of a change in its current security posture. However, Stratcom told the media that the tweet was not a hidden message, but rather the outcome of a Stratcom social media editor working from home.
Stratcom official Kendall Cooper said in an online statement: “The Command’s Twitter manager, while in a telework status, momentarily left the Command’s Twitter account open and unattended. His very young child took advantage of the situation and started playing with the keys and, unfortunately, and unknowingly, posted the tweet”. He added, “Absolutely nothing nefarious occurred, i.e., no hacking of our Twitter account.”
After thirty minutes, Stratcom tweeted that the previous controversial tweet should be ignored, and then removed both the tweets. Stratcom has also encountered previous such issues with social media. In December 2018, with reference to the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball-drop in New York, it made fun on Twitter about getting ready to drop something far bigger with a video of a B-2 stealth bomber dropping two bombs matching with the beat of a music. It later deleted the tweet and apologized for being in bad taste.
