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    Russian politician joins conspiracy theorists, blames meteor explosion on US military

    Russian politician joins conspiracy theorists, blames meteor explosion on US military

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    russia meteor (chelyabinsk.ru)
    russia meteor (chelyabinsk.ru)

    The meteor explosion that rocked Russia last week may be late to the end times party, but that hasn't stopped some brave truth seekers from questioning the official story. Voice of Russia reports that political firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of Russia's Liberal Democratic Party, a right-wing conservative group with, blames the US for the meteor shower; he reportedly said that "those were not meteorites, it was Americans testing their new weapons." Voice of Russia says Zhirinovsky speculated that US Secretary of State John Kerry was "looking for" Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to warn him about the "provocation against Russia" in advance.

    News agencies and onlookers have also contributed to theories about Russian military involvement; a Russia Today story, based on an unconfirmed report from a local newspaper, claimed that air defenses had destroyed the meteor in the atmosphere.

    But Russia's defense ministry denied any involvement, saying it took no action related to the incident. And both NASA and Russian space agency Roscosmos have confirmed that the explosion was, in fact, the result of a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere (not, as Zhirinovsky believes, a US weapon).