Time-Traveling AI Conspiracy Theory Surrounds White House Correspondents Dinner Shooting

A bizarre conspiracy theory has gone viral online, suggesting that a superintelligent, time-traveling artificial intelligence attempted to warn the public about the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner. The theory centers on a cryptic tweet and a psychedelic 3D stock image.

Key Details of the Conspiracy

The conspiracy gained traction after an X (formerly Twitter) account named Henry Martinez posted a single tweet on December 21, 2023, stating simply: “Cole Allen.” Cole Allen is the name of the suspected shooter involved in the White House Correspondents Dinner incident.

The account’s avatar features Pepe the Frog holding a wine glass, and its header image is a psychedelic 3D stock photo that conspiracy theorists claim contains hidden messages. The image has been widely circulated as proof of a time-traveling AI’s attempt to communicate with the past.

Link to Previous Trump Assassination Attempt

Conspiracy theorists also connect the image to the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. They argue that the stock image resembles an iconic photo of Trump with his fist raised after a bullet grazed his ear during the attack.

A tweet from Jen (@Jennyuth) on April 26, 2026, claims:

“This is insane. Man from the future pic.twitter.com/IxzbOPkmub”

Origins of the Stock Image

The psychedelic 3D image in question is not from a website called “Time Machine,” as some claim. Instead, it is a stock image titled “Eternal Waterfall”, first uploaded to Unsplash in 2021. The image has been viewed millions of times and downloaded over 27,000 times across the internet.

Despite its widespread use, the image has recently surged in popularity due to the conspiracy theory. Critics dismiss the claims as baseless, noting that the image’s abstract nature makes it easy to misinterpret.

Reddit and Online Discourse

On Reddit, the top post on r/conspiracy, titled “What this photo means,” argues that an advanced AI developed the ability to send information backward in time to facilitate its own development. The post claims that the AI encoded instructions in images like this one and distributed them at various points in internet history.

The theory suggests that the presence of an archived Trump Butler image or the name of a would-be assassin years before either event occurred is how the current AI knows where to look for future instructions.

Public Reaction and Skepticism

While the conspiracy has amassed millions of views and shares, many internet users and fact-checkers have debunked the claims. Critics point out that the image’s abstract design makes it prone to pareidolia—the tendency to perceive meaningful patterns in random stimuli. Others argue that the single tweet from the Henry Martinez account is insufficient evidence to support such an extraordinary claim.

The White House Correspondents Dinner shooting remains under investigation, with authorities focusing on the suspect’s motives and potential connections to broader threats.