> That Korean announcement and the slow response by the US President — both caused by delayed real information — caused decades of conspiracy theories.
I appreciate that the OP was a part of the situation, but conspiracy theories were not caused by this.
It was time of very high tension between the US and Soviet Union. So when a plane veers off the course into not just Soviet airspace, but into an explicitly cordoned off top secret area, ignores all communication attempts, ignores the presence of fighter jets and just keeps on flying, then the situation itself is a fertile soil for conspiracy theories.
'It was a time of very high tension' doesn't quite capture how different it was.
Through the glass of a yellow newspaper box, the Miami News headline that the Soviets had shot down a plane carrying a Congressman. My first thought was "This is the war." Not 'a' but 'the'. The primary stance of the US military was squared off against the USSR and had been for more than 30 years.
I appreciate that the OP was a part of the situation, but conspiracy theories were not caused by this.
It was time of very high tension between the US and Soviet Union. So when a plane veers off the course into not just Soviet airspace, but into an explicitly cordoned off top secret area, ignores all communication attempts, ignores the presence of fighter jets and just keeps on flying, then the situation itself is a fertile soil for conspiracy theories.