>> reporter: donald nibert was not alone in reaching that conclusion. less than 36 hours after the fireball flashed in the skies near long island, eyewitness accounts of a trail of fire or red light going skyward hit the worldwide web. that evening, her story of a possible missile was collected by websites. >> what caught my eye was the little red light going up, an then all the fiery stream coming down. >> reporter: compounding these compelling eyewitness accounts was a document also circulating on the web. one that took the missile theory and added layers of seemingly impossible intrigue. it was a theory of how a navy ship accidently shot down flight 800 and how a cover-up reaching the highest levels of government was in play. and it might have stayed simply an internet conspiracy theory had it not been for this man.