On this day in conspiracies

Over roughly two days, soldiers separate the villagers by sex and age, interrogate and execute the men, then kill the women and, finally, the children. Estimates of the dead in El Mozote and the surrounding hamlets run past 800 and, by some counts, close to 1,000, the large majority of them children. Rufina Amaya, who hid and escaped, becomes the massacre's sole known adult survivor and its central witness.

The Guardian publishes an early report that the Cruz campaign was using data harvested from Facebook without users' consent. Facebook says it is investigating and later asks the parties to certify that the data had been deleted, certifications that turned out to be unreliable.

Masud is taken into US custody and makes his first appearance in federal court in Washington, DC. He pleads not guilty and awaits trial, which has since been repeatedly delayed.

Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey claims, citing 'very high sources,' that an Iranian 'mothership' off the U.S. East Coast is launching the drones. The Pentagon and White House flatly deny it the same week; the Coast Guard says there is no evidence of any foreign vessel involvement.