Molly Martinez: Who is ‘alien’ reporter at White House as she responds to viral conspiracy video
A video from inside the White House press briefing room has gone viral after conspiracy theorists claimed a female reporter’s eyes briefly ‘shifted into vertical slits’, implying that she was ‘not human’.
The woman at the centre of the bizarre claims has since responded - laughing it off and outing herself as Molly Martinez, a multimedia journalist with Gray Television.
The original footage, shared by the viral content platform World Star Hip Hop, shows Martinez turning toward the camera with an intense stare. A caption read: “Footage from the White House press room has sparked wild theories after a female reporter’s eyes appeared to briefly shift into vertical slits on camera.”
The video racked up thousands of views, with reposts on X (formerly Twitter) from accounts like @BGatesIsaPsycho declaring, “Press reporter in The White House caught on Camera. They walk among us.”
Commenters were quick to come to her defence. One user, @discerningdadd, called it an “obvious face filter,” adding: “You can see other faces reacting to it too. Stop with the fake nonsense to get likes.” Another user, @ppow84, offered a more empathetic take: “Man, this poor woman probably has social anxiety and is telling herself ‘chill out, no one is staring at you,’ and meanwhile on X…”
Martinez herself reacted with humour, quote-posting the video and writing on X on Thursday (August 7): “This is objectively the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Martinez’s own media bio paints a picture far from the alien conspiracies. She’s a seasoned journalist currently working out of Washington, DC, for Gray Television’s Washington News Bureau. She previously covered politics at KFYR-TV in Bismarck, North Dakota, and studied journalism at American University. Before entering news, she also briefly pursued a career as a stand-up comedian in Montreal and Paris.