Did the U.S. fire a weapon from space at Tianjin, disguising the attack that killed more than 100 people as accidental explosions? Or was it an attempt to assassinate Chinese President Xi Jinping?

These are just two of the bizarre conspiracy theories circulating online in the wake of the twin blasts which set off a giant fireball and devastated a vast area of the port.

Other theorists claim one of China's supercomputers - which is used by the country's military and in space exploration, and is located only a mile away - was the target.

Assassination attempt? Some believe the explosions were in fact an attempt to kill President Xi Jinping

Disaster: The twin blasts set off a giant fireball and devastated a vast area of Tianjin in China

U.S. space weapon

Natural News, a website which describes itself as America's truth bureau and claims to have more than seven million readers, claims China and America are at war and the explosions were carried out by a Pentagon space weapon.

It claims the attack was an act of 'kinetic retaliation' by the Pentagon in response to the devaluation of the Yuan.

The site tells readers that the U.S. used a secret space-based kinetic weapon called the 'rod of god' that can be dropped from 'high orbit to strike almost any land-based target'.

Assassination attempt

Rumours have been circulating on Chinese language websites that the real target was President Xi Jinping, who was due to travel through the area with top officials after a secret meeting.

An insider told NTDTV.com: 'The original plan was to wait until the Chinese communist meeting in Beidaihe to finish so when the high ranking officials returned, there will be an explosion on the railway between Tianjin and Heibei.'

The officials are said to have changed their plans at the last minute, and the killers instead decided to bomb the warehouse to get rid of any evidence.

An unnamed analyst told the website that if this was an assassination plot, the President would be the prime target.

Supercomputer

Chinese supercomputer Tianhe-1A was shut down as a result of the explosions, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing officials at the National Supercomputing Centre in Binhai.

The machine itself was intact after the explosion and running normally, Xinhua said, but the building housing it was damaged and it was switched off due to security concerns.

Some believe this important piece of equipment may have been the real target.

Mysterious foam-like substance on the streets of Tianjin, where two massive explosions occurred

Heavy rain fell today on the remains of a Chinese industrial site devastated by giant explosions

Some people have likened it to 9/11 and others claim Russia is responsible for the disaster.

China has warned of the danger of conspiracy theories developing as a result of its own secretive local authorities following the disaster.

Officials have come under fire over their lack of transparency over the twin blasts which devastated a vast area of the port.

The death toll from the explosions has now risen to 114 with more than 700 injured and 70 missing.

Heavy rain fell today on the remains of a Chinese industrial site devastated by giant explosions, complicating clean-up efforts and heightening fears about toxic contamination as ceremonies were held to mark the disaster's 114 deaths.

A mysterious foam-like substance covered the streets.

Around 700 tonnes of highly toxic sodium cyanide were at the site in the northern port of Tianjin, officials say, and water could spread it more widely.

Rainwater could also disperse chemical residues on the ground into the air when it evaporates, and some of the many substances on the scene could react with it.