A Twitter account allegedly belonging to FBI director James Comey has experienced an explosion in followers since it was discovered.

Comey revealed on Wednesday that he had secret Twitter and Instagram accounts during the Intelligence and National Security Alliance Leadership dinner.

He said the social media accounts were secret because he did not 'want anybody looking at my photos.'

Gizmodo reporter Ashley Feinberg spent hours sleuthing on Thursday until she unearthed what she believes is Comey's Twitter account under the username 'reinholdniebuhr'.

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During the Intelligence and National Security Alliance Leadership dinner on Wednesday, Comey revealed he is on social media, including Instagram and Twitter

The Twitter account's followers ballooned to more than 8,000 when it seemed to issue a response to the report on Thursday night

Shortly after the theory was published, the Twitter account's followers ballooned to more than 8,000 when it seemed to issue a response to the report.

'Actually I'm not even mad. That's amazing,' Reinhold Neibuhr posted with a meme of the movie 'Anchorman' and a link to the FBI jobs website.

The account, which uses the handle @projectexile7, was set to private soon after.

Comey told the audience on Wednesday night that: 'I don't want anybody looking at my photos, but I treasure my privacy and security on the Internet.'

The law enforcement official, whose role is to deal with classified information, seemed to take the same attitude on privacy with his own social media.

'I have an Instagram account with nine followers. Nobody's getting in,' he said before saying he made an exception for his daughter's long-term boyfriend because 'they're serious enough.'

Although Comey did not reveal his official account, those clues alone led to the discovery of his apparent Twitter handle, @projectexile7. Project Exile is a federal program Comey created while he was a US attorney in 1997.

An mysterious account with the name of 'reinholdniebuhr' is believed to be Comey's after several clues linked the FBI director to the account

An Instagram with ten followers, one more than Comey mentioned, also exists under the same name. The account was found through the suggested followers of Comey's son

The secret account only follows 27 people, and does not include any tweets or a profile photo. However, Comey's alleged Twitter also follows multiple government accounts including the CIA, Donald Trump, the FBI, and the DNI.

Projectexile7 was found after a four-hour search, according to Gizmodo. The media site uncovered Comey's son's account first, which in turn led them to find Reinhold Niebuhr.

The seemingly strange name actually appeared to match the account to Comey after it was revealed he studied Theology in college and wrote his thesis on the famous Theologian.

Further investigation showed the account liked 39 tweets, nine of which Comey is the main topic.

An Instagram with ten followers, one more than Comey mentioned, also exists under the same name.

Neither the FBI or Comey have confirmed the allegations of the secret Twitter.