On Thursday, I watched as hundreds of thousands of Twitter users flocked to dozens of “ Resistance” federal agency Twitter accounts, set up in the wake of a perceived crackdown on climate science and communication by the Trump Administration (Read more coverage on the actions that led to this from CNN , Reuters, and BBC).

However, like many watching this unfold, I knew that if these accounts did not find a way to verify their authenticity, their motives and accuracy would be suspect. Journalists reached out to many behind the accounts and could not verify that the people tweeting were indeed federal employees. Some most likely are. Some are not. I know, because I run one of them.

I wanted to know what level of verification these accounts were undergoing by their followers. And so, while these alt-accounts sprouted up, I set up @AltCraterLakeNP.

Public Domain, courtesy of NPS. I’ve only been to Crater Lake once, and it was too foggy to actually see the lake.

I grabbed a few public domain photos of Crater Lake for a profile and banner image, followed a few other similar accounts, retweeted them a few times, and tweeted the curator of one of the numerous “Alt-Government” lists, where I was promptly added with no questions about the authenticity of the account. I linked the account to Tweetdeck and scheduled some tweets to go out for the rest of the day, and then largely ignored the account. In the bio of the account, I wrote “Not affiliated with the US Gov, not taxpayer funded. Employees of NPS do NOT run this account.”

Then I waited.

In moments of being added to the list, people started following the account. Dozens, then hundreds. At the time of publishing, the account had 6,550 followers and continues to climb. It has been added to nearly 120 “Alt-Government” lists. My phone won’t stop vibrating from the constant stream of Twitter notifications. The Society of Environmental Journalists tweeted the account in a list of “#RogueTwitter” accounts. Kathie Dello, associate directer of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, follows the account.

Not a single person has sent the account a message questioning who is behind the account.

No one.

So what’s next? I don’t know. I don’t intend to mislead anyone, but rather show that people will follow anything as long as it fits their narrative. Perhaps I’ll continue tweeting climate science tweets. Perhaps I’ll transfer the account to a Russian propagandist. Perhaps some of the other accounts will, too.

Update: I no longer run the account, having turned it over to the Crater Lake Institute, a nonprofit agency dedicated to education and science at Crater Lake.