Michael Winter

USA TODAY

MSNBC got an "exclusive" prank Thursday when a caller claiming to be a U.S. soldier said he saw the Malaysian airliner shot down by "a blast of wind from Howard Stern's ass."

The caller was being interviewed by Krystal Ball, host of The Cycle. He identified himself as "Staff Sgt. Michael Boyd" from the "U.S. Embassy in Ukraine."

"Well, I was looking out the window, and I saw a projectile flying through the sky, and it would appear that the plane was shot down by a blast of wind from Howard Stern's ass," the caller told Ball.

When she pressed him for more details about the possible missile system, he replied, "Well, you're a dumbass, aren't you?"

The caller was then apparently cut off, and Ball cut to a commercial break.

When she returned, Ball told viewers, "We thought we had an eyewitness on the scene. That individual was not actually an eyewitness."

Some news accounts say the caller was a Stern "fan," but so far there's no proof. Neither he nor the shock jock (an America's Got Talent judge) has commented.