Miss Universe 2015 conspiracy theories; was the mix-up planned?

For a brief moment on Sunday evening in Las Vegas, Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez's dreams came true - she was declared Miss Universe 2015.

But that was not to be. Pageant's host Steve Harvey misread the card and declared Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner.

A few painful moments passed before Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, was correctly named winner.

It was an embarrassing gaffe that was aired live worldwide and the internet went berserk.

MissUniverse2015 became Twitter's biggest trend of the night.

This unfortunately overshadowed the real winning moment and understandably the blunder dominate the newspapers, news channels and the social media.

To show it had been an 'honest mistake', Harvey held up a card which clearly laid out the second and first runners-up and the winner.

That left some observers scratching their heads over how the mistake could have happened.

People were left wondering if the faux pas was done on purpose.

Sample comment on Facebook from Raoul Martinez, a TV anchor in San Diego: "You guys buying this? I'm no conspiracy theorist, but this smells fishy to me. Sounds like a big PUBLICITY STUNT to get everyone talking about Miss Universe, when normally (let's be honest, now!) NO ONE would be talking about Miss Universe."

Sports reporter Seth Davis wrote on his Twitter page: "I mean be honest -- did you even know Miss Universe was on tonight? You get my point. Anyway, carry on."

Write Atul Khatri wrote: "I think this whole #MissUniverse2015 controversy was created so that people watch the reruns tonight. Otherwise no one cares a **** nowadays."

Sportswriter Les East also observed: "I generally don't buy into conspiracy theories, but this is the most attention the Miss Universe pageant has gotten since, well, ever."

On Monday morning, the official Facebook page of Ariadna Gutierrez's fan club shared a video that purports to show the moment a woman in the audience came up to the stage and handed Harvey a card allegedly containing Miss Philippines' name. Emirates 24|7 cannot confirm the authenticity of the clip and its provenance is unknown at this time.

Conspiracy theorists pointed to Miss Universe's coverage on Snapchat, where Harvey was allegedly caught on video saying that the teleprompter read 'Miss Universe - Columbia.'

Twitter users pointed a finger of blame at the Miss Universe organization and Ms Harvey - and some even added into the mix Donald Trump, who until recently was the co-owner of the pageant.

A commenter named Aliah wrote: 'I'm convinced that the Miss Universe mistake is just a publicity stunt, then needed more attention after leaving Trump out.'

Not everyone is so quick to point to a conspiracy theory, though.

US radio host Michael Smerconish polled people on his website and 79% say it was not a publicity stunt.

However, Miss Universe organisers remained silent about the theories.

In a statement they said: "The excitement of live TV was evident tonight on The Miss Universe stage with over 10 million live fan votes tabulated. Unfortunately, a live telecast means that human error can come into play. We witnessed that tonight when the wrong winner was initially announced. Our sincerest apologies to Miss Universe Colombia, Miss Universe Philippines, their families and fans. We congratulate Miss Universe Philippines as Miss Universe 2015."