Viral Conspiracy Theory Image of COVID-19 Vaccine "5G Chip" is Actually the Boss Metal Zone Circuit

The Boss Metal Zone is getting dragged into some wacky conspiracy theories
(Image credit: Boss)

Though 5G technology and the coronavirus have absolutely nothing to do with one another, that hasn't stopped conspiracy theorists around the world from falsely linking the two.

One of these debunked theories is that the recently rolled out COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips with 5G technology, designed supposedly to track our every movement. To that end, what was promoted as a leaked photo of the top-secret schematic of this microchip recently began going viral. 

Of course though, the schematic in question doesn't actually display a top-secret 5G chip. In fact, what it shows is the reworked circuit of a Boss Metal Zone distortion pedal.

The discrepancy was first spotted by Mario Fusco, a senior software engineer at Redhat, who took to Twitter to point it out.

“Here in Italy people started to share this figure claiming that this is the diagram of the 5G chip that has been inserted in the COVID vaccine,” Fusco said. “In reality it is the electric circuit of a guitar pedal.”

Indeed, a closer look at the schematic reveals "Bass," "Treble," and "Volume" labels, among other dead giveaways that this circuit will not, in fact, be put into your bloodstream upon receiving the vaccine.

If you're really craving some of those classic, high-powered Boss distortion tones in the meantime though, maybe wait for the upcoming Waza Craft version of the company's legendary HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal

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Jackson Maxwell
Associate Editor, GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.