This is reportedly the only fourth trading suspension caused by a technical problem in the last fifteen years.

Technical difficulties came one after another yesterday: one of the nation's biggest airlines, its largest financial news publication, and its main stock exchange were all reportedly down due to system glitches. 

Wednesday morning's spate of technological foul-ups grounded United Airlines flights, sidelined the Wall Street Journal's website and halted trading for more than three hours on the New York Stock Exchange. 

This seemingly coincidental timing ignited widespread speculation about hacking attacks and conspiracy theories about who might be responsible.

United Airlines issued a statement yesterday, saying they experienced a network connectivity glitch. Even though it only happened for 90 minutes, hours and hours of plane delays have resulted across the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement that, “the malfunctions at United and the NYSE were not the result of any nefarious actor.” Both organizations cited technical issues for their downtime, which totaled 3 1/2 hours for the NYSE.

The LA Times reports today that the Wall Street Journal is still "investigating" what caused its website to crash.

The hacker group Anonymous reportedly issued a cryptic tweet on the eve of the NYSE suspension:

But authorities claim there is no tie to a cyber attack. 

So what do you think happened? Are these three systems glitches coincidental or related? Sound off below! 

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC its affiliates, or its employees.

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