Probably a case of it being really early in the day for America that allowed it to rise so fast, but you're right, it did rise exceptionally fast: http://hnrank

Probably a case of it being really early in the day for America that allowed it to rise so fast, but you're right, it did rise exceptionally fast: http://hnrankings.info/5150317/ http://hnrankings.info/5150317/ position number 3 in ~5 minutes. Not proof they gamed but certainly plausible. Not 100% sure but I think mods have the ability to review vote histories and look for suspicious activity, if you flag the story it should be checked by a moderator.