Is it clear from the text that Aaron was lying about the golden calf coming out of the fire?

In Exodus 32:24 Aaron says to Moses:

So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

it seems reasonable that this is a lie because later it is written:

And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

But, either way, Aaron made the calf, just like I might be said to make a smoothie by throwing a bunch of fruit in a blender. But the scripture doesn’t say that Aaron formed the calf. (I’d imagine that would take some imagination, skill and casting and he probably couldn’t have done it alone)

So, is there a sense that the calf actually is a diabolical manifestation or is there something hidden in the text that doesn’t really need to be said out loud that Aaron was wholly responsible for the crafting of the calf?