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In lieu of the truth, what else can we surmise? [New Straits Time (Malaysia)]
[March 13, 2014]

In lieu of the truth, what else can we surmise? [New Straits Time (Malaysia)]


(New Straits Time (Malaysia) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SEVEN frustrating days on, here are the established facts in MAS flight MH370's inexplicable disappearance: no mid-air explosion or implosion, no SOS or data communications to even hint about what happened and no crash, obviously inferring no probable crash location.



Yes, a whole lot of despairing nothings, despite the superlative but uneven efforts of the authorities, that might now realise that the daily media briefings are variations of the same information, unacceptable to everyone with a stake in the crisis, more so the anguished families of the crew and passengers.

These facts are surmised by logical and empirical evidence and scenarios: MILITARY/SPY agencies insist that their satellites didn't detect the minutest of explosions in or around the time of MH370's disappearance; BAFFLING absence of human and data communications, impossible in current avionics systems; and, PROMISING leads on fireballs, terrain-hugging aircraft, wreckage, body parts, debris and survival equipment, from one end of the South China Sea to the upper Straits of Malacca, disappointingly turned out to be false, despite massive multinational search-and-rescue operations using the best technical wizardry.


So, not to put a fine point to it: where the hell is MH370? Nobody knows for sure and all scenarios have either been explained or rebutted.

But let's entertain these madcap sideshows for a moment.

THE realists/pessimists are reconciling to the idea that all is dead and gone, that science and technology can describe the what, who and which, but cannot comprehend the where, why and how yet.

THE irrational/superstitious cheer on the charlatans' deployment of a "sixth sense" to uncannily spot MH370's location and status.

THE spiritual/psychic believe that MH370 was "taken and hidden in another dimension/multiverse" by spirits and that somehow, the aircraft's misfortunes are tied to collective human sin, arrogance and cruelty.

THE cynical/contemptuous are lathering bitchy and gossipy tales of debauchery between a MH370's co-pilot and floozies' lust for their 15 minutes of fame (To that, once MH370 and all souls are safely recovered, MAS can slap disciplinary action against the lad who would by then be a hero!).

THE conspiracy theorists/New Agers are giddy with thought that extra-terrestrials pulled a Close Encounter of the Third Kind on MH370 by whizzing them through a wormhole, only to reappear 40 years from now - body, soul, memory and age intact - as if they were still in 2014, thus proving Einstein's special theory of relativity.

THE nutcases/opportunists are launching senselessly vile attacks in the political circuit and social media about how the government engineered the disappearance as a distraction from the setbacks of a narcissistic goat, besides heaping silly condescendence and strictures on the authorities trying to clarify the crisis.

NOW comes the crunch: the optimists/idealists are convinced that, after eliminating all impossibilities, foul play was at hand, either by hijacking or internal sabotage. Unknown are the perpetrators and their motives but recognised anyway for their technical intelligence in cloaking the plane to appear "invisible" to all satellites and radar.

To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes' timeless maxim, "eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth", exploring the hijacking/sabotage scenario virtually explains everything; no matter how unlikely the scenario is, according to some experts.

Supposed MH370 hijackers would comprise a large platoon of fanatics who have never done this misdeed before (hence the spotless record from terrorism of all aboard) but have rehearsed for months, if not years, executing it perfectly as MH370 was climbing after take-off.

A technical specialist/hacker would have disengaged all communications devices and various transponders, effectively killing all data entering and exiting the aircraft, besides jamming all smartphones aboard.

If some experts claim this is highly unlikely, welcome to the art of the impossible.

MH370 pilots and engineers would have reacted to the problem except they would be helpless to relay an SOS, but the reality of the situation would remain inside the cockpit, that is, until the hijackers grab metal forks, shove it under the throats of a passenger or a female flight attendant in a bid to coerce the opening of the secure cockpit door. Then, a crack pilot among the hijackers lands MH370 in an undisclosed destination and parks it inside a nondescript hangar.

Then, the hijackers, using the principle of a kidnapper against the victim's family, orders absolute silence from whoever they have contacted to demand a ransom or whatever it is they desire -- prisoner exchange, a nuclear weapon, code keys/passwords to server farms controlling secret data and launch codes... who knows...

The target country is big and influential enough to cover up the classified hostage crisis and tacitly issue disinformation and misdirection, especially to the search-and-rescue mission, which is essentially a wild goose chase, while the media briefings are designed to make Malaysia the convenient patsy.

Fantastical? Perhaps. But in the unbelievable dearth of a crash, a mid-air explosion and avionics evidence, a dreaded hijacking is the only plausible scenario that remains the truth. Sherlock Holmes would approve.

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