Above is a picture that Neels Le Roux Kruger recently posted on the ‘MH370 In search of the truth’ website. He writes:
An interesting development with regards to “Klein Roy”.
‘This morning I was in contact with an individual from the town of George inland from Mosselbay in South Africa. The person, who is a frequent visitor to Klein Brak beach, was walking on the beach at Klein Brak on 23 December 2015 on an amateur ocean photo assignment. He captured images of the ocean and the beach – and he also took a photo of an object he though was part of a signboard. He said he did not think much of the object at the time and he didn’t examine it (or handle it) since it smelled of decomposing marine life. The fragment was covered in barnacles and mussels. He took a random photo and also notes that when he returned later the day the fragment was gone – probably washed back out to sea by the incoming tide. After reading about the investigation into the MH370 debris and the identification of “Roy” he made the connection to my photos of the piece and came into contact with the media.
Quite amazing – this is definitely the “Rolls Royce” fragment I picked up 3 months later in the same area!This is exciting since it brings the time frame for the washing up of the RR fragment 3 months forward to at least December 2015. It is also an indication of the presence of substantial amounts of marine life on the fragment when it first washed up along the South African coast.
For reference, here’s an image of the piece as it was found by Kruger in March near Mossel Bay, South Africa:
Taken together, these photos make a compelling case for the idea — which I have strongly disputed here — that barnacle-encrusted pieces could be thoroughly cleaned by wave, sand, and sun after coming ashore.
The implication, then, is that the pieces were not “ineptly planted,” as I asserted, but that the lack of biofouling is due to the pieces spending time ashore before they were discovered.
UPDATE 5/18/16: Today an Afrikaans-language website published an article entitled “MH370 piece all photographed in December” by Eugene Gunning explaining how the photograph at top came to be taken. Below is the translation courtesy of Google Translate with a bit of cleanup on my part. Obviously parts are still pretty baffling, if anyone cares to help to polish up them up in the comments section that would be most welcome. Thanks to readers @SA Reader and @Afrikaans for alerting me to this story.
The debris of the missing flight MH370 Malaysia Airlines which was conducted in December on the beach of Little Brak River by a resident of Knysna.
Dr. Schalk Lückhoff, a retired physician from Knysna, may help to solve the mysterious disappearance of the missing flight MH370 Malaysia Airlines.
In December last year Lückhoff came accross a piece of debris on the beach of Klien-Brakrivier, which is presumaby from the missing aircraft. He didn’t realise at the time that it is from the missing aircraft.
This is the same debris that more than two months later by Neels Kruger, an archaeologist from Pretoria, seen on the beach and picked up.
The debris has been sent to the Malaysian government.
The plane went missing on March 8, 2014, shortly after it Kuala Lumpur took off en route to Beijing. There were 239 passengers and crew on board.
The Australia Transport Safety Board announced Thursday that the debris probably came from the plane.
Lückhoff said he walked at Klein Brak River on the beach on 23 December. It was about 07:22 when he saw an object on the beach. It lay on the riverbank. He took a picture of it.
“I was really busy,” he told to take pictures of fast-flowing water for a photography project. “The piece caught my attention because it was the only thing on the bare expanse of sand. Because it stank because of the decaying barnacles, I did not touch it and took a casual photo.
“I did not recognize what it was and thought it might be part of an old notice board. It was full of sand and mussels and just a small part of the letters put out.
“After the next high tide I haven’t seen it again and supposed that it washed back into the sea.”
When he saw the story about Kruger in the Cape, he recognized it.
Kruger said on inquiry that he is very excited about it. “It can make a contribution to the investigation.”
Great!
More (TV) “made-to-order” easily expected fragments with the mandatory “east-to-identify” (from Aircraft) to justify (or nor?) the current search site? Note: added barnacles !! = extra value
Someone is pulling our (collective) ….
Jeff. I saw this linked on “Veritas MH370” FB but have not been able to trace the original posting.
1. Could you provide the link to original posting?
2. Higher-resolution version of the picture?
3. Any EXIF on the original picture posting?
4. Any comments from experts regarding evidence of photo-shopping? The shadow detalis look good consistent. The sand on the surface looks “funny” but this might just be low resolution/compression.
I am sorry to say that I am more suspicious of faked-photo planting (ineptly) than I am of debris-planting (ineptly). Not too keen on taking this at face value in the absence of further assurance on its provenance and bona fides.
Yes Jeff, there was never evidence for a grand conspiracy or planting, all of that played out in (y)our heads.
Well… I was heavily criticised when I suggested that these fragments could arrive several months before discovery… So, they could.
This casts serious doubt on the current search area imo. It was already unlikely the piece could have drifted so far in the given time period and now it’s even more so.
The “barnacles” that you see on the picture might not be the same spieces that grows in the ocean. The beaches here are covered with small molluscs that look exactly like that we call them “snails”.
You can see the trails in the sand are from those local molluscs. As soon as a dead gelly fish washes up, they “run” towards it and start eating it.
So there might be some ocean biota on the piece that those snails are eating… if so, it would mean that the piece was freshly washed ashore then.
That’s the one :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullia_digitalis
P.S. And I am sure even this finding will be used to support the planting theory.
@nederland,
Whats the distance between Durban and the search area ?
@Jeff
Wow. That is huge.
interesting that the small “ding” in the centre bottom of the first “leg” of the R as seen in the “clean” debris photos doesn’t seem to be evident in this one. perhaps leads credence to it not being a simple photoshop transposition.
Sorry for the random question, but has anyone considered the possibility that the Freescale employees aboard MH370 were testing methods to hack into the plane with the permission and complicity of one of the governments involved- likely that of Malaysia (has anyone checked if any of these employees maintained knowledge regarding flying or airplane infrastructure?) and something went horribly wrong? After all, some of Freescale’s specialties include cloaking technology and Malaysian government is corrupt and definitely seems to want something hidden.
Sorry if this doesn’t make sense or is a silly question; I’m not an aviation professional.
@Paul
Nice catch! This is very exciting to me.
@Oleksandr
@Cheryl
How do I know the navigation system was working flawlessly? you’re going to kick yourselves when I tell you how.
The SDU can only transmit if it is in receipt of navigational data. That is how it compensates for Doppler. And it did compensate for Doppler- that is how the Inmarsat guys were able to show it flew south.
I suppose you will now say that the ISAT data was falsified? And so it goes on.
@Gysbreght
Thanks for the analytics relative to Freddie’s waypoints. I took a pass at it awhile ago, and stopped at feasibility. I was struggling to make the last leg work. I am so burned out on that stuff. 🙂
@Rand
No, I think you should stick to winemaking
Hey Jeff, don’t sell yourself short yet: Those barnacles look a little immature to me! 😉
@Nederland: not surprising IMHO as that current along SE coast of Africa is one of the swiftest on the Planet.
Other implications:
1. It’s not a coincidence that the cleaner pieces have been found on African coast because there is so much more coastline, and thus opportunity for mechanical abrasion, predation by scavengers, UV sun bleaching, drying out to occur. Objects that wash up on islands, unless kicked up way high above strandline by a storm, will either be found in a relatively fresh condition, or will wash out to sea again before the barnacles get wiped out completely.
2. One wonders what was going through the mind of the person who took the picture: it was found interesting enough to photograph, but not to pursue further. It goes to show that probably only people who are on the lookout for actual MH370 debris are likely going to recognize it when they see it. No doubt there are more bits out there. I still say we should organize an expedition to Madagascar.
@Dennis
There is still a faint chance they can find the plane before the deadline.
The ATSB have now taken the piloted glide scenario on board, albeit reluctantly. They could now concentrate on the area outside the 7th arc, ie downrange of the DSTG’s hotspot, and any areas not so far covered inside the arc, ie uprange. Basically, they are tied to the 120,000 sq km set by the politicians.
If the ATSB fail to find MH370 this time, then either the Chinese, the French or the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute will, because thanks to us, most of the initial work has been done for them.
@Warren Plats
No doubt there are more bits out there. I still say we should organize an expedition to Madagascar.
Can you give coordinates of the area you think must be searched.
@ir1907
Why Durban?
@Warren Platts
Reaching the SE of Africa in that time in the first place is way inconsistent with any drift model I’ve seen…
Please also compare the heavily barnacle encrusted honeycomb and carbon fiber areas, with the absolutely barnacle-free painted surface. Barnacles seem not to like paint. I’d expect the same scenario for the other debris.
Lines on the sand are seemingly left by dragging the debris to turn it around. Sand on the upper surface indicates it was found upside down and turned around to take the photo.
(From the last piece – SDU Re-logon):
@DL @Owen Wiseman @Rob
DL stated: “ I never saw a single photo of a passenger boarding the plane or a person settled in a seat…”
Just for the record, there was in fact a passenger selfie taken on board MH370 just before the plane taxied to the runway (the only one I’m aware of):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiOM0B_CYAAlq9l.jpg
And the same passenger took this alongside his mother just before boarding the plane. (I hope the family doesn’t mind such use of the images):
http://img.astroawani.com/2014-03/61394280003_295x200.jpg
I’ve said it on here before, I think its quite possible there may be a treasure trove of untapped nuggets on Chinese messaging sites/Renren (Chinese Facebook) if only one bothered to dig. But due to the language barrier most of us can’t do that – such a shame!
It would be quite interesting to form a loose ‘umbrella’ of MH370 blogs (encompassing Chinese/Malaysian ones if they exist) that could share information/feedback from time to time. I’ve always wondered if there was a similar blog to Jeff’s, but in Chinese?
@Trond
I always find your posts and comments very interesting.
Just as an aside, when you said “If i remember correctly there will be no more debris found above the water on any land…” How do know this?
(If you don’t wish to discuss further, of course, then sorry to pry – I don’t mean to interrogate. But you’ve made this mysterious comment twice now).
The link to Hugo Teso’s presentation of how to hijack an airplane (2013).
From his presentation; ADS-B and ACARS: no security at all.
Mentions Honeywell/ Thales, FMS, CDU, etc.
https://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2013ams/materials/D1T1%20-%20Hugo%20Teso%20-%20Aircraft%20Hacking%20-%20Practical%20Aero%20Series.pdf
” He took a random photo and also notes that when he returned later the day the fragment was gone – probably washed back out to sea by the incoming tide.”
So the debris came to the beach and waited there for the make-up to pose for a photo, then immediately after the photo was taken and the photographer went away, the debris departed back to the sea, waiting for the next rendez-vous…
No, it’s not serious. It’s becoming hilarious…
What will come next? A photo of the flaperon beside a broken GPS indicating E95 S35?
It,s very common that when a murder has been committed, the murderer later comes back to the crime scene to alter something following the results of the investigation, to avoid being suspected…
@IR1907: If you’re referring to the underwater search area, what ROB just said.
If you’re referring to Madagascar (or anywhere else), unless you’ve got a lot of time and energy, probably a blanket search is not best use of energy. I would suggest looking on satellite photos for little hooks and capes in the coastline where the beaches are relatively wide: these are places that will collect extra flotsam and jetsam along with the extra sand.
http://i.imgur.com/rMiHcND.png
@Rob. What, worried that I am intent on shutting down all the fun? You have to admit that there is a certain level of self pleasuring with airplane components going on that would be illegal in some jurisdictions. Tweaking the location science is one thing; seeing things in the weeds of the wiring is another.
As we say in trans-Freudian psychology, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. BTW, I don’t make cigars, either.
BTW, the aircraft was perhaps not directed to fly along the Thai-Malaysian with the intent of avoiding radar but rather simply flying a base leg before an intended approach leg turn at Penag for a landing at KUL, the highest probability destination at the point of diversion..
Again debris “made-to-order” (a la Brock) … some other (possibly Malaysian) “Faction” Is planting to 1) maintain our interests in (wrong) haystacks and fields or 2) calling card to Blackmail the other Malaysian faction = Military wing v Military wing. = either way .. its a game / strategy that we are only begin to understand … +2 years too late.
”So the debris came to the beach and waited there for the make-up to pose for a photo, then immediately after the photo was taken and the photographer went away, the debris departed back to the sea, waiting for the next rendez-vous…”
No the debris did not ”wait” to be photographed. The debris also did not ”depart” on its own to the sea. All of the garbage you just wrote is an insult to our intelligence.
@warren plats
Thank you. i am planning to visit Madagascar and South Africa. Maybe we can meet and set up a team ?
How far away is the water? Did a big wave toss it far into the beach? How much of a storm did it take to get it back out in the water and not toss it further into the land?
I like the way that Jeff will lay it on the table when he is (sort of) proven to be mistaken about something. I respect that.
I also like the way the barnacles seem to be leaving rivulets in the sand – they seem from this image to be so much heavier (collectively) than the actual item they are attached to.
@Trond, GortoZ – I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I find it very difficult to read your comments alluding to something beyond human interference, without any elaboration – are you not elaborating for fear of banishment from this forum, or because you don’t want to be mocked or what is it?
Are you talking about aliens? Could you try to be clearer about your allusions, instead of giving us little hints and refusing to go further?
If you actually know what happened then say so. If you just suspect, then let’s have it and we can settle the argument you present, perhaps.
Anything else seems a little unfair. It also makes it rather less likely that your opinion will be considered, I think, because you won’t tell us what it is, so we just move on and don’t look into it seriously.
If that’s what you prefer then by all means continue – and it’s not as though my contributions have provided anything, so I can’t really complain.
@Paul Smithson – it is present, but it’s lighter. In some of the original photos we saw of this piece, it was also lighter looking.
See here:
http://ewn.co.za/-/media/E5C65D08171B4C5B9B78786B47A14B6B.ashx
or many other images on google. I don’t know why it is darker in some images and lighter in others but it is nonetheless present in all those I have seen.
I think my use of tags keeps disappearing my posts so here’s another attempt without them:
(From the last piece – SDU re-logon)
@DL @Owen Wiseman @Rob
DL stated: “ I never saw a single photo of a passenger boarding the plane or a person settled in a seat…”
Just for the record, there was a passenger selfie taken on board MH370 just before the plane taxied to the runway (the only one I know of):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiOM0B_CYAAlq9l.jpg
And the same passenger took this alongside his mother just before boarding the plane. (I hope the family doesn’t mind such use of the images):
http://img.astroawani.com/2014-03/61394280003_295x200.jpg
I’ve said it on here before, I think its quite possible there may be a treasure trove of untapped nuggets on Chinese messaging sites/Renren (Chinese Facebook) if only one bothered to dig. But due to the language barrier that’s out of the question – such a shame!
It would be quite interesting to create a loose ‘umbrella’ of MH370 blogs (encompassing Chinese/Malaysian ones if they exist) that could share information/feedback from time to time. I’ve always wondered if there was a similar blog to Jeff’s, but in Chinese.
@Trond
I always find your posts and comments very interesting.
Just as an aside, when you said “If i remember correctly there will be no more debris found above the water on any land…”
How do you know?
(If you don’t wish to discuss further, of course, then sorry to pry – I don’t mean to interrogate). But you’ve made this mysterious comment twice now
@susie
Ill sum it up:
* everything points to what did not happen, and that could mean we will never find mh370.
* there will be no more items (on land) and witnesses.
* im not talking aliens or anyone physicly did this.
* there may be two items on/in sand between the waterpings.
* the flaperon may never leave france, and if it does then something is even more wrong.
That is all weird cryptic hints i have.
Ill stop there, and thank you jeffwise for not deleting and banning. I have a reason i cannot come directly forth with. No i dont blame anyone, and it is important to me the innocent remains innocent. No one on the plane had anything to do with the disappearence.
@Rand
Thank you, but I would rather you didn’t mention self pleasuring and cigars because it conjures up images of Monica Lewinski et al.
For me the evidence of the radar tracking is clear. The aircraft was flying much of the time in LNAV mode, between waypoints. The navigation system was fully operational, under pilot control, not a hijacker’s pistol in sight.
Apologies for the double post. Seems like tabs do work – I was just a little impatient. Sorry again!
@Trond – cryptic hints describes it exactly.
I’m not intending to attack you, at all, and I hope that is clear.
I just don’t understand. Why post things like that – you clearly are not comfortable to say more, so why say anything about it at all?
Are you trying to save us from barking up the wrong tree? If so then please at least let Jeff know, or someone,by private message, so that we can all stop faffing about with alternative ideas to the one you think is correct.
ROB,
“I suppose you will now say that the ISAT data was falsified? ”
Not at all. Firstly you confuse the period before 18:25 and after.
Secondly, it is a way more complex than you can imagine. A lot of navigation functions do not work if ADIRU is mulfunctioning (and there is no way to restart it in the air), regardless how healthy SAARU and GPS are. So SDU can still theoretically receive more or less correct data, subject to how this data is routed to SDU (do you know?).
Thirdly, position/velocity errors in the data supplied to SDU have relatively small impact on the ability of SDU to transmit/receive data. It is more about dish orientation. The “dark period” can simply be caused by the wrong antenna orientation, caused by wrong or absent navigation data.
Thus, this time your points have certain value, but conclusion is again wrong.
@Sajid
Thanks. I was always suspicious of alternative claims.
@Oleksandr
I knew there was something else I wanted to mention.
The FMC would be powered by the standby electrical system in an emergency, ie by battery. And all the instruments on the B777 are 28V dc, which was a departure from previous practice of 115V A/C
@Oleksandr
I hear what you say, but I do not agree with your conclusions.
But I hope we can remain friends in spite of our obvious differences of opinion.
@Trond @Susie
I hope Trond isn’t ejected from this forum on account of his apparent mysticism. Nor do I want him to be cornered into giving further details if he doesn’t feel like it/isn’t in a position to. Is he privy to a something none of us know about? Or is he just a gentle fantasist? I can’t tell.
Then again, if someone really did want to plant textual debris, surely this forum is the best place to drop it!
@susie
If im wrong then i dont know. If im right …
The tracking numbers were made to show that mh370 physicly did not fly to the sio. It already started before it took off, but there never was anything wrong with the plane. The debris never crossed the ocean. The plane was gonna be used for something. It didnt happen and it was too late to reverse it. The people were not murdered, but if im right they are not coming back. Mh370 is gone for ever.
All i have is statements. I cant make arguments for them. I know of nothing that will find anything. But im willing to put forth my predictions.
@Sajid UK
Now that you all have seen my predictions it doesnt matter if i get thrown out of here.
@Sajid
I didn’t mean to suggest Trond was planting anything. I just didn’t understand what he was trying to do – and I still don’t, but I guess my asking isn’t going to help, so I’ll leave it at that.
All the best, Trond – I don’t doubt for a second that you feel your instincts are correct and the information you are sharing, however limited, matters.
I don’t want to cause any ripples. Thanks for trying to explain, anyhow.
Before the passengers entered the plane they all had a sensation that something was gonna happen. They had the choice of coming with or not to travel. Some did not travel. Ask them if they still can remember that sensation.
Ask the woman whod been on au 60 minutes that her husband knew that something was gonna happen.
They all said in interviews what ive just said.
@IR1907: Sounds good. Shoot me an email: warrenplatts at hotmail.com
@Trond: So nobody onboard had anything to do with it, yet it was not a mechanical failure.
So you’re saying hackers did it?
Or was it the evil tiger spirit?
@Trond
That’s interesting – I wasn’t aware of that. I will look up the 60 minutes programme you mention.
Thanks…and again, no hard feelings.
About Trond – we’ve been hoping all along for a “leak” from a reliable source.
Trond might be a leak. Or, he might be a fraud, or a theorist. But if we want to keep the doors open for leakers to drop hints, we have to live with the frauds as well, and we have to be careful not to burn the source or impede the flow of information.
Just my $.02 because I agree, some of Trond’s comments are quite interesting.
@JS @Susie
Well said guys!