A lot of people who watched the Netflix documentary “MH370: The Plane That Disappeared” have written me with questions. I asked my friend Sarah Wynter, star of the hit show “24,” to discuss some of the ones that have gotten asked the most. This is a new format for me; in the past I’ve mostly explained my ideas through writing, but I thought that people who came to my work via video might prefer that medium. I’m grateful to Sarah for helping me out with her considerably more advanced televisual chops.
Andrew, I stopped following Chilit many years ago. He struck me as a nice and well-intentioned guy but frankly a little unhinged. There are people in the community of amateur MH370 investigators who can seem to be making sense but when you look a little closer what they’re saying it doesn’t add up. And yes, I know that some people say the same of me. Caveat emptor.
Jeff….
I followed him a few years ago and asked him a few questions about his work because I was genuinely curious and after awhile he asked if I worked with the NTSB an old blocked me lol. So I get what you mean about being a little unhinged. When I looked at his work and his formulas, he seems so sure about everything. But then again so does everyone when it comes to Mh370. Do you know, Is Chillit well known to people like to you and others in aviation?
He’s well-known, but more as a gadfly than as someone who has made a useful contribution. I think a lot of people have been blocking him for a long time.
@Jeff Wise:
In the video above you say:
The way you phrased it makes it sound you had prior knowledge of the shootdown, which I guess is not the case ?
Peter, You’re right, I didn’t phrase that well. What I meant to say was, “I might have put these people in danger because they were investigating this hijacking/abduction,” namely MH370. But you can imagine my shock — I was looking into the possibility that the GRU had taken a Malaysia Airlines 777, when the GRU destroyed another Malaysia Airlines 777. Then I had to go on CNN and everyone was saying, “For sure it’s just a coincidence,” and I didn’t dare say what I really thought because I knew how crazy it would sound. At that time, of course, we were still a long way from Bellingcat’s showing that the shootdown was a professional Russian military operation; at the time everyone fervently believed that it was perpetrated accidentally by untrained militiamen firing blindly.
@Jeff: I was sure that’s what you meant. Still, I wanted to give you a chance to clear this up just in case anybody else was wondering (sine “investigating this shoot down” means investigating MH17 whereas your investigators were surely investigating MH370)…
Something else though:
For years, you have been consistently pointing to the “coincidence” between the 2 Malaysian 777s. As I recall it though, this was more than a series of 2, but a series of 3. But for the life of me, I cannot figure anymore what the third event in the series was. It just eludes my recollection. Every time I read you making the point that this seems like a pattern, I am asking myself what the third occurrence of this pattern was, and I can’t figure it out anymore …
Does that ring any bell for you ? Any thoughts or recollections of what has been discussed here on your blog (I guess that’s where I must have read it) ?
@Peter, Hmm, the two MH 777s in 4.5 months was always a pretty strong coincidence, but I don’t think I’ve ever thought of them as part of a group of three. I have thought of them as part of a longer string of nefarious actions by Russian intelligence services that stretched from Maidan to the invasion of Ukraine, including especially the Olympic doping scandal, because it was another example of the experts being absolutely sure that they couldn’t be outwitted.
The one thing that I do think of as a pattern of three is the sequence of disappearances that MH370 went through–I’ve called it “the triple disappearing airplane” because it vanished off secondary radar, then off primary radar, and then off the Inmarsat data.
@Jeff: Thanks for your feedback. If I can ever recall the third element of the pattern, I’ll let you know.
Sarah and you floated the idea of an MH370 expert panel. Will that come into fruition or else will there be a part 2 of your collaboration with Sarah Wynter ?
@Peter, I’m intrigued by the idea of an expert panel, and have talked to someone in the search industry who likes it as well and thinks it might be possible to attract funding; but it will be a fairly massive undertaking, so I don’t think the odds are tremendously good. I’ll let you know if we make progress.
Making the video with Sarah was fun, since it came out I’ve been approached by someone in the digitial media space who wants to do a podcast about MH370. So we’re talking about putting together a kind of open-ended podcast to go over every important aspect of the case in detail, which is I think the approach one needs to take to make any progress.
@Jeff: oh, that’s wonderful. I’m very much looking forward to it.
Why is it a massive undertaking? What plan would you have in mind?
@Peter, Well, to assemble a panel of leading experts across a range of disciplines would require a lot of logistical effort. And probably a budget.
@Jeff: Budget … do you really think they would expect money for participating? I thought these types of commissions/panels are staffed in a honorary capacity? Especially since this is for a good cause.
Another thought on our prior discussion about the Malaysia 777 pattern: Do you know where to find a chronological list of Malaysia Airlines accidents and B777 accidents ? I am still puzzling my head over what was the 3rd element in the series … ???
@Jeff Wise: If you are still getting message notifications:
Any idea where to find a chronological list of Malaysia Airlines accidents and B777 accidents ?
I’m trying to find out if there was a continuation of the series (i.e. a third element either before or after the 2 Malyasian B777s you always highlight).
Hey Jeff, I just watched the documentary on Netflix, and I think the work you’re doing is incredible. Best of luck and prayers for MH370.
Thank you, Gracie!
uhhh i barely know anything abt mh370 but thanks for the docu lol, it has me intrigued
Hi Jeff,
Did you see today’s news…an article titled, “Doomed Flight MH370 ‘Found’ in Darkest Part of Cambodian Jungle on Google Maps” by Dave Malyon? (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/doomed-flight-mh370-found-in-darkest-part-of-cambodian-jungle-on-google-maps/ar-AA1gdLLk?)
WHat are your thoughts?
@Kaye, Hi, thanks for pointing that out to me. I guess my reaction is that if you look at enough fuzzy images, you’ll come across something that looks like an airplane. And even if this is an airplane, I think it’s very unlikely that it’s MH370, because based on the satellite data it didn’t wind up anywhere near Cambodia.
What are your thoughts, Jeff, on the recent announcement that Russia has evidently “acquired” a A-50U AWACS?
https://www.eurasiantimes.com/capable-to-detect-new-types-of-aircraft-russian-military-receives-newfangled-a-50u-awacs/
@AnnRCanter, Thanks for your question. Of course it’s impossible to know how capable these aircraft are; it seems likely that as the war goes on Russia’s technical advantages versus Ukraine will continue to deteriorate. I would be skeptical that Russia is going to be able to field any wonder weapons that are going to shift the war in their favor.