MH370 & Shadows in the Sky: The Unexplained UAP Connection
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is one of history's most mysterious and widely discussed aviation incidents.
Below is a brief overview of the event and the investigations that followed before we discuss what could very well be an extraordinary UAP incident captured on camera.
Timeline of Events:
March 8, 2014: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport bound for Beijing Capital International Airport with 239 people on board (227 passengers and 12 crew members).
- Within an hour after takeoff, the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control. Its last known position was over the South China Sea.
- Radar data provided to the public suggested that the plane deviated from its intended flight path and headed westwards across the Malaysian Peninsula, then turned south towards the Indian Ocean, via Penang, Langkawi Airport.
Search Efforts:
- What followed was one of the most expensive and extensive search operations in aviation history. The initial search focused on the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca.
- The search area was later expanded to the southern Indian Ocean based on satellite “handshake” data, which suggested the plane might have continued flying for hours after losing contact.
- Australia led the efforts in the southern Indian Ocean, covering an area of 120,000 square kilometers. Despite the extensive search, no sign of the plane was found in this region.
- In January 2017, the official search was suspended after almost three years with no conclusive evidence.
Findings & Theories
Pieces of wreckage believed to be from MH370 have been found on various shores around the Indian Ocean. These include a flaperon discovered on Réunion Island in July 2015 and other pieces of 777 which you can see and read about here in an article published by The Guardian.
The reason for the plane’s disappearance remains unclear. Various theories have been proposed, including mechanical failure, a deliberate act by someone on board, or a fire.
The lack of definitive evidence has given rise to many theories about the plane’s disappearance.
Shadows in the Sky
Recent developments including astonishing footage allegedly captured by a US drone and satellite, have reignited discussions and theories surrounding this enduring aviation mystery.
This write-up seeks to take a bit of a deep dive into the perplexing story of MH370’s disappearance and the recent allegations of UAP connections.
The recently re-surfaced theory has delved into the enigmatic realm of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs). The phenomenon dubbed UAP was unveiled recently by Retired Maj. David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer during congressional hearings.
Recent videos and discussions about MH370 and alleged UAP interference initially emerged on Reddit, then migrated to 4Chan, and subsequently extended to X/Twitter.
Within these conversations, two videos surfaced, one purportedly captured by the US Department of Defense National Reconnaissance Office NROL-22 Satellite and the other by a US Army MQ-1C Drone.
These videos depict three unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) circling the alleged MH370 aircraft before it seemingly vanishes or undergoes an abrupt, unexplained disappearance, reminiscent of entering a wormhole-like phenomenon.
As shocking and strange as that sounds, that is exactly what we see in the videos below. See this for yourself below.
The footage presents a very perplexing scenario that suggests the flight may have been surveilled or encountered by these UAPs before being zapped from existence.
That is if the footage was not faked.
Users on 4Chan, Reddit, and X/Twitter meticulously scrutinized the videos, frame by frame, in different layers, contrasts, brightness, and a raft of other effects. The web sleuths ran the videos and images through various pieces of software and video analysis tools, as well as checked the whereabouts of the satellite at the time of the alleged capture and the conclusion as far as I can tell so far appears to be: inconclusive.
Most reviewers of the footage seem to agree that while it looks legitimate and very hard to fake, or better put; potentially an award-winning fake, there is no way to prove the footage is genuine or faked, without the original!
Reddit user u/cityslicker265 perfectly summed it up by saying “You cannot complete accurate video analysis from a compressed file.”
NROL-22
The analysis has generated wicked amounts of both skepticism and fascination. Some users scrutinized the video’s metadata and satellite orbital data, leading to doubts about the NROL-22 Satellite’s capacity to capture such footage due to its orbit and location at the time. However, an alternative theory suggests that lower Earth orbit “support satellites” or “relay satellites” might hold the key to understanding the video.
Essentially what that means is that even if NROL-22 was not in a path of capture, one of its sister satellites (USA-229) in its constellation could have been in the right spot at the right time, and that may means that they have beamed the footage to one another before communicating the video data back to Earth.
Probably the best piece of evidence to prove that NROL-22 was the satellite taking the footage is the coordinates and satellite designation in the video as seen below.
The issue is that no one can prove any of this because NROL-22, also known as USA-184, or NRO Launch 22, is an American signals intelligence satellite, operated by the National Reconnaissance Office. This means it’s the property of the US Government.
MQ-1C
Investigators believe the alleged drone footage was taken from an MQ-1C drone for various reasons which I will not go deep into here other than to say that; they believe the clip shows a similar crosshair or reticule which matches the MQ-1C, the EO/IR (Electro-Optical/Infra-Red) imaging systems payload captures the leading edge of the wing on the MQ-1C, and most importantly that the MQ-1C was designed to uplink with the NROL-22 satellite which ties a nice bow into the theory being that the NROL-22 or sister satellites picked up coordinates for flight MH370 and sent the MQ-1C drone out to investigate.
MH370
This is where the story gets interesting.
Assuming for a moment that the footage from both videos is real and they're not CGI fakes, and assuming it is filming 3 UAP circling a passenger jet before zapping it through a wormhole (like that's not enough), how do we know it is combined footage of missing flight MH370?
Twitter user Ashton (@JustTrayLoL) has succinctly rounded up what he believes to be the most important pieces of evidence for proving that what is seen in the videos is flight MH370 and laid it all out via the below thread and linked here.
Ashton makes some good points that are hard to argue with, some not so, probably the one with the most staying power is his point about the US Military, confirming SBIRS provided data to the intelligence community to help solve the mystery of MH370.
That golden little nugget of information was discovered in an Aviation Week article published on October 16, 2015, where Col. Mike Jackson was quoted, and linked here, screenshot below.
Interesting that they think they solved the mystery. Wow. Really?
Debunkings
As far as debunkings go, there is a thread over at Metabunk.org that is still running at 21 pages. For those that don’t know this is well-known debunker Mick West’s forum.
There is another debunking that has been published by France24 which you can read here.
Conclusion
As readers, to truly grasp the level of intense research and analysis that the armchair investigators have done on both sides of this story, you have to delve into the posts that are linked above to get a true first-person understanding which I cannot do justice to with one Medium article.
I’ll lay the main links out below for your perusal:
Link 1
The original Reddit post that started this most recent research and analysis frenzy, titled: Revisiting Supposed Military Drone Footage of UFO Airliner Abduction by user u/frankievalentino
Link 2
The Reddit Megathread, titled: Megathread MH370 — Relevant Posts regarding MH370 by user u/Atiyo_.
Link 3
4Chan General, titled MH370 UAP Footage General by Anonymous.
Link 4
X/Twitter user Ashton (@JustTrayLol) pinned post, titled, **MH370x Breaking Update** The Real Story of MH370 — All Pertinent Evidence.
And of course, don’t forget the debunks!
What do I personally think about all of this?
I think it’s a fantastic story. It's tragic and I genuinely feel for the missing people's families and cannot imagine what they must have gone through at the time of this event nor how they have coped with it in the long term. I wish them all well, sincerely.
It’s human nature to want to solve mysteries such as this and so I don’t agree with what some of the debunkers are saying about folks trying to monetize this story, because there is no evidence anyone has gotten rich off of a few Reddit and or Twitter posts, that is just ridiculous.
I genuinely feel that both the debunkers and the web sleuths want to know the truth.
The footage seems very well done, at least in my eyes, but experience tells me, that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Regards,
Mr. Fireside
