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Instructions: Read the recent article about the conspiracy theories of the missing
Malaysian Airplane. On a separate paper, make conversations and speculations
about these theories using perfect modals in the passive voice. (You may refer to the
grammar practice on p.103 of your book for the pattern).
The subsequent crash of flight MH17, shot down over eastern Ukraine, added to speculation, while a lack of
clarity from Malaysian officials about the earlier mystery allowed rumours to flourish. Relatives of some
passengers on board the flight have offered a $3m reward for information in the belief that details of the
investigation are being withheld from them.
Even the Malaysian opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has accused his country's government of holding
back "missing bits of information", giving fuel to the conspiracy theories. He asked how a country with "one
of the most sophisticated" radar systems in the world could simply lose track of an aeroplane. Similar doubts
have been expressed by the chief executive of Emirates, Tim Clark.
A poll conducted by CNN in the summer found that one in ten Americans believe that "space aliens, time
travellers or beings from another dimension" were involved in the plane's disappearance.
The claim that investigators still can't rule out the possibility that Flight MH370 landed rather than
crashed has also reignited the debate: according to the CNN poll, 21 per cent of people believe that at least
some people from the flight survived.
The Australian-led search operation is now looking for the plane along the so-called "seventh arc", a remote
area of the southern Indian Ocean.
But far away from the scene of the search, on the internet's more excitable fringes, individuals have been
working on theories of their own to plug the information gaps. Here are some of the best (and weirdest):
Hijacked by Afghans
The missing Boeing 777 was hijacked and flown to a small village in Afghanistan, according to a Russian
newspaper.
A military source reportedly told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper: "Flight MH370 Malaysia
Airlines missing on March 8 with 239 passengers was hijacked.
"Pilots are not guilty; the plane was hijacked by unknown terrorists. We know that the name of the terrorist
who gave instructions to pilots is 'Hitch'. The plane is in Afghanistan not far from Kandahar near the border
with Pakistan."
Others have elaborated on the theory, suggesting that passengers have been divided into seven groups and
are living in mud huts with almost no food.
According to the theory, proposed by a number of sites, including humansarefree.com, MH370 was hijacked
and forced to land safely in an undisclosed location. Some believers say that the plane was taken to the US
military base Diego Garcia – believed to be within range of where the MH370 disappeared – and then
deliberately crashed near Donetsk by US agents months later in a "false flag" operation designed to discredit
Russia.
Subsequent world events have played into the theorists' hands, as a number of countries accused Russia of
providing military support to Ukrainian separatists – including Buk missile launchers capable of shooting
down planes at high altitudes. The EU and US subsequently tightened their sanctions on Moscow.
To support their argument, some commentators, such as Opob News, point to the fact that wreckage found
in Ukraine seems to have a different configuration of windows to the actual MH17, and that a Malaysian
flag on the side of the fuselage is not in the right place. Others have suggested that these pictures are fake.
Alien abduction
Five per cent of Americans surveyed by Reason.com believe that the plane was abducted by aliens. Some
bloggers have pointed to a number of recent UFO sightings in Malaysia as evidence for extraterrestrial
intervention. Alexandra Bruce, from Forbidden Knowledge TV, "proves" the involvement of aliens with her
analysis of radar data. She claims that footage posted on YouTubeshows the presence of something that "can
only be termed a UFO" in the skies over Malaysia. Of course, that means something that is "unidentified"
rather than aliens.
High-tech hijacking
The disappearance of flight MH370 may be down to the world’s first cyber hijack, according to the Sunday
Express. It says that hackers could have accessed the aircraft’s flight computer and reprogrammed the speed,
altitude and direction. “It could then be landed or made to crash by remote control,” the paper suggests. It
may be worth noting that the woman who came up with the theory “runs her own company training
businesses and governments to counter terrorist attacks”.
HAARP caused flight MH370 to crash
Bringing together two favourite subjects of conspiracy theorists, some have suggested that the US
government's recently closed HAARP research facility could have caused the Malaysian Airlines flight to
crash. "Could HAARP be an explanation for the puzzlement that surrounds the mystery of what has
happened to the plane?" asks one contributor to Godlike Productions – a self-described "conspiracy theorists
and lunatic fringe" website. The plane may have gone off course because "HAARP was affecting radar
systems". Pouring scorn on the theory, another reader counters: "it didn't crash so your theory is BS".
Invisibility
According to reports, 20 employees of Freescale Semiconductor, a company that develops "cloaking"
technology were onboard the MH370 when it went missing. Some, such as the writers
of WorthyToShare.com, have speculated that the plane may have been turned invisible and landed
somewhere, possibly at the US Air Force base in Diego Garcia.
A weapon of unimaginable power
Writing for NaturalNews.com, Mike Adams says that the plane's disappearance shows that "some entirely
new, mysterious and powerful force is at work on our planet which can pluck airplanes out of the sky
without leaving behind even a shred of evidence". If a weapon capable of making a plane disappear without
trace does exist, then "whoever controls it already has the ability to dominate all of Earth's nations with a
fearsome military weapon of unimaginable power", Adams writes. Quite concerning.
MH370 itself could be used as a weapon
Some people have expressed concern that the aeroplane may have been hijacked by terrorists and landed
somewhere, to be used as a weapon at a later date. The proponents of the theory suggest that the plane could
have been flown to a safe place, landed and camouflaged and may, at some point, be used to commit a 9/11-
style atrocity. Former RAF navigator Sean Maffett told theBBC that in his view this would be very hard to
do, but that the possibility cannot be ruled out. "We are now at stage where very, very difficult things have
to be considered as all sensible options seem to have dropped off," he said.
MH370 hid in shadow of another flight
Blogger Keith Ledgerwood argues that the MH370 may have hidden itself from radar detection by
manoeuvring itself behind Singapore Airlines flight 68. "It is my belief that MH370 likely flew in the
shadow of SIA68 through India and Afghanistan airspace. As MH370 was flying 'dark' without a
transponder, SIA68 would have had no knowledge that MH370 was anywhere around, and as it entered
Indian airspace, it would have shown up as one single blip on the radar with only the transponder
information of SIA68 lighting up ATC and military radar screens", Ledgerwood wrote. Professor Hugh
Griffiths, a radar expert at University College London, told the BBC that the theory was feasible, but
estimates that to escape detection, the planes would have needed to have flown no more than 3,300 feet from
one another. And even then military radar, which is more subtle, could possibly have detected one plane
from the other.
Rapper predicted disaster
Some YouTube viewers say that the rapper Pitbull predicted the loss of the MH370 in the lyrics to his track
Get It Started. The song, which was released two years ago includes the lyrics: "Now it's off to Malaysia"
and "Two passports, three cities, two countries, one day."