Malaysian Flight 370

[zmak 331]

new reports don't sound to encouraging

 

"It's sufficiently interesting for us to take a look at the photographs," ATSB chief Martin Dolan told CNN.

"The more we look at it, the less excited we get."

[january 19]

Those who are skeptical of even the possibility of a meteoroid hit on an airliner, might wish to read the following extract from "physics.org- April 17, 2014".

 

QUOTE- "This Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, three former NASA astronauts will present new evidence that our planet has experienced many more large-scale asteroid impacts over the past decade than previously thought… three to ten times more, in fact. A new visualization of data from a nuclear weapons warning network, to be unveiled by B612 Foundation CEO Ed Lu during the evening event at Seattle's Museum of Flight, shows that "the only thing preventing a catastrophe from a 'city-killer' sized asteroid is blind luck." UNQUOTE

 

This group is urging an early warning system for earth, in the hope that an incoming asteroid might be diverted from an earthly catastrophe.

january

 

[KingGhidorah 209]

 

Those who are skeptical of even the possibility of a meteoroid hit on an airliner, might wish to read the following extract from "physics.org- April 17, 2014".

 

 

 

You know, you're starting to become a little annoying with this meteorite thing, not the least of which, because you have created the strawman that all the unenlightened "others" do not accept the possibility.  If nothing else, you are misrepresenting others' stance on the matter.  Every single poster that has responded to you has acknowledged the remote possibility, they just disagree that it warrants any serious attention in regards to MH370 based on what little is known at this point.  They don't even know that the aircraft suffered any damage at all, much less what the nature of that damage might be, much less what may have caused that damage, etc.  Heck, if you want to put a fine point on it, even saying that it crashed in the first place is an inference;  A good inference, but an inference nonetheless.

 

I'm always pretty reluctant to use the Dislike/Report/Troll features that have been given us, because I believe that lively, passionate debate is one of the main points of having a forum to begin with, but you should realize that you are doing the meteorite thing to death, and some of those buttons are starting to look mighty tempting.  I mean, you've made your point.   Haven't you?

[vertigho 8]

I don't think the meteorite theory is necessarily true, although it does present an interesting and somewhat plausible theory, I suppose.

 

I'm going to go ahead and assume geedub's post wasn't a joke, and based on that, I will say this: january's thoughts on the matter make a helluva lot more sense than this somehow being wrath from one "god" a large number of people happen to believe in, and/or a conspiracy planned by government(s) to form a centralized, "world government", and that these disasters and the pending apocalypse on the horizon can only be prevented by picking up our Bibles... sheesh. I've been reading my Qur'an and Sruti a lot lately... dammit! Had I only picked up a friggin' Bible, all these individuals would've safely arrived at Beijing. Yeah... right.  

 

I know january and his meteorite theory has been catching a lot of flak, and perhaps rightfully so, but I found the aforementioned "theory", if you will, exponentially more offensive and less plausible, both logically and scientifically, than anything january has pontificated to this point. Meanwhile, january gets torn to shreds, while geedub's post quietly gets a "like". 

 

 I don't want to stir up an ideological debate, but I did want to throw in my two cents. 

 

As for the topic itself, this is an interesting disaster. I did find it strange that no debris has been recovered, or even seen, as we'd expect. This was mentioned a couple pages back, but things like papers, styrofoam cups, plastic bags, seat cushions, etc, etc, etc... nothing has been found.

 

Beyond that, my only thoughts on the matter would likely mimic what everyone else is thinking -- by all means, this appears to be some kind of (unexpected) disaster onboard with tragic consequences. What actually happened...? It'll take some time to figure out, but I tend to lean towards this being an unexplained, but hopefully soon resolved catastrophe, as opposed to any kind malicious/criminal conspiracy to crash the plane. But we shall see. 

[n4gix 4,947]

They actually did find a lot of 'trash' during the sea search, unfortunately nothing that could be demonstrably linked to MH370...

[january 19]

they just disagree that it warrants any serious attention in regards to MH370 based on what little is known at this point. 

 

 

But isn't that the point? - That a possibility, however remote, should not be discarded just because it has (apparently) never happened before?

The Wright brothers were considered to be nut cases and not worthy of serious possibility  - until one day at Kitty Hawk.

 

Investigations proceed from two directions- Available evidence and theoretical possibility. In many instances, the two may not be in agreement. But both need evaluation before a conclusion is reached.

 

Sorry if I have offended you and disappointed that you wish to rule out a possibility - literally before the investigation has begun.

january

[vertigho 8]

They actually did find a lot of 'trash' during the sea search, unfortunately nothing that could be demonstrably linked to MH370...

 

Ah, gotcha! You're ahead of me. I know they found significant debris that they linked to a fishing boat, but I didn't hear about the various pieces of trash. I hope, if nothing else, that means they're close to figuring this out. Better than no trash, I suppose. 

[psolk 3,038]

What January conveniently left out of his sensationalism was the actual #'s.  There have been 26 recorded strikes from 2000-2013...  So basically 2 a year.  Sorry but the actual #'s are not nearly as impressive as the selective quote.

The scientist in the study talks about how they happen "all the time" then "fairly regularly" then the actual #'s come up and it is 2 a year...

 

January, we get it but this is like 3 or 4 pages on this already.  Yes it is a possibility, minute at best but a possibility, so are INFINITE other things that haven't happened before so do we want to spend 4 pages on EVERY unlikely theory out there?  You said your piece, many of us disagree yet you keep coming back and pushing it...

Sorry if I have offended you and disappointed that you wish to rule out a possibility - literally before the investigation has begun.

january

But did you even read his post??

What he said was:

 

 

You know, you're starting to become a little annoying with this meteorite thing, not the least of which, because you have created the strawman that all the unenlightened "others" do not accept thepossibility.  If nothing else, you are misrepresenting others' stance on the matter.  Every single poster that has responded to you has acknowledged the remote possibility, they just disagree that it warrants any serious attention in regards to MH370 based on what little is known at this point.

 

 

And then what you did was exactly what he said and turned around and misrepresented that he dismissed it or ruled it out.  He just stated as I did that while everything deserves consideration everything does not deserve EQUAL consideration.  You are just spinning his words

[Christopher Low 5,343]

Come on, guys. Don't be so critical. So what if January is beating the "meteor" theory to death? Is it affecting your day at the office? For the record, the chances of MH370 being taken out by an object from space are extremely small, but getting annoyed that someone is constantly talking about it isn't going to reduce it to zero.

[january 19]

Agreed that this topic has been beaten sufficiently to administer last rites to the horse!

-------

Worth commenting however, that when Discover magazine published a similar meteorite hit postulation (re the Air France crash), the subsequent "letters" commentary was also vitriolic from many readers of that article.

Perhaps the concept of a catastrophic meteoroid strike, conjures images that are quite alien to one's philosophical or religious beliefs.

january

 

 

[mosteen 111]

In most things I have a firm belief in the theory described as the Ockhams razor:

 

"It states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better."

 

A bit blunt; the simplest theory is most likely to be correct.

 

Works brilliantly when testing theories about everything from cropcircles to homeopathy...

[G550flyer 1,012]

Ok January, lets have a quick look at your theory. Back when I was in the USAF, I flew KC-10s for about 7 years. At the start of Enduring Freedom, through out November the Afghan sky was lit up with meteor showers through out the night. I remember having discussions with the crew about the possibility of being of being hit by one. There were more streaks and flashes above us than there were below us. Sparatic anti aircraft fire was quite common at night below the refueling tracks. They aimed for jet noise and you would only see the tracers below and behind you as you made the 180 at each end of the track. Flying around in gas station with wings did raise some concern. I myself compared the meteorites to heavy anti aircraft rounds and surface to air missiles.Being hit by any of these(the small ones) would not be good, but may not result in certain death. I usually assumed it would be a fire ball explosion or a forced landing. Many planes have been hit by rounds and missiles, some crashed while others survived.

 

My question to you is, what do you think would happen if a plane is struck? Would it explode or would it be a forced landing? Also how well does your answer compare to the information provided from MH370. I know the 777 was one of the first aircraft to report aircraft system status. The G550 does also. To my surprise I've been told a few times after a flight that the plane reported that we had auto-pilot problems along with an engine fire lol. 

 

I'm just asking you to paint your scenario explaining how your theory would play out so we can evaluate it against what is known about the actuual flight.  

[january 19]

I'm just asking you to paint your scenario explaining how your theory would play out so we can evaluate it against what is known about the actuual flight.  

 

G550flyer- see my post #1150 in this thread.

Who really knows what would happen- there has never been a reported meteoroid hit on an airplane. (a few have hit cars!)

The odds certainly are slim but not zero. Remember that 90% of earth's protective atmosphere is below 39,000 ft. Above that alt., meteoroids are travelling at speeds of 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour.

The 19,000 rocks that enter our atmosphere daily are moving pretty fast up there!

And hey- I'm not an astrophysicist - just an amateur who likes to do a bit of research on puzzling events that affect us on this gorgeous chunk of real estate we call earth!

january

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Tom, I must say that I find the information you've contributed to this thread to be amazing to say the least.  Fascinating.  Thanks! :good:

 

Thank you. After 30 or so years in the "business", I hope I can contribute something to the whole discussion about search and recovery, debris fields and the like. I am being interviewed right now, in which the subjects of KAL007, Titanic, Challenger, both Air Indias and a whole host of crashed GA, and countless sunken ship wrecks will be mentioned. More later on all that.

[G550flyer 1,012]

G550flyer- see my post #1150 in this thread.

Who really knows what would happen- there has never been a reported meteoroid hit on an airplane. (a few have hit cars!)

The odds certainly are slim but not zero. Remember that 90% of earth's protective atmosphere is below 39,000 ft. Above that alt., meteoroids are travelling at speeds of 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour.

The 19,000 rocks that enter our atmosphere daily are moving pretty fast up there!

And hey- I'm not an astrophysicist - just an amateur who likes to do a bit of research on puzzling events that affect us on this gorgeous chunk of real estate we call earth!

january

January, well maybe you will see my point. You had no opinion of what would happen if struck. My opinion is that it would either be an instant firey explosion/crash or a forced landing with a severly damaged aircraft. As I stated before it would be similar to anti aircraft fire with explosive rounds or a missile hit. Compared to the info known about the flight path, your theory doesnt support it. Had there been an instant destruction of the aircraft or an emergency descent, your theory would carry more weight. Based on what I've seen, the aircraft changed course and flew for a while. From what I've seen there was no instant destruction or a attempt at a rapid descent for a recovery.