What happened ... there are plenty of theories surrounding the disappearance of MH370 but they are all questionable.
UNTIL a few weeks ago, most of us thought Diego Garcia was probably someone who played bass with Carlos Santana.
Some fast Googling later, it turned out Diego was not a he but an “it”.
The search for Malaysia Airlines MH370 has taught us that Diego Garcia is a strategic US base on a little Indian Ocean atoll.
This knowledge came about after online forum discussions claiming the missing jet was diverted to the secret US base, also known as Camp Thunder Cove, became so persistent they turned into news stories.
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Has there ever been a conspiracy theory that has sought to present a virtuous explanation over nefarious one? If so, I have not heard it.
I have been sent an aerial photo of the vast hangar just off the Camp Thunder Cove runway where the Boeing 777 is concealed.
Tiny as Diego Garcia is, it has a long runway that can land B52s — and therefore easily accommodate a 777.
Diego Garcia served as a secret CIA rendition site — a place of interrogation and torture — to soften up terrorists prior to their arrival at Guantánamo Bay.
Therefore, it follows, that the plane was landed there.
Searching for clues ... Leading Seaman, Boatswain's Mate, William Sharkey searching for debris on a rigid hull inflatable boat as HMAS Perth searches for missing Flight MH370. Picture: Australian Defence
Any reporter who has covered the missing aeroplane will have received emails demanding they ask questions of secret government agencies and get them to confess the truth about the plane.
They will have been instructed to investigate American cloaking technology and the ability of the US to take control of planes remotely.
They may have, like me, been accused of being a “shill”, being a person who is paid to promote a false concept or idea in order to conceal the truth.
In this case, a shill for having brazenly reported on the search effort in the Indian Ocean, knowing full well the plane is in Diego Garcia.
I may be a shill, but some of the correspondence is shrill.
“Surely you know that Thunder Cove was formerly called Camp Justice until it became the launching base for the attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan,” wrote Darren.
“And surely you know that the naval area around the base was designated the world’s largest nature reserve with admittance strictly controlled?
Hunting for answers ... Able Seaman Communications and Information Systems Atlanta Heysen, carries out damage control board plotting in the Machinery Control Room onboard HMAS Toowoomba.
“And surely you also know that all Thunder Cove military employees must be single with no families?
“Surely you also knew that the US government spent $38 million there in the last few years building a submarine base that is shared with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)?
“And surely you know, being an investigative journalist, that Thunder Cove cancelled all leave recently? And they also tendered for a large empty container ship to move something from Diego Garcia to Singapore.”
The subtle introduction of the Israel Defense Forces into the narrative is telling: it is being hinted (I think) that because Malaysia does not recognise Israel, perhaps Israel took the airliner in some form of revenge.
Going in ... Leading Seaman Aircrewman (LSA) Daniel Colbert assisting LSA Joel Young back into HMAS Toowoomba's, S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopter, Tiger 75, after retrieving debris. Picture: Australian Defence
Most of the conspiracies lead to Freescale Semiconductor, the Austin, Texas firm that had 20 employees on-board, and which — it is claimed — leads the world in radar cloaking technology (it also provided the technology for the Guitar Hero games).
Freescale’s Chinese employees had made a major cloaking breakthrough and were heading back to Beijing to sell the technology to China.
In response, the CIA is presumably waterboarding them on Diego Garcia. What has become of the other passengers is not expressed.
And that is the thing about the authors and adherents of conspiracy theories. They seek to portray the existence of an even more unpleasant world, as though it is not troubled enough.
Why they do this is a mystery bigger than MH370.
paul.toohey@news.com.au
