[FACT OR FAKE #64] Was MH17 Actually The Lost MAS Plane MH370?
The disappearance and resulting media circus of MH370 back in March 2014 feeds easily into whatever chosen conspiracy theory you want to believe about MH17. But should you believe in this particularly viral theory that claims that the MH17 was actually the lost MH370?
By Sadho Ram — 27 Jul 2014, 04:20 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
Every international disaster, regardless of its importance, produces its own stream of conspiracy theories. While some may be silly and innocuous, others are far more dangerous and appalling.
Wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, Ukraine, on July 21, 2014.
Image via slate.comOne of the more outrageous conspiracy theories about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 surfaced in the days following the destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last week. The theory holds that MH17 and MH370 are actually the same plane and that the U.S. military arranged for the second flight, filled with corpses, to be blown up over eastern Ukraine.
businessinsider.com
This theory was described in a widely read account in the New Republic on Sunday by Russian-American Jessica Ioffe, which argued that Russian civilians were being fed a uniformly skewed interpretation of the events that brought down the Malaysian airliner, killing 298 passengers and crew. While the sensational theory does not appear to be circulating among the more legitimate news outlets in Russia, Russian television stations have reportedly been promoting a narrative that Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, the U.S. -- but definitely not Russia -- are responsible for the air disaster.
Furthermore, as consensus builds in the U.S. that pro-Russian rebels are responsible for shooting down MH17, Russians are embracing a smorgasbord of alternate explanations. Like: Maybe it was actually part of an assassination plot. Maybe those bodies were planted.
A member of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry walks near parts of the wreckage at a crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), Donetsk region July 21, 2014
Image via ibtimes.com“A whole lot of witnesses on the Internet shot video and said the corpses weren't natural, that the people died a long time before [the plane crashed],” said a 45-year-old Tattoo artist Sergey S., declining to give his last name and emphatically expressing reservations that the reporter to whom he was speaking might be an American spy.
washingtonpost.comTattoo artist Sergey’s preferred explanation — that the downed plane was actually filled with planted corpses — sped around the Russian-language Web after a rebel leader in eastern Ukraine, Igor Girkin, a Russian citizen also known by his nom de guerre Strelkov, was quoted spouting the theory on a VKontakte page dedicated to him Friday.
vk.com
“According to the people who collected the corpses, most of the corpses were ‘not fresh’ — people died several days ago,” Girkin said, according to the page. Many of the corpses, he claimed, showed no sign of blood.
washingtonpost.comThe scale and vicious nature of the myths woven in Russia and outside about the destruction of MH17 are simply breathtaking. For never before have so many conspiracy stories been created in such a short period of time and in such a brazen, cynical way.
Since the crash of MH17, while there's been several conspiracy theories that have surfaced, it's this one specific theory that has gone wildly viral. It goes with an eye-catching headline: "Busted! MH-17 Was in Fact the 'Lost' Flight MH-370." The individual/s behind the theory posted on Humans Are Free website believes that the missing MH370 was actually the MH17.
According to the viral conspiracy story, MH370 was "hijacked" before it disappeared from radar (the conspiracy site cites itself in reference to the hijacking claim), suggesting that the "hijackers may have safely landed MH370 somewhere else"
It further claims that the crashed MH17 wreckage had a different configuration of windows than the actual MH17.
Conspiracy theorists claimed that the crashed plane wreckage in Ukraine had a different configuration of windows than the actual MH17. The MH17 plane had an extra window found next to the second right-side door. Both the wreckage in Ukraine and MH370 did not have the extra window as supposedly found on the MH17 plane.
The conspiracy theory posted at Humans Are Free, cites a fellow named Jim Stone, who sometimes goes as a self-professed former "National Security Agency analyst" with an "engineering background" and sometimes he goes as an "independent journalist"
It claims much, much more, and without any regard to the victims of both MAS tragedies. At the time of publishing this SAYS story, the conspiracy theory had been shared over 93K times on social media. So what is the truth behind it? How much of it is FACT or FAKE?
Ukrainian State Emergency Service employees collect bodies of victims at the site of the crash of a Malaysia Airlines plane in Grabove
Image via straitstimes.comThe disappearance and resulting media circus of MH370 back in March feeds easily into whatever chosen conspiracy theory you want to believe about MH17
On the surface, two 777’s lost by the same airline in a matter of months strains credibility. And since MH370 still hasn't been found, it’s natural that some people would think they’re the same plane.
skeptoid.comWell, it’s natural if you think MH370 was stolen out of the air, taken to an unknown location, had its 239 passengers and crew removed, was then taken to a different location, had 298 passengers and crew put on (or created out of thin air) and sent flying over Ukraine by an unknown power for no apparent reason.
skepticallibertarian.com
FAKE: While MH17 investigation is still going on, and there are few unanswered questions still left, the claim that MH17 was actually the lost MH370 is not only disrespectful to the victims and relatives of both MAS tragedies, it's also dangerously false
Luggage and personal belongings from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lie in a field inHrabove, Ukraine, on July 22, 2014.
Image via slate.comOf course, we have multiple pictures of MH17 from before the crash, along with a complete passenger manifest and long life histories to support it. But hey, they’re both the same type of plane, so they might as well just be the same plane, right?
skeptoid.comFurthermore, as Slate.com reported, the MH17 crash has been the subject of several media screwups
The refrigerated train carrying bodies of MH17 victims in rebel-held Torez, Ukraine, on Monday.
Image via slate.comTuesday, Sky News journalist Colin Brazier apologized profusely for rummaging through a child's suitcase at the crash site. Monday, the Dutch news show EenVandaag offered its own apologies for reporter Caroline van den Heuvel, who leafed though a teenage victim's diary on camera and read a short fragment aloud.
slate.com