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76 MH370 Conspiracy Theories

Malaysia Airlines flight Why we feel the need to construct
narratives for things we can't
MH370: Five years on,
understand
here's why people still
Dr David Coady, senior lecturer in philosophy at
believe the conspiracy the University of Tasmania, told the ABC people

theories tend to create conspiracy theories because, "to a
large extent, we know that conspiracy theories
are often true and that's because people do
conspire".
By Yasmin Jeffery
We are predisposed to believe some
conspiracy theories, he explained, because
Five years after Malaysia Airlines flight
"nearly all of us do conspire some of the time,
MH370's disappearance, we still don't know
Another theory — which gained and some people conspire virtually all the time
what happened to the plane or the 239 people
credibility among some news organisations ... so there's nothing irrational about believing
onboard.
despite evidence pointing to the contrary — conspiracy theories".
claimed MH370 crashed in the jungle in "There are some events that occur that
And despite years of effort and a multinational
Cambodia. can't be explained, except via some sort of
search in Asia and the Indian Ocean that became
This conspiracy theory was put forward conspiracy. Sometimes planes just come down.
the most expensive in aviation history, we may
by video producer Ian Wilson, who claimed to The disappearance of MH370 is rather
never find out what happened.
have seen the Boeing 777-200 sitting intact in mysterious, though," Dr Coady said.
Following the most recent — and
the jungle on Google Maps. "So, it does seem that postulating a
fruitless — search by US exploration firm
One of the most creative? The conspiracy of some sort is perhaps reasonable.
Ocean Infinity that ended in May last year, the conspiracy theory that rapper Pitbull predicted "A lot of the time, the debate isn't over
Malaysian Government announced this week
MH370's disappearance. whether a conspiracy theory is true, but over
that there would be no extensions to that
After the 2014 incident, some YouTube which conspiracy theory is true. That is, it's
particular underwater expedition, though the
viewers claimed the lyrics of the singer's 2012 more a question of who the conspirators are."
search could be resumed if Ocean Infinity or
song Get It Started foresaw the event.
another company puts forward a viable
Proponents of this theory have linked the Social media and the journey to
proposition in future.
lyric "two passports" to the stolen Austrian and illegitimacy
While the hunt to locate MH370 has so
Italian passports two Iranian passengers used to
far failed to turn up any conclusive evidence as
board the plane, while the three cities refer to the
to where the plane might be or why it capitals of Malaysia, China and Vietnam. The conspiracy theories about MH370 don't
disappeared, we aren't completely clueless. exist in a vacuum.
The two countries, believers say, refer to In 2014, a University of Chicago study
Researchers are pretty sure the main
Malaysia and Vietnam. estimated that at least 50 per cent of Americans
body of wreckage would have ended up in either
Another line in the track, "No Ali, No believed at least one conspiracy theory.
the south of the Indian Ocean, where the main
Frazier, but for now off to Malaysia", has been When the study was repeated in
search efforts have been concentrated, or off the
linked to coverage of MH370, which saw the November last year, this number had jumped to
coast of Madagascar.
tabloid press refer to one of the Iranian 61 per cent.
Various pieces of debris have washed up
passengers as "Mr Ali", despite Malaysian
on the east coast of Africa, or on nearby islands. Meanwhile, a similar study by the
officials later confirming his name was Pouria
For many though, this isn't enough. Nourmohammadi. University of Cambridge published the same
The questions the disappearance of month found at least 60 per cent of people in the
One of the latest theories claims a "secret UK believed at least one conspiracy theory
MH370 left us with, coupled with inconclusive
love affair" between MH370 Captain Zaharie about the government.
search findings, have prompted some to fill the
Ahmad Shah and his reported mistress, "Rina", University of Kent psychology professor
vacuum with conspiracy theories.
was the reason for the plane's disappearance. Dr Karen Douglas said while the internet hadn't
And while many are outlandish and
In his new book The Hunt for MH370, increased the number of conspiracy theories and
implausible, experts say there are reasons why
journalist Ean Higgins presented several conspiracy believers, it had enabled the
people believe them — and the case sheds light
theories, one of which claimed Captain Shah
on why the sometimes bizarre theories spread in deepening of conspiracy theorising.
brought the Malaysia Airlines plane down so he
the internet age. She told the ABC: "Rather than
and his mistress could assume stolen identities conspiracy theories spreading around the
"in an obscure but pleasant Asian country". internet indiscriminately, the internet helps form
From the wild to the potentially
Going by this theory, the pilot arranged distinct and polarised conspiracy communities
plausible for two stolen passports for him and his online.
mistress, and packed his flight kit with "People read and share evidence with
MH370 conspiracy theorists have considered unnecessarily warm clothes for the time of year, like-minded others — and ignore evidence that
pretty much every possible explanation for the as well as a waterproof torch, whistle and contradicts their views — and this actually
plane's disappearance, from claims it was parachute. makes people's conspiracy beliefs stronger over
cloaked by invisibility technology, to the idea Around an hour into the flight, the theory time.
that it was hijacked by North Korea. goes, Captain Shah depressurised the plane, Dr Coady took this further, saying the
One of the most outlandish conspiracy knocking passengers out, before removing cash negative perception of conspiracy theories had
theories claimed MH370 was hijacked for the from the wallets of those onboard to help fund increased in recent years thanks to the rise of
organs of Chinese citizens onboard, given 153 of the couple's life on the run. social media.
the 239 people on the plane were Chinese. Captain Shah then allegedly controlled "The use of the negative, pejorative term
In December last year, former Fox the plane as it descended to 3,000 feet and 'conspiracy theory' [has increased], and I think
executive Darlene Tipton claimed she had a hard opened an exit door, grabbing a life jacket, that has unreasonably deterred people from
drive with data on it that proved MH370's before he parachuted down to the ocean and near postulating conspiracies, which may be
disappearance was directly linked to organ a fishing boat that had Rina at the helm, ready to otherwise quite plausible, because conspiracies
harvesting in China. rescue him. really do happen," he said.
Ms Tipton claimed the plane was As this was happening, the conspiracy "Just as there's no connection between
targeted because a large number of those theory claims MH370 flew on autopilot towards being an objectionable person and being an
onboard were part of Chinese spiritual group the southern Indian Ocean, where it crashed. immigrant, there's no connection between a
Falun Gong, which is banned in China. conspiracy theory and a wild and crazy theory."