MH370 Conspiracy Theory Of Plane Found With Bullet Holes Rejected By Australia

An Australian mechanical engineer and crash investigator claimed Saturday to have found missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with "bullet holes." Peter McMahon said Google Earth images purportedly shows the missing jetliner in the water 10 miles south of Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean where plane debris had earlier washed up.

"Four Americans were sent to Australia to oversee the findings of MH370," McMahon told Daily Star Online. "They have made sure that all information received has been hidden from the public, even our government - but why?"

He added authorities "do not want it found as it's full of bullet holes, finding it will only open another inquiry."

However, a representative for the Joint Agency Coordination Center told Fox News in a statement McMahon reached out to the agency in 2016 and 2017, but at no time "did the ATSB suggest [McMahon's] evidence could be missing flight MH370."

Flight MH370 went missing March 8, 2014, with 239 people while on its way from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. Despite four years of search, the mystery behind the plane's disappearance is yet to be unraveled. Last year, Australia, China and Malaysia suspended the multimillion-dollar search operation in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean.

The relatives of those on board the missing jet expressed their disappointment over the suspension of the search.

Earlier this year, Malaysia agreed to pay United States’ firm Ocean Infinity up to $70 million if it found the plane during a search effort that is underway and expected to end in June. In its first statement since beginning the search, Ocean Infinity expressed optimism in finding the missing plane. The company signed a "no cure, no fee" deal with the Malaysian government under which the payment will be made only if the plane is found. The Seabed Constructor vessel has covered 6,178 square miles of the renewed search zone but has yet to identify any significant findings.

Below are some of the most notable conspiracy theories that have surfaced over the last four years. However, none of the theories have been confirmed by authorities.

Death Dive Theory

In 2016, reports surfaced alleging the pilot of the missing Boeing 777-200 took the plane on a premeditated suicidal flight, giving rise to the "death dive" theory. Leading Canadian aviation expert Larry Vance claimed the condition of the flaperon debris discovered near Reunion Island in 2015 indicated the plane had its wings extended when it hit the water. The same year, New York Magazine reported pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah performed a simulated flight on his extensive home-built flight simulator that mirrored MH370's known flight path and ended with a crash in the Indian Ocean.

Hijacked By Terrorists

Soon after the plane went missing Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported the plane was hijacked by unknown terrorists and flown to Afghanistan. The bizarre report cited an alleged Russian intelligence source, who apparently told the 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."

Other theorists believe terrorists hijacked the plane and crashed it into the sea. This theory surfaced after investigation revealed at least two of the passengers on board the ill-fated plane were traveling on stolen passports.

Shot Down

Multiple theorists claimed Flight MH370 was shot down by military forces. While some claimed the plane was accidentally shot down during a joint U.S.-Thai military exercise, others blamed North Korea of doing so. The U.S.-Thai link was also mentioned in the book “Flight MH370: The Mystery” by London-based journalist Nigel Cawthorne, in which he said the missing plane was the subject of a massive international cover-up.

Second Bermuda Triangle

Some theorists claimed the jet entered another Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, located in Asia in the Indian Ocean. A number of aircraft and ships have reportedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the patch of sea in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Cockpit Fire

Some reports claimed a possible electrical issue resulted in a fire on board the plane which probably caused the crew to pass out from smoke inhalation, and the plane continued on autopilot until it ran out of fuel, eventually crashing into the Indian Ocean.