MH370 Latest Theories: Debris Hunter Blaine Gibson Receives Death Threats

The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airline flight MH370 is yet to be solved, but more theories regarding the fate of the plane continue to surface.

On Wednesday, an Australian news outlet reported that a private searcher who found plane debris, some of which have been confirmed to be part of the missing plane, has received death threats.

Blaine Gibson has been searching for MH370 debris on islands in the Indian Ocean, where according to drift model, the wreckage may have washed up after the plane went down in a remote part of the ocean.

Gibson told Perth Now he feared for his life after receiving death threats that came amid his plans to hand over possible plane debris to the Malaysian consul in Madagascar.

The mystery behind the death threats further deepened after it was reported that Zahid Raza, the honorary Malaysian consul in Madagascar, was allegedly killed on Aug. 25.

"For the protection of those involved we decided not to make this report public until the debris was safely delivered to Malaysia,” Gibson said. “Under the agreement between the two countries, debris is supposed to be collected by Zahid Raza and delivered by private courier to Malaysia.”

He added that the debris was currently with Madagascar authorities, and new arrangements must be made for it to be handed over to Malaysia.

Commenting on the latest incident, Victor Iannello of the Independent Group, which is closely following the MH370 disappearance, told Perth Now: “What makes a possible link to MH370 even more suspicious is that in the time period surrounding his death, Mr. Raza was expected to visit the Malagasy Ministry of Transport, retrieve additional recovered pieces, and deliver those pieces to Malaysia.”

According to Iannello “the assassination of Mr. Raza (French Malagasy national) has been met with stony silence from both Malaysia and France, despite his ties to both countries.”

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite a multimillion-dollar search for the plane over three years, there is still no clarity as to what might have happened to the plane.

Months after the plane's disappearance, reports surfaced of debris pieces washing up on shores of islands in the southern Indian Ocean. Some of the debris pieces were confirmed to have come from the missing Boeing 777-200. However, after a fruitless search for three years, authorities responsible for the search suspended the hunt early this year.

Hijacked by Terrorists

Some speculate that the Malaysian jetliner was hijacked by terrorists. In 2014, Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported, citing an alleged Russian intelligence source, that the plane had been taken over by unknown terrorists and flown to Afghanistan, where the crew and passengers are being held captive.

Other theorists believe terrorists hijacked the plane and crashed it into the sea. This theory surfaced after it came to light that at least two of the passengers on board the jet were traveling on stolen passports. But Malaysian officials said the two men had no apparent links to terrorist groups, according to BBC News.

Fire

One popular theory is there was a fire on board MH370, possibly electrical or from an overheated tire on takeoff, that killed all passengers and crew. Greg Feith, a former crash investigator for U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, disputed the theory, saying there would have been a distress call in the case of a fire.

Shot Down

London-based journalist Nigel Cawthorne wrote in his book “Flight MH370: The Mystery” that the plane was accidentally shot down during a joint Thai-U.S. military training drill. His claims were based on the eyewitness testimony of a New Zealand oil rig worker, Mike McKay, who said he saw a burning plane go down in the Gulf of Thailand, shortly after MH370 stopped communicating with air traffic controllers.

Death-dive Theory

Another widely believed theory is that the pilot of the plane deliberately crashed the jet into the ocean.

A Second Bermuda Triangle

Some theorists even believe the jet disappeared after entering the Dragon's Triangle, an area in the Indian Ocean, similar to a patch of sea in the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle, or Devil’s Triangle, where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances.