Chapter 354 The possibility of anti-aircraft missiles

"Dr. Reid, I need your help." Hotchner greeted Reid as soon as he saw the two of them.

Watching the two people enter a conference room, Jack walked into the next room and saw Rosie sitting there with a monitoring device on the table.

He picked up an earphone and put it on, and could clearly hear the conversation next door.

The voices of Hotchner and Reid were easy to distinguish. The other strange, somewhat old voice should be Petoskey who claimed to have seen the missile trajectory.

"Edgewood Arsenal, what happened there?" Petoskey asked.

Reid answered without thinking, "From 1955 to 1975, the federal military conducted nerve agent research on unwitting soldiers."

Petoskey followed up with another question, "Tuskegee?"

"The Department of Public Health conducted syphilis experiments on 399 black people in Tuskegee for 40 years from 1932 to 1972, and the same thing happened in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948."

Reid's answer obviously satisfied Petoskey, and then Hotchner's voice came from the earphones, "Mr. Petoskey, I'm starting to lose my patience."

"Last question, San Francisco?" Petoskey asked quickly.

In Operation Ocean Droplet, the Navy used balloons to release tens of thousands of gallons of aerosol mixed with Serratia marcescens for a week.

This behavior not only caused urinary tract infections in many people, but also later changed the soil microbial structure of the entire California. " Rhett replied.

"You passed, I can't trust that woman just now." Petoskey seemed relieved.

Hotchner asked, "Is it because she's wearing a military uniform?"

"Yes, it was the army that brought down the plane." Petoskey whispered mysteriously.

"Like TWA Flight 800 and United Airlines Flight 93, and Malaysia Airlines Flight 17."

"Thank you for taking the time to come, sir." Hotchner stood up, a little disappointed. He originally thought he could extract some valuable information from this person, but fabricating conspiracy theories out of thin air would only delay the investigation.

TWA Flight 800 was an air crash that occurred over Long Island, New York, in 1996. At that time, many witnesses said they saw a white smoke column connected to the location of the explosion.

At that time, the federal navy happened to be conducting exercises near the site of the plane crash, which led to it being listed as an "important suspect."

United Airlines 93 was the fourth plane hijacked on 9/11, and was the only plane that failed to successfully reach its intended impact target as the terrorists expected.

The official statement is that the passengers' resistance caused the terrorists to crash the plane early, but more people believe that the plane was shot down by the military because its target was the Capitol Building.

As for Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the evidence is relatively conclusive. The plane was shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile over the sky in 2014.

"Wait a minute," Petoskey said quickly, "I didn't make this up. I saw armed men wandering in the woods."

There was the sound of a chair being dragged next door, and Hotchner sat back again, "Please elaborate."

——

"If someone really used an anti-aircraft missile, considering the inertia of the plane when it fell, then their location was indeed near Petoskey's home, and the range we were looking for was about 6 miles."

Rhett said, drawing a circle on the map with a pen.

"Don't you mean that the passenger plane is too high and portable anti-aircraft missiles are not enough to threaten it?"

Jack scratched his head in confusion. Didn't everyone deny this possibility before? He didn't understand why they had to get together seriously to discuss it again.

"Yes, even the latest 'Stinger' has a firing height of less than 20,000 feet. Although large anti-aircraft missiles like the 'Beech' are everywhere in the international market, if they flow into the country, the CIA will not be able to do anything without them. Feel it."

Rosie nodded in agreement with Jack.

"However, the passenger plane had already deviated from the planned route and was lowering its altitude. We still don't know what caused this situation, but what if it was forced?"

Rhett came up with his hypothesis.

"You mean, there might be a suicide attacker on the plane? The two cooperate with each other?" Hotchner probably understood.

“After 9/11, airlines and airports have increased their efforts to inspect the cargo holds of passenger planes. Perhaps the attackers did not find a way to bring explosives onto the plane, so they chose this cumbersome method.

They created a suitable reason for an emergency landing at the right time, causing the plane to change its route and prepare to lower its altitude for an emergency landing. "

Although Red's hypothesis is far-fetched, it does not seem entirely impossible.

"Maybe it was because of this that the ACARS was turned off on the plane and contact was lost for 13 minutes." Rossi also felt that it seemed to make sense.

"Yes, if there are suicide spies or hijackers, then the unknown militants on the ground are accomplices. We need to check the 'militia' or similar organizations active nearby."

Hotchner picked up the phone and dialed Garcia.

Colorado is also a sparsely populated place with a vast territory. The entire state has a population of just over 5 million, spread over an area of ​​270,000 square kilometers.

Especially near Durango, where they are now, there is drought and little rain around them, and there is a vast expanse of Gobi. There is not a single town for dozens of kilometers.

Therefore, the air crash did not cause any casualties on the ground, but it also caused trouble for the identity investigation of the suspect.

"So what are the screening criteria? Is there a priority?" Garcia asked on the phone.

"First of all, they have a military background. The suspects must at least have the ability to operate portable anti-aircraft missiles. Secondly, of course, they are those guys who believe that committing suicide can go to heaven and enjoy 72 delicious raisins."

Jack answered matter-of-factly, and the others expressed their agreement with their eyes.

Of course, this is just a conjecture of Reid, and it is impossible to devote everyone's energy to it. Other investigations are still in progress simultaneously.

People from the military and NTSB are screening and digging into the identities, beliefs, daily statements on social media, and even relatives and daily social circles of aircraft passengers and flight attendants.

It has been less than 12 hours since the plane crash occurred, and everyone is working hard to race against time.

Jiejie and Emily, who were guarding the hospital, were the first to send back the news that the co-pilot Frank Canforth had woken up from anesthesia after the operation.

But as expected, Frank Canforth's consciousness was not clear, and Jiejie only had time to briefly communicate with him for less than ten minutes.

According to the first officer's unclear recollection, he and the captain Jerry Wehrmeyer seemed to have had an argument before the crash. He could not recall what happened specifically.

However, the co-pilot confirmed two things. First, he turned off ACARS, and second, the plane did experience longitudinal turbulence before the accident.