Earlier this week, Australian satellites captured images of two objects in the southern Indian Ocean that they believed might be missing parts of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Despite three days of searching by plane and boat, investigators have yet to find the possible debris. However, on Saturday, China announced that on Tuesday, its satellites detected an object 75 miles south of where Australia’s photos were taken.
“The news that I just received is that the Chinese ambassador received a satellite image of a floating object in the southern corridor and they will be sending ships to verify,” Malaysia’s Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters. The object, which is 72 feet by 43 feet, is about the same size as one of those seen by Australia, according to the Associated Press. However, by the end of the day in Australia, searchers had failed to find the object. They will take the new information “into consideration” when they resume their task on Sunday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.
Of course, even if both countries did detect the same thing, the object could be unrelated to the missing plane. The Associated Press points out that “one possibility is that it could have fallen off a cargo vessel.” (On Saturday, a civil aircraft in the area reported a sighing of “some small objects floating…including a wooden pallet.” However, the Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 sent to follow up found only “clumps of seaweed.”) But, at least for now, it’s the latest and possibly the best clue in the baffling case of what happened to Flight 370.
