Fact Record
False Claims & Misinformation
Since MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014, the case has attracted an extraordinary volume of false, fabricated, and misleading content — ranging from tabloid clickbait to elaborate conspiracy theories shared by millions. This page documents every verified hoax and false claim this site is aware of.
No credible evidence has emerged placing MH370 anywhere other than the southern Indian Ocean. Physical debris confirmed as belonging to the aircraft has been recovered from Réunion Island, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Mauritius — all consistent with a crash in the southern Indian Ocean search zone.
If you have seen a claim about MH370 that is not listed here, contact us. We will investigate and add it if warranted.
AI-generated images showing plane found underwater (2024–2025)
Social media posts circulated AI-generated images purporting to show MH370 discovered on the ocean floor, sometimes accompanied by fake diver footage.
The images show the aircraft largely intact — physically impossible given the impact forces of a high-speed ocean entry and the confirmed scatter of debris over a large area. Reverse image analysis showed telltale AI generation artefacts. No credible news organisation reported any such discovery.
"MH370 found in CNN warehouse" (August 2015)
A website called Real News Right Now published an article headlined "Aircraft Resembling MH370 Found in Warehouse Belonging to CNN."
Real News Right Now is a satire/clickbait site with no journalistic standards. The article was entirely fabricated. No such discovery occurred.
"Wreckage found in Cambodian jungle" via Google Maps (recurring, 2014–present)
UK-based Ian Wilson repeatedly claimed to have spotted MH370 wreckage in a Cambodian jungle using Google Maps/Earth satellite imagery, generating tabloid headlines each time.
The aircraft outline visible in Google imagery dates to January 2004 — ten years before MH370 disappeared. Cambodia's State Secretariat of Civil Aviation officially stated the coverage was false. The same claim has gone viral and been debunked multiple times.
InfinityExplorers.com "wreckage with coordinates found" (April 2026)
A website called InfinityExplorers.com claimed the plane had been found at specific GPS coordinates, complete with sonar imagery.
InfinityExplorers.com is an anonymous clickbait site with no verifiable identity, editorial standards, or track record. The claim was not reported by any credible aviation, news, or official source. Ocean Infinity — the active search contractor — made no such announcement. This site does not acknowledge it.
"Bermuda Triangle" video (2014)
A video shared widely on Dailymotion and Facebook purported to show MH370 appearing at the Bermuda Triangle.
Confirmed hoax by Malaysia's Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT). The video was fabricated. MH370 was in the southern Indian Ocean, not the Atlantic.
UFO "teleportation" videos — Ashton Forbes / RegicideAnon (2014–2024)
An anonymous YouTube account (RegicideAnon) posted videos claiming to be stereo satellite footage of MH370 being surrounded and teleported away by UFOs. Influencer Ashton Forbes amplified these claims to a large audience across Reddit and X.
A video editing expert confirmed the footage was "likely a graphic creation" made with tools like Blender and After Effects. Skeptical Inquirer published a detailed forensic debunking in its March/April 2024 issue. Newsweek's fact-check also confirmed fabrication. No legitimate satellite operator confirmed any such footage.
Black hole theory (March 2014)
Following a CNN segment in which anchor Don Lemon asked whether the disappearance could be explained by a black hole, the theory spread across social media.
Former U.S. DOT Inspector General Mary Schiavo noted that a black hole capable of consuming an aircraft would consume the entire universe. The suggestion was widely ridiculed by physicists and aviation experts.
Diego Garcia military diversion — US military captured the plane
The plane was secretly diverted to Diego Garcia, a British overseas territory hosting a U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean.
Satellite arc data from Inmarsat places the aircraft on a southern flight path, away from Diego Garcia. No radar, satellite, or signals intelligence from any nation corroborates a northwest diversion. Physical debris has since washed ashore in Mozambique, Réunion, and Tanzania — consistent with a southern Indian Ocean crash, inconsistent with a diversion north.
MH370 and MH17 are the same aircraft
Because MH17 (shot down over Ukraine on 17 July 2014) was also a Boeing 777, conspiracy theorists claimed photographs from the Ukraine crash scene showed it was actually MH370 — that the aircraft had been secretly substituted.
Both aircraft had unique, verifiable tail numbers, maintenance records, and serial numbers. Crash investigators and the Dutch Safety Board confirmed MH17's identity through forensic evidence. The theory requires collusion by dozens of independent governments and international investigators.
Patent conspiracy — Freescale Semiconductor / Rothschild
Four Freescale Semiconductor employees on board held a patent that would have passed to Jacob Rothschild upon their deaths, giving him a financial motive to destroy the aircraft.
The patent in question (US 8,650,327) was filed in 2012 and granted to Freescale Semiconductor as a corporate entity, not to individual engineers. Patent ownership does not transfer to another party's shareholder upon an employee's death. Snopes and multiple fact-checkers debunked every element of this claim.
Shoot-down by US military during joint exercises
The aircraft was accidentally or deliberately shot down during a US-Thai joint military exercise, and governments covered it up.
No physical evidence of weapons impact has been found on any confirmed debris piece. A missile strike on a Boeing 777 at altitude would produce a very large, identifiable debris field with specific fragmentation patterns — none of which matches the small, scattered pieces recovered. No credible evidence has been presented.
Ringing phones mean passengers are alive
After the disappearance, relatives reported hearing a ringing tone when they called passengers' mobile numbers. This was used to claim the passengers must still be alive, possibly held captive.
Wireless networks generate a ringing tone while searching for a device on the network — this continues even if the device has been destroyed or is out of range. The tone is generated by the network, not the handset. Wireless analysts confirmed this behaviour in 2014. It indicates nothing about the state of the device.
Maldives residents saw MH370 flying low
Residents of Kudahuvadhoo in the Maldives reported seeing a large, low-flying aircraft with livery matching Malaysia Airlines on the morning of 8 March 2014, suggesting the plane flew northwest rather than south.
The Maldives is 2,200 km from the primary radar positions. At the time of the reported sighting, MH370 would have had to be simultaneously in two locations to fit both the Inmarsat satellite handshake arcs and the Maldives sighting. No primary radar from India, Sri Lanka, or the Maldives detected the aircraft. Investigators concluded the sighting was not attributable to MH370.