Hikers May Have Found Fossett Items 219
An Anonymous reader writes "CNN is reporting 'A weathered sweat shirt, cash and a pilot license with Fossett's name were found Tuesday near Mammoth Lakes, police Chief Randy Schienle said.' The license did not have a photo. '"We're not certain that it belongs to Steve Fossett, but it certainly has his name on the ID," Schienle said.'"
Re:It's a hoax, people. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:It's a hoax, people. (Score:3, Insightful)
This is a hoax.
Yeah but who is the hoaxer?
he bailed out... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why does this belong on Slashdot? (Score:0, Insightful)
Posted by samzenpus. Slashdot's resident Idle section contributor.
Re:It's a hoax, people. (Score:5, Insightful)
One little flaw, they may be highly flammable but they are also highly transportable. If the plane EXPLODED, and if the hikers were where it exploded, sure.
1) depending on the environment the hikers could have walked within 50 yards from the crash site and not seen it.
2) even if he didn't survive, or died away from the crash site, animals could have wandered off with stuff either from the crash site, or from the site where he passed away.
As someone else said a bear might easily be interested in taking a bite out of a leather wallet, or briefcase. It might also rip through a bag cotaining perhaps a sweater, and then strew its contents of anything it wasn't interested in along it path. Contents which might be moved further by weather or other animals...
Psuedocide (Score:2, Insightful)
Andy Kaufman [museumofhoaxes.com] is a recent one I can think of.
Here's a quick list of some psuedocides [wikipedia.org]. Obviously, it is not very complete though, since Andy Kaufman isn't listed... But I guess this kind of crap really happens. Perhaps, bored with living the life of a millionaire, Mr. Fossett decided to do something exciting, like "die".
Re:Psuedocide (Score:3, Insightful)
Andy Kaufman did not fake his death. That is a total urban legend, which is why it's not mentioned on that Wikipedia page.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/kaufman.asp [snopes.com]
Go talk to the Perlan Project guys. (Score:4, Insightful)
They'll tell you that Fossett was anything but "an amazing pilot". He wasn't exactly a terrible pilot, just nothing better than average, at best. What he did have was a willingness to fund adventures, so long as he was top dog.
His money was greatly appreciated, but the attention-seeking man was merely tolerated. He wasn't hated, but nor was he required, beyond the financial aspect of his participation. But Fossett loved the glory and limelight, so he made it a precondition of funding a venture that he be the public face of it.
Yes, I know this is going to be modded troll and flamebait, but at least I can say that I genuinely "knew" Fossett, and I don't like hearing people such as the OP claiming that Fossett was "an amazing pilot", when the fact is he couldn't have done shit without the help of the other people and pilots he funded.
Re:It's a hoax, people. (Score:2, Insightful)
Why is it insane to think that the plane crashed for any whatever reason, and the guy survived? Wouldn't be the first person to survive a plane crash. It can take awhile to find a plane when you aren't looking in the right place, especially if the plane had a navigation problem and ended up flying off-course.
Also, he could have survived the plane crash and traveled some distance but didn't get too far due to injuries. If he discovered the lake, it would be certainly possible he cleaned up, drank a little, etc. and left the stuff behind when emptying his pockets and the shirt from perhaps being hot.
It wouldn't be too hard for someone to know what shirt he was wearing the day he left or confirm it was in fact his or not. Might even be able to identify fingerprints on the items if he had any on record or if you checked for fingerprints on his possessions.
Re:It's a hoax, people. (Score:5, Insightful)
No, it's not. The certificate has a small tear taken out of it. The other IDs didn't look to have fared quite as well, but also don't show any obvious burn marks - they're torn, tattered, and dirty. A year of exposure to the elements probably caused all the damage you see to those papers and the bills.
More plausible: He was able to get the plane on the ground, probably destroyed it in the process, suffered significant injuries, and was unable to get help. He may have left some items behind, dropped them, or perhaps his body was disturbed by wildlife. I expect they'll find more evidence upon searching more thoroughly.
Maybe not (Score:2, Insightful)
If the searchers expand their search from the find location, I'll bet they find the crash site.
Real airplane crashes are not like those you see on TV. Not everything explodes on impact. Small planes crashes usually just leave wreckage and carnage. Oh, and they are made of Aluminum, not steel. No sparks to ignite fuel or fumes.
He probably lost power and went down in trees. The trees clip off the wings and the fuselage smashes into rocks or ground.
I actually walked upon a fresh crash site while hiking in the Sierras many years ago. Some other hikers were there when I arrived. I didn't see it going down but noticed a wing embedded in a tree and went to investigate. It was pretty gruesome. 2 dead people and 1 survivor.
Oh, and... (Score:1, Insightful)
They have a not-cheap-to-forge hologram on 'em.
Yah, I have a mechanic's cert, and all that info is public. Same card will show my pilot rating someday.
Re:It's a hoax, people. (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the "hoax" crowd neglects the possibility that Fossett survived the crash and walked towards what he thought was civilization. The Lady Be Good" [qmfound.com] was a US bomber that went down in the desert during World War II. The crew bailed out and some of the survivors walked over a hundred miles in the scorching desert with only a very limited supply of food and water. Perhaps Fossett crash-landed and tried to survive off the land awaiting rescue. He might have became disoriented and left his ID and belongings behind, or even may have sought shelter in some gully and died there.
Re:It's a hoax, people. (Score:5, Insightful)
Nobody said anything about the findings being burned, partially or otherwise.
Large, bulky items tend to stay right where they were put... Smaller and lighter items get picked up by winds, water (streams, rivers, etc.), etc.
Yes, because the real world is just like the movies... where every crash causes an explosion and a raging inferno, even when the vehicle has run out of gas.
Which is why there are no undiscovered crash sites, since someone always notices the raging inferno... And of course you don't actually find a downed plane, because noting remains after the necessary conflagration...
You are a moron.