CRAZY APPLICATIONS

We live in a 24/7 cable news culture which is thin on facts and fat on heavy speculation.

Even today, almost three weeks after the Malaysian plane went missing, the truth is that investigators and the public know very little. The only known and proven facts are that the plane last made radio contact at 1:21 a.m. on its flight path to China and that the plane never arrived in China.

The rest of the "news" has been pieced together by unconfirmed reports, hazy sat-images, vague press conferences from government officials who do not trust other nations in the region, and panels of alleged experts spouting off wild theory after wild theory.

It is hard to watch highly paid broadcast journalists ask someone if the plane could have disappeared through a tiny black hole, or was diverted to a magical island like in LOST. Then to have the response state that a tiny black hole would have sucked the planet to oblivion and that LOST was just a television show should have stuck a knife in that squealing pig.

But it did not. Another week of speculation and accusations that the pilots may have landed the plane as part of a terrorist plot. That the plane could have been hijacked or the pilots wanted to commit suicide. None of these reports helps the families cope with their losses.

References to science fiction shows like LOST as a viable explanation for a plane crash is beyond belief. Has popular culture rotted our generation's thinking ability? Where is the filter before speaking to tell a person "that is a crazy idea, don't say it out loud!" Is someone next going to speculate that the South Indian Ocean debris could have been "planted" as part of a larger conspiracy?

In the history of aviation, 102 commercial planes (with 14 plus passengers) have gone missing and were never found. It is possible that the investigators will never find the actual wreckage of Flight 370 or the black boxes. We should just wait and see what is actually found, and not get caught up in the over dramatization of the tragedy for cable ratings.