REPORT: POLISH PLANE BROUGHT DOWN BY ARTIFICIAL FOG???

Talk about fodder for the conspiratorial mind. I'm not sure if this is being taken seriously but it seems to be coming from some top levels of government - two notions in particular. Notion #1 is that Polish officials are looking into the possibility that 'artificial fog' could have been manufactured and placed above the Smolensk airport before a Polish plane carrying that country's president and 90+ top officials, crashed on April 10th. Notion #2 is the possibility that the plane's controls may have been manipulated from the ground.

Uh, I think the possibility that there was foul play in this crash should absolutely remain on the table. As I've said before, the tragic irony and many macabre coincidences surrounding this crash definitely warrant consideration of that scenario. Russia's lack of complete transparency only fuels it.

But this struck me as an odd course of action.

Via the London Telegraph:

Poland reportedly wants access to US satellite photography that might cast new light on the weather conditions at the time of the crash, according to Gazeta Prawna, a Polish newspaper.

Prosecutors want help from American experts as to whether “there is a scientific and technical capacity to generate artificial fog”, the paper said.

Citing a source close to the investigation, the newspaper said the possibility that somebody may have created an artificial fog bank has now come under official analysis as Polish experts work to determine the causes of the tragedy.

The requests for U.S. Satellite imagery as well as exploring if the U.S. has any recordings of the cockpit recordings from NATO's Signals Monitoring Network seem very reasonable. Putting forth the suggestions that 'artificial fog' and remote control seem quite outlandish.

That said, this latest report should keep the story in the news.

Read it all.

REPORT: U.S. CONGRESSMAN WANTS INVESTIGATION INTO POLISH PLANE CRASH

The macabre coincidences surrounding the horrific plane crash of a Polish plane carrying that country's president and nearly 100 top officials were so numerous, the odds of this crash being an accident struck many - including myself - as being far longer than the odds of foul play. That is not to say it didn't happen that way; there was reportedly a dense fog and very low visibility. However, as I wrote back on April 10th, the ironic circumstances surrounding these deaths were simply too many to default to a position the crash was accidental.

Now a Polish website is reporting that U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has drafted a resolution calling for an investigation into the crash:

It recalls the facts then existing, including that:

- Polish experts on security and aviation representatives of the Ministry denied access to the crash site.

- Polish investigators submitted only a copy of the record of registrars.

- Polish investigators not being provided the same black boxes .

- More than 50,000 Poles have signed the appeal for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry.

The proposal of Congressman Peter T. King was transferred for consideration by the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

As I wrote on the day of the crash, there are plenty of reasons to approach this accident with healthy skepticism. The one thing that would go a long way in assuaging that skepticism would be a word we've become very familiar with over the last two years - transparency. If the aforementioned report is correct, it would appear that transparency in Smolensk, Russia is not all that popular.

It would seem to me that the main objectives of an investigation are to establish the cause. If the cause was accidental, there would be no reason to be anything less than transparent. Once an investigation demonstrates foul play, it would again seem to me that suspects and motives are then explored. If it is true that the investigation is being hampered, an entirely new set of questions need to be raised. If accidental, there would be no need to hamper an investigation.

h/t to Free Republic

REPORT: NSA DELIVERS SATELLITE IMAGES TO POLISH AUTHORITIES

Via Free Republic, an article in the Polish RMF 24 has been translated and is likely to provide some important missing information about the plane crash that killed the Polish president and nearly one hundred high-ranking Polish officials. The translation is a bit choppy but decipherable.

NSA has reportedly delivered images from a satellite to Polish authorities. Among other things, it might show how much fog was above Smolensk. This would be important because it's a primary reason given for the crash. Additionally, the images could show if the plane was burning before it crashed.

Here is the original Polish story on RMF 24.

via Free Republic:

Translated: Satellite Images Taken Over Smolensk by NSA Given to Polish Authorities
rmf24 ^ | May 5, 2010 | unknown

Posted on Thursday, May 06, 2010 1:24:44 AM by theanchoragedailyruse

Military prosecutors already have satellite pictures of the presidential Tupolev crash near Smolensk – told a reporter RMF FM Krzysztof principle. Military prosecutors who are investigating the crash, confined itself to stating that it was “very important evidence.”

Investigators have received photos several days ago from U.S. National Security Agency, which, inter alia zawiaduje satellite system of the United States. The proposal in this regard by the Ministry of Defence. Materials are examined by our investigators, but does not give you any, even the general answers to questions about what the camera recorded the American satellites.

The Polish authorities, which occurred to the Americans asking for pictures, counting on the fact that photographs can help to exclude one of the texts adopted by the investigators of a possible terrorist attack. They can also help answer the question whether, in the moment of impact with the ground plane explosion occurred or whether the machine has been shot down.

If the camera recorded the flight of Tupolev despite dense fog, can also reproduce the precise track approach to land at the airport. Such information would be an excellent addition to the data stored in black boxes.

RMF FM Reporters also learned unofficially that the recorders recording conversations in the cockpit of the presidential Tupolev, is the voice of the person who did not belong to the close of the crew. It might have been the voice of flight attendant or another person with the cabin crew. But we can not exclude the possibility that one of the passengers entered the cockpit before landing.

It is also known that Polish prosecutors have still not received any document from the Russian investigators, of which appeared in legal aid. Also, records of autopsies of the victims are yet in the hands of Russian prosecutors. Investigators are hoping that today begins a visit to Moscow, Attorney General Andrew Seremet accelerate the transfer of the evidence.

As I've posted before, here and here, the tragic irony and history behind the Katyn massacre is incredibly searing, so much so that Vladimir Putin and Russia in general needs to be 100% transparent during this investigation.

h/t to Free Republic