"Dr. Reid, I need your help." As soon as he saw the two of them, Hotchner called out to Reid.
Watching them enter a meeting room, Jack walked into the adjacent room where Rossi was sitting, with a set of listening devices spread out on the table.
He picked up a pair of headphones, putting them on, and could clearly hear the conversation next door.
Hotchner and Reid's voices were easy to distinguish, and the other, an elderly unfamiliar voice, must be Petoskey, the man who claimed to have seen the missile trajectory.
"What happened at the Edgewood Arsenal?" Petoskey asked.
Reid answered without hesitation, "From 1955 to 1975, the federal military conducted nerve agent research on soldiers without their knowledge."
Petoskey immediately followed up with another question, "Tuskegee?"
"From 1932 to 1972, the Public Health Service conducted a 40-year-long syphilis experiment on 399 African American men in Tuskegee. Similar experiments occurred from 1946 to 1948 in Guatemala."
Reid's response clearly satisfied Petoskey, and then Hotchner's voice came through the headphones, "Mr. Petoskey, I'm losing patience."
"One last question: San Francisco?" Petoskey quickly asked.
"Operation Sea-Spray. The Navy released thousands of gallons of aerosol mixed with *Serratia marcescens* bacteria using balloons. The operation lasted for a week. This led to many urinary tract infections and even altered the microbial structure of California's soil afterward," Reid replied.
"You've passed. I couldn't trust that woman earlier," Petoskey seemed relieved.
"Is it because she was in uniform?" Hotchner asked.
"Yes, it was the military that shot down that plane," Petoskey whispered mysteriously.
"Just like TWA Flight 800 and United Airlines Flight 93, and also Malaysia Airlines Flight 17."
"Thank you for your time, sir," Hotchner stood up, disappointed. He had hoped to extract some valuable information from this man, but conspiracy theories like these would only waste time.
TWA Flight 800 was a 1996 crash over Long Island, New York. Many witnesses reported seeing a white streak of smoke leading to where the plane exploded. At that time, the Navy had been conducting exercises near the crash site, making them a key suspect.
United Airlines Flight 93 was the fourth plane hijacked during 9/11 and the only one that failed to reach its intended target. The official explanation was that passengers fought back, causing the terrorists to crash the plane prematurely. However, many believe the military shot it down, as its target was thought to be the Capitol Building.
As for Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, there is more solid evidence. The plane was shot down by a *Buk* missile over Ukraine in 2014.
"Wait," Petoskey quickly added, "I'm not making this up. I saw armed men moving through the forest."
The sound of a chair being dragged could be heard from next door as Hotchner sat back down, "Please explain in more detail."
---
"If someone did use an anti-air missile, considering the plane's inertia when it crashed, their location would indeed be near Petoskey's home. We're looking at a search radius of about 6 miles," Reid said, drawing a circle on the map.
"Weren't we saying that the altitude of the plane was too high for a portable missile to threaten it?" Jack scratched his head, confused as to why they were seriously discussing this possibility again after already dismissing it.
"Yes, even the latest version of the Stinger has a maximum altitude of less than 20,000 feet, and although large anti-air missiles like the Buk are widely available on the international market, the CIA would definitely notice if one slipped into the country," Rossi agreed with Jack.
"But the plane had already deviated from its course and was descending. We still don't know what caused this, but what if it was forced?" Reid proposed his theory.
"You're suggesting there could have been a suicide attacker on board, working with someone on the ground?" Hotchner began to grasp the idea.
"Since 9/11, airlines and airports have increased their scrutiny of cargo holds. Perhaps the attackers couldn't find a way to smuggle explosives onto the plane, so they opted for this more complicated method. They created a legitimate reason to force an emergency landing, causing the plane to change its route and begin descending," Reid speculated.
Though it was a stretch, the idea didn't seem entirely impossible.
"That could explain why the plane's ACARS system was shut off and why it lost communication for 13 minutes," Rossi added, thinking Reid's theory had some merit.
"Yes, if there was a suicide accomplice or hijacker on board, then the unidentified armed men on the ground could be their allies. We need to check for any 'militia' or similar groups active in the area," Hotchner said, picking up the phone to call Garcia.
Colorado is a sparsely populated state, with a population of just over 5 million spread over 270,000 square kilometers. Especially in the Durango area where they were now, it was dry and barren, with large stretches of desert where you could go tens of kilometers without seeing a town.
This is why the crash caused no casualties on the ground but also made it harder to identify suspects.
"So, what are the screening criteria? Any priorities?" Garcia asked over the phone.
"First, look for anyone with a military background. The suspect would need to know how to operate a portable anti-air missile. Then, of course, look for those who believe suicide leads to paradise and a reward of 72 sweet raisins," Jack replied, and the others nodded in agreement.
Of course, this was just Reid's theory, and they couldn't invest all their resources into it. Other investigations were proceeding in parallel.
The military and NTSB were digging into the backgrounds of the plane's passengers and crew, checking their beliefs, social media activity, and personal networks. The crash had occurred less than 12 hours ago, and everyone was racing against time.
Back at the hospital, JJ and Emily were the first to send back updates. The co-pilot, Frank Canfos, had woken up from surgery.
As expected, Frank Canfos was not fully lucid. JJ only managed to briefly speak with him for about 10 minutes.
From the co-pilot's hazy recollection, there had been an argument between him and the captain, Jerry Vermeijer, before the crash, though he couldn't remember exactly what had happened.
However, the co-pilot confirmed two things: first, he was the one who shut off the ACARS system, and second, there had indeed been some vertical turbulence just before the crash.
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