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Hikers May Have Found Fossett Items

Posted by samzenpus on from the amelia-earhart-club dept.

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.'"

5 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's a hoax, people. by TheMidnight · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news, a salon discount card with Amelia Earheart's name and picture was found floating in the South Atlantic by a passing schooner.

  2. Re:Is this a plane? by obidobi · · Score: 5, Informative

    some more info here

    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fossett2-2008oct02,0,1608495.story

  3. Re:It's a hoax, people. by Inner_Child · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nonsense! Everyone knows that aliens use video games to determine the worth of a pilot.

    --
    Today is red jello day - all workers must eat all of their red jello. Failure to comply will result in five demerits.
  4. Re:It's a hoax, people. by flyingsquid · · Score: 5, Informative
    The CNN article misses some important details. According to the AP:

    The information on the pilot license -- including Fossett's name, address, date of birth and certificate number -- was sent in a photograph to the Federal Aviation Administration, and all matched the agency's records, spokesman Ian Gregor said.

    "We're trying to determine the authenticity of the document," Gregor said.

    The hiker, Preston Morrow, said he found an FAA identity card, a pilot's license, a third ID and $1,005 in cash tangled in a bush off a trail just west of the town of Mammoth Lakes on Monday. He said he turned the items over to local police Wednesday after unsuccessful attempts to contact Fossett's family.

    So our hoaxer forges 3 separate IDs, in one case getting all the original information that was on Fossett's FAA card, and adds $1005? That's one heck of a hoax. I suppose you could argue that's he's trying to get a reward from Fossett's rich widow for "finding" her husband's final resting place... but after he couldn't get ahold of the family's lawyers, he went to the police. Seems that would be the last thing a hoaxer would want to do, is get the police and authorities involved; I imagine forging federal IDs is a pretty serious offense. Doesn't make sense.

    True, finding the contents of his wallet off on their own is odd... but animals are curious and like to chew on things, especially when they're hungry. In the middle of winter in the Sierra mountains, a bear or fox might decide that a leather wallet was better to eat than nothing and tear the wallet apart for a snack. Bears in particular will eat damn near anything, edible or not.

  5. Re:It's a hoax, people. by Macman408 · · 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.