In many aspects of life things we in general should know, we do not. This brings in various theories to trying to understand. One example is Flight 370 or the Malaysia Airline plane? On March 8, 2014 flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport reached the border between Malalysian and Vietnam airspace and shortly afterwards disappeared. How does a multi million dollar plane with an impeccable safety record just disappear? No one knows and Richard Belzer, George Noory, and David Wayne wrote a book called Someone is Hiding Something published by Skyhorse Publishing, New York, 2015. The book was published a year after the plane disappeared and still no answers have been forthcoming.

If you read how the social media giants have a position for you during your 24 hours you are alive, you begin to wonder how a Boeing 777-200ER just disappeared. Throughout the world there are tracking systems for each and every aircraft by the manufacturers, the airline, control towers, and list goes on and on. These planes are built to inspire confidence in the passengers that if trouble happens, help will arrive as soon as possible.

The book goes through a number of explanations:

the weather – it was a clear night

Hijacking – there are built in procedures for the pilots to notify people; lock doors to keep people out; remote control of aircraft flying; and the list goes on. No one ever presented a demand and all the passengers and crew were fully vented by authorities.

Pilot Terrorist Activity or Suicide – could not find any evidence the pilots wanted to be dead. They had lots of reasons to continue living.

Mechanical Malfunction/Fire – if there was one, the air traffic controllers would have known the exact moment that something had changed during the course of the flight. If there was a fire it would have been picked up in satellite photos.

Aliens – we do not know, but how do you interview aliens

Shoot-Down by Missile – the examples of a plane shot down by missiles tends to leave pieces on the ground. Nothing has been discovered – no oil slicks, pieces of the plane, lifejackets or anything that would float.

Sabotage – if a bomb was set off inside parts would be seen

Advanced Technologies – while it is possible to control a plane, why this one?

US Military Base Diego Garcia – the island is located off the coast of India and the US has been used by fighter aircraft because it is easy to reach Africa and northern Asia from it. It seems there was a cell phone a passenger with coordinates near Diego Garcia.

4 years after the crash still no one knows 100% what happen to the plane.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, with many investments you will need to sort through great amount of information to either prove or disprove your theory. The more you work trying to find the theory, the more effort you need to put into the work. If it researching a company, it is always best to start with the basics. Is the company profitable? how does it make its money? and are the results sustainable? If the answer is yes, then by all means put the stock on your alternative list to buy. You will need to know is the price relative to others a good price. What is your target and what will you do if you achieve it? At least with dividend paying companies you can determine which companies you want to invest in and which ones you can study later.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.