Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:13Live from Washington. This is
00:00:14BBC News. A Saudi led coalition says
00:00:18says it will respond firmly to a a deadly attack by Houthis on an
00:00:22an international airport in Riyadh.
00:00:24Riyadh. President Trump says Ukraine Ukraine needs a new president in
00:00:28in a scathing attack on Volodymyr Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky could
00:00:32could have settled this war many
00:00:34many times, many, many times. And
00:00:36And he chose he chooses not to. And
00:00:40And could this object solve one of of history's greatest mysteries?
00:00:44mysteries? We'll hear from the team team making the journey across the
00:00:47the Pacific to see if this could
00:00:49could be Amelia Earhart's lost plane.
00:01:00plane. I'm Helena Humphrey. Good Good to have you with us. 12 people
00:01:03people are dead, including an American American citizen and four Saudi nationals.
00:01:07nationals. After Yemen's Houthi group group attacked a passenger terminal
00:01:11terminal at the Riyadh International International Airport in Saudi Arabia.
00:01:14Arabia. More than 300 people were were injured. The Saudis are accusing
00:01:17accusing the Houthis of a full-fledged
00:01:20full-fledged war crime and vowing vowing to respond. We've had reaction
00:01:23reaction from the US Secretary of of State Marco Rubio on social media,
00:01:27media, he said. The United States
00:01:29States condemned the attacks, adding, adding, quote, these reprehensible
00:01:32reprehensible attacks demonstrate demonstrate a blatant disregard for
00:01:34for innocent civilian life. They
00:01:37They must stop now. We stand with with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
00:01:40Arabia and its people and extend
00:01:41extend our condolences to the victims
00:01:44victims and their families. Well, Well, this is a live look at air air traffic over the Saudi capital
00:01:48capital there in the centre of your your screen. Hundreds of flights
00:01:50flights have either been cancelled cancelled or diverted. And in light
00:01:54light of Saturday's attack, US President President Donald Trump was asked
00:01:57asked if he would join Saudi Arabia's Arabia's strikes on the Houthis.
00:02:00Houthis. Here's what he told reporters.
00:02:03reporters. Well, you're going to to find out, but I think it's terrible.
00:02:06terrible. Well, they're able to defend. defend. Look, the Saudis are good
00:02:09good fighters. But I think the attack attack was a terrible thing. What
00:02:13What happened in Saudi Arabia is
00:02:15is not acceptable. Thank you. Hussein Hussein Ibish is a senior resident
00:02:19resident scholar at the Arab Gulf Gulf States Institute. And I asked
00:02:22asked him how serious he sees the
00:02:24the escalation as being. Well, I
00:02:26I think it's extremely serious. It's It's mostly serious for the war between
00:02:30between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia,
00:02:33Arabia, which has become an all out out war in recent weeks. And this
00:02:37this is going to put major pressure pressure on the Saudi government
00:02:41government to intensify their efforts
00:02:43efforts to push the Houthis back
00:02:45back in, not just in southern Yemen, Yemen, away from the Bab Al-mandab
00:02:48Al-mandab choke point, which is sort
00:02:51sort of the southern equivalent of
00:02:53of the Strait of Hormuz. It's a major major international shipping chokepoint
00:02:57chokepoint leading up to the Red
00:02:59Red Sea and the Suez Canal, but also
00:03:02also protecting the Saudi homeland homeland from strikes from Yemen.
00:03:06Yemen. This is very serious. It's It's the certainly the deadliest
00:03:10deadliest attack conducted by any any member of the pro-Iranian coalition.
00:03:14coalition. It's not an attack directly
00:03:16directly by Iran, but the Houthis
00:03:18Houthis are an ally of Iran. And
00:03:21And they rely on Iran for weaponry
00:03:26weaponry and intelligence guidance, guidance, training, all that stuff.
00:03:29stuff. So it's a major escalation
00:03:32escalation on in the US war with
00:03:34with Iran as well. So yeah, it's
00:03:37it's a very serious, very dramatic dramatic event, no question. President
00:03:41President Trump was asked earlier earlier today about this attack.
00:03:43attack. He said that they will assess assess the options when it comes
00:03:47comes to joining strikes against against the Houthis. What do you
00:03:50you make of that? Do you think the
00:03:52the US will get involved militarily?
00:03:55militarily? Probably not. It's possible
00:03:56possible the US might get involved
00:03:59involved in a limited way and strikes strikes against the Houthis, but
00:04:02but more likely the US would provide
00:04:05provide Saudi Arabia with increased increased ballistic missile defences.
00:04:09defences. This attack shows a real
00:04:13real weakness in the American sort
00:04:16sort of protection zone around Gulf Gulf countries, which has been you
00:04:19you know, the Gulf countries have
00:04:21have sustained enormous hits. The
00:04:24The biggest group of attacks by Iran
00:04:26Iran has been on the UAE. I think
00:04:30think over 50% of their attacks have have been on that one country alone.
00:04:32alone. And then you've got Kuwait, Kuwait, Qatar, etc all struck. Saudi
00:04:36Saudi Arabia itself struck and now
00:04:39now struck in a very major and deadly deadly way inside Saudi Arabia at
00:04:43at its international airport. And And so I think what you would probably
00:04:46probably see without doubt is American
00:04:48American efforts to shore up Saudi
00:04:50Saudi Arabia's anti-missile system, system, Anti-drone and anti-missile
00:04:54anti-missile defences, because and and this shows a real weakness in
00:04:59in that regard. And the US is sort
00:05:02sort of regarded and presents itself itself as a major guarantor against
00:05:05against that. So it's got to act act in that regard. I think they
00:05:09they might get involved a little little bit in strikes against the
00:05:13the Houthis, but in a very limited limited way because they don't want
00:05:15want to be dragged into a you know, know, the Saudi Houthi war in a major
00:05:19major way. And so far the Houthis Houthis one thing they have done
00:05:23done is been restrained in the Bab Bab Al-mandab by only striking Saudi
00:05:27Saudi shipping. They have not closed closed the strait down by striking
00:05:30striking all different kinds of international international shipping. If they did
00:05:34did that, then you would have a repeat
00:05:37repeat of the crisis in the Strait
00:05:39Strait of Hormuz in the south of of the Arabian Peninsula, another
00:05:42another major choke point. I don't don't think the US wants that. So
00:05:45So it's got to be very careful. And And the mid-terms are coming up.
00:05:48up. So Trump will want to be very
00:05:50very careful about what he does after
00:05:53after the mid-terms. In a few weeks
00:05:55weeks he might be feel a little more
00:05:58more free to use US military force.
00:06:00force. President Trump has doubled doubled down on his call for Ukraine
00:06:04Ukraine to have an election and replace
00:06:06replace Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian Ukrainian president had earlier criticised
00:06:09criticised a new US deal to import import Russian diesel that sparked
00:06:13sparked the ire of the US leader, leader, and today he called for Ukraine
00:06:17Ukraine to get a new leader. Will Will Russia welcome the US criticism
00:06:20criticism of Zelensky with a top
00:06:22top Kremlin negotiator calling Trump's
00:06:24Trump's remarks, quote, iconic and and historic in the last few hours,
00:06:28hours, President Trump repeated his his comments and said President Zelensky
00:06:32Zelensky could have made a deal. deal. Well, I think he should have
00:06:35have an election and he could have
00:06:37have settled this thing many times times and
00:06:44And he should have an election and he can't raise the price of oil. oil. He's done enough. This is a
00:06:48a war that should have never happened. happened. Ukraine, Russia should should have never happened. If I I were president, it never would
00:06:52would have happened. But President President Zelensky could have solved
00:06:54solved this war or he could have
00:06:57have made a deal. Many times I've
00:06:59I've been there. And our Ukraine Ukraine correspondent Dan Johnson
00:07:02Johnson has more on the reaction
00:07:04reaction from Kyiv. Right across
00:07:06across Ukraine, there is fury and
00:07:08and dismay about the way Donald Trump Trump treats Vladimir Putin, who
00:07:12who started this war compared to to Volodymyr Zelensky, who they feel
00:07:15feel is just trying to defend his his nation. There's a sense this
00:07:19this is all about fuel prices, the
00:07:20the war in Iran and Donald Trump Trump having something positive to
00:07:24to present to the American people people ahead of the mid-term elections.
00:07:28elections. And there are angry voices
00:07:29voices in America echoing that too.
00:07:32too. There have been questions about about Zelensky's approach at times,
00:07:35times, but there's nothing that unites unites Ukrainians like this sort
00:07:38sort of slapdown from the US President. President. And we have seen that
00:07:42that before. Ukraine will cling to
00:07:45to the allies, that it believes it it can truly rely on. And Zelensky
00:07:48Zelensky said he'd had a very good
00:07:50good and timely phone call with Andy Andy Burnham this evening. Downing
00:07:54Downing Street says the Prime Minister
00:07:57Minister reiterated British solidarity solidarity and committed to tougher
00:08:01tougher sanctions on Russia. The The harsh reality is that Ukraine
00:08:05Ukraine relies on US intelligence intelligence and weaponry. The Russian
00:08:08Russian hypersonic missiles that that were heading towards Kyiv this
00:08:11this afternoon were only shot down
00:08:13down by US made Patriot interceptors, interceptors, and Ukraine needs more
00:08:17more of those to protect its cities.
00:08:19cities. So although this row is blazing
00:08:21blazing and it has derailed the talks talks in America this weekend that
00:08:25that were supposed to start looking
00:08:27looking for an end to this war, the
00:08:29the harsh reality is that the relationship relationship with the White House
00:08:33House really matters, and it will will have to be rebuilt all over
00:08:36over again. Well, I've been speaking speaking to Olga Khakova senior adviser
00:08:40adviser and fellow at the centre centre for European Policy Analysis.
00:08:43Analysis. I asked her how significant significant this deal is and how
00:08:46how it would make a difference to
00:08:47to diesel prices in the United States.
00:08:50States. The release barely covers covers a full day. It's slightly
00:08:54slightly over half of what US uses
00:08:58uses in diesel demand in one day, day, so it's a drop in the bucket
00:09:01bucket in terms of the global diesel diesel supplies. And I think there
00:09:05there are tremendous uncertainties uncertainties in terms of what Russia
00:09:07Russia will be able to continue releasing. releasing. There is a reason why
00:09:11why this deal did not include you
00:09:13you know, daily volumes because Russia Russia is really struggling. Russia
00:09:16Russia actually imported diesel from
00:09:19from countries like Belarus and they
00:09:20they are really struggling to pare
00:09:23pare down their reserves to meet meet to do this political theatre,
00:09:26theatre, to meet this demand, this this promise. But it is very likely
00:09:29likely that they will be able to
00:09:30to deliver on any future diesel
00:09:35exports. So, Olga, you have characterised characterised this as but a drop drop in the bucket. Let's talk about
00:09:38about briefly. I mean, what all of of this has led to and that is President
00:09:42President Zelensky's criticism of of the deal. President Trump hitting
00:09:45hitting back saying that the Ukrainian Ukrainian president has to go. How
00:09:48How do you read all of this? How
00:09:51How serious is it? Look, tensions tensions are high. But we've been
00:09:54been here before in terms of high
00:09:56high tensions and then a positive positive resolution between the United
00:10:00United States in Ukraine. A Ukrainian Ukrainian president, whether Zelensky
00:10:02Zelensky or anyone else has a mandate
00:10:05mandate to protect the country at
00:10:07at all costs and use all available
00:10:10available tools because Ukraine has has a massive shortage of patriots,
00:10:13patriots, which are the only way way to protect Ukraine from having
00:10:17having all of its critical energy energy and other critical infrastructure
00:10:21infrastructure destroyed this winter. winter. The President is continuing
00:10:24continuing with this strategy that's that's mandated by the people. So
00:10:27So even if Zelensky goes and someone someone else is in his place, you
00:10:30you know, people will demand this this strategy to go after Russia's
00:10:33Russia's revenues. You know, let's let's use this diesel deal as an
00:10:36an example. Even just half a day
00:10:38day or a full day of US., let's say,
00:10:41say, diesel consumption just for for volumes. That's about $1 million.
00:10:44million. You know, it's a drop in in the bucket in global supplies,
00:10:47supplies, but that's about $1 billion billion that goes towards Russia's
00:10:51Russia's ability to, you know, produce
00:10:54produce manufacture, shelf tanks,
00:10:57tanks, recruits, recruit additional, additional, you know, people into
00:11:00into their towards their army to to towards the aggression. And I
00:11:03I think, you know, we think of the the situation as Russia using this
00:11:06this billion dollars just in Ukraine, Ukraine, but it's much bigger than
00:11:09than that. Russia and its allies
00:11:12allies have launched this massive massive shadow war, and our team
00:11:15team has done an amazing work covering covering this. For those who want
00:11:18want to learn more. So when we are
00:11:21are minimising how much money Putin Putin is putting towards this war
00:11:25war machine, we're not only protecting protecting Ukraine, we're also protecting
00:11:29protecting ourselves. However, there there is a way forward even out of
00:11:32of this really complex situation
00:11:34situation of President Trump could
00:11:37could secure a ceasefire by leveraging leveraging the Lindsey Graham sanctions
00:11:41sanctions and pick up the phone and and talk to President Putin and say,
00:11:44say, look, if we if you do not, you
00:11:47you know, commit to a ceasefire this this winter, which will be on both
00:11:51both sides from Ukraine as well, well, then, you know, we will if
00:11:54if you don't follow through on this this ceasefire, we will launch the
00:11:57the full power of the Lindsey Graham Graham sanctions, which then goes
00:12:01goes after not just Russia, but it
00:12:02it also goes after countries that
00:12:05that purchase Russian oil and gas.
00:12:07gas. Because as you point out, Olga,
00:12:09Olga, energy has become so central central in this particular war. But
00:12:13But I also wonder about the environment, environment, environmental impact,
00:12:17impact, because if countries weren't weren't still so reliant on things
00:12:20things like oil, diesel, would energy
00:12:21energy be less of a weapon in conflicts
00:12:24conflicts like this one? So oil and
00:12:27and gas is just one piece of the the broader supply chain, right?
00:12:30right? We have reliance on critical critical minerals, even countries
00:12:33countries that like United States States that are extremely rich in
00:12:37in resources. And are, you know,
00:12:40know, energy powerhouses, our supply
00:12:42supply chains are so globally intertwined intertwined that I think, you know,
00:12:46know, imagining a world where you you as a country could be fully self-reliant,
00:12:50self-reliant, whether it's oil and and gas, whether it's fossil or other
00:12:53other components, tech, tech pieces
00:12:56pieces as well then it's not the the world that we live in. So I think
00:12:59think the answer is to create resiliency, resiliency, to diversify supply chains
00:13:03chains as much as possible, not just
00:13:05just in oil and gas space, but all
00:13:08all across of our tech supply chains, chains, across our medical supply
00:13:10supply chains so that we are less less vulnerable and working with
00:13:13with allies. This is why it becomes
00:13:15becomes even more important. So we we do have optionality and we are
00:13:18are hit less with these massive economic
00:13:20economic shocks. When things do go go wrong. Well, let's go to Mexico
00:13:24Mexico because we're keeping across across the approach of Hurricane
00:13:27Hurricane Simon. This is a live look look at the Pacific coastline there,
00:13:31there, the powerful category four four hurricane is approaching the
00:13:33the Pacific coast of Mexico, bringing bringing torrential rain and maximum
00:13:37maximum sustained winds of up to
00:13:40to 240km an hour. The storm could could strengthen further before it
00:13:43it strikes late on Saturday night night or early Sunday morning, and
00:13:47and this tracker gives you a sense sense of its path. So residents on
00:13:50on the coast of Colima and Jalisco Jalisco have been warned that eight
00:13:54eight metre waves could bring storm storm surges and coastal flooding
00:13:58flooding further north in Sinaloa Sinaloa state. Forecasters say the
00:14:00the storm could dump up to 150mm
00:14:02150mm of rain in a short space of
00:14:05of time, and Tropical Storm Rachel Rachel is brewing in the Pacific.
00:14:08Pacific. It's already made its presence presence felt in Long Beach, California,
00:14:12California, where large waves destroyed destroyed several beachside homes,
00:14:15homes, with local officials calling calling for residents to evacuate
00:14:18evacuate the area. Meanwhile, hurricane hurricane Isaias, which battered
00:14:22battered the Gulf Coast of the United United States on Friday night, left
00:14:26left four people dead. Tens of thousands thousands remain without power in
00:14:29in southern states and it has now
00:14:31now been downgraded to a post-tropical
00:14:34post-tropical cyclone. The US Department
00:14:37Department of Justice says it's investigating
00:14:39investigating whether TV networks networks breached federal competition
00:14:42competition laws when they stopped stopped broadcasting presidential
00:14:45presidential events last month. The
00:14:46The five major US TV networks temporarily
00:14:50temporarily suspended pooled coverage coverage of the President after the
00:14:53the Trump administration withdrew withdrew the credentials of reporters
00:14:55reporters from three news organisations, organisations, including CNN. In
00:14:59In a statement to the BBC, the Justice
00:15:02Justice Department said, quote, group
00:15:04group boycotts among commercial competitors competitors could violate anti-trust
00:15:08anti-trust laws. The television networks networks have not yet commented, commented, but at the time of the
00:15:12the ban, they said in a joint statement
00:15:14statement the public has a vital
00:15:16vital interest in receiving accurate, accurate, independent information information about its government.
00:15:20government. No administration should should restrict a news organisation
00:15:23organisation because it objects to
00:15:25to its reporting. With the US mid-term mid-term elections just over three
00:15:29three weeks away, the Democratic Democratic Party's most recognisable
00:15:32recognisable figures are hitting hitting the campaign trail in competitive
00:15:35competitive states. In Michigan,
00:15:37Michigan, Democratic Socialist Senate Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed appears
00:15:41appears to have a razor thin lead
00:15:43lead over Republican Mike Rogers.
00:15:45Rogers. El-Sayed was joined by Democratic Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren
00:15:49Warren at a campaign event in the
00:15:51the past few hours. Well, this is is progressive Senator Bernie Sanders.
00:15:54Sanders. He appeared in Maine supporting supporting Democrat Troy Jackson,
00:15:57Jackson, who is facing Republican Republican incumbent Senator Susan
00:16:00Susan Collins. With recent polling polling indicating that the Democrats
00:16:03Democrats could regain the House House of Representatives from the the Republicans, they'll need to
00:16:07to gain a net of four seats to flip
00:16:10flip the House. But it is a tight tight battle when it comes to control
00:16:13control of the Senate. Democrats Democrats will have to secure 51
00:16:1651 total seats there to flip it. it. And on the Republican side, President
00:16:20President Trump addressed a rally rally in Tennessee on Saturday, once
00:16:23once again calling for his supporters
00:16:24supporters to vote Republican and,
00:16:28and, quote, "pretend I'm on the ballot". ballot". Trump has been campaigning campaigning for Republican candidates
00:16:32candidates across the country with with his party's control of Congress
00:16:34Congress and his ability to enact
00:16:36enact his agenda potentially at stake.
00:16:39stake. Now take a look at this. This
00:16:42This is a satellite snapshot of a a rather unusual object, a metallic
00:16:46metallic anomaly known as the Taraia
00:16:48Taraia object. Experts say it could could be key to solving one of the
00:16:51the biggest unsolved mysteries of of the past century the disappearance
00:16:55disappearance of the famed aviator
00:16:57aviator Amelia Earhart, a US research research team is travelling to the
00:17:01the remote island of Nikumaroro, Nikumaroro, near Papua New Guinea
00:17:04Guinea in the South Pacific to take
00:17:06take a closer look. Amelia Earhart
00:17:09Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan
00:17:12Noonan vanished on the 2nd of July July 1937 during a round-the-world
00:17:14round-the-world flight attempt. Earhart's Earhart's disappearance spawned many
00:17:17many theories, including conspiracies conspiracies about interference.
00:17:21interference. The official explanation explanation is that the plane suffered
00:17:24suffered communication problems, problems, and Earhart eventually eventually crashed into the ocean
00:17:27ocean when she ran out of fuel. Well,
00:17:29Well, the new expedition is a collaboration
00:17:32collaboration between Purdue University University and the Archaeological Archaeological Legacy Institute.
00:17:35Institute. And I asked Steve Schultz, Schultz, Purdue senior Vice President,
00:17:39President, and Rick Pettigrew, president president of the Archaeological Legacy
00:17:43Legacy Institute, what they've found
00:17:44found so far in their expedition. Well, there's something
00:17:48something to be seen in the lagoon
00:17:50lagoon in satellite imagery and in
00:17:52in other images as well that really really shouldn't be there. It's a
00:17:56a big object, looks like a big metal
00:17:58metal object in, in the northern northern part of the lagoon that
00:18:02that that's the other thing where
00:18:03where we have plenty of other evidence
00:18:07evidence pointing to the that this
00:18:09this was the island where Amelia Amelia Earhart and navigator ended
00:18:12ended up. There's
00:18:17Navigator ended up. There's plenty of evidence pointing to that that island and then seeing this
00:18:20this object in the lagoon. But it it could very well be records of
00:18:23of the Electra aircraft that do combined combined with the earlier images
00:18:27images that we have give US, I think, think, a pretty good idea that this
00:18:30this might actually be the wreckage.
00:18:32wreckage. Knowing what we know from from the images and other evidence
00:18:36evidence that we have pointing to to this island, somebody has to go
00:18:38go and look at this thing to find
00:18:41find out if it actually is the right. right. And we are actually taking
00:18:44taking a look. We were just taking taking a look at that image on our
00:18:47our screen. Just as you were talking. talking. So Rick, when you get there
00:18:51there and you're able to have a look
00:18:52look at it, how will you try to establish establish whether what is called
00:18:56called a metallic anomaly is actually
00:18:59actually linked to Earhart's aircraft?
00:19:02aircraft? Well, the first thing we we have to do is to actually reach
00:19:06reach the site. In order to do that, that, we have to ashore and cut our
00:19:10our way through the forest, through through the lagoon, brings the boats
00:19:14boats around into the lagoon and and then use them to cross a little
00:19:17little to the site which is alongside alongside the trial. Once we moved
00:19:21moved all our people and our equipment equipment to that location, they
00:19:25they will begin a process of examining examining site first with remote
00:19:29remote sensing instruments such as
00:19:31as magnetometers and sonar. Once Once we've done that and we have
00:19:34have a really good idea of exactly exactly where it is, how deep the
00:19:38the sediment cover is on it, then then we'll do use a hydraulic dredge
00:19:41dredge to remove sediment from it it sufficiently to actually get a
00:19:45a look at it. Once we get a look look at it and see what it is, I
00:19:49I think we'll be able to determine determine whether or not this is
00:19:52is actually wreckage of the Electra Electra aircraft. And Steve, the
00:19:56the prevailing theory is that her her plane ran out of fuel. It crashed
00:19:59crashed in the ocean. I mean, is is there evidence that Earhart may
00:20:02may have reached the island instead? instead? That's what a lot of people
00:20:06people want to know. There's a lot lot of evidence that's been developed
00:20:09developed since the late 80s, led
00:20:11led by an organisation called the
00:20:13the Institute for Historic Aircraft
00:20:15Aircraft Recovery, or TIGHAR and
00:20:18and they have developed this castaway castaway hypothesis. And Rick's actually
00:20:22actually been on a prior expedition
00:20:24expedition with TIGHAR. And there's
00:20:27there's lots of evidence, both contemporaneous
00:20:30contemporaneous radio bearing information,
00:20:34information, actual radio transmissions, transmissions, artefact evidence evidence that's been gathered on
00:20:36on the island for more than 30 years. years. Bones were found there in
00:20:40in 1940. Artefacts that are traced
00:20:44traced to a female from the 1930s,
00:20:471930s, including a compact case, case, a shoe, a flight jacket zipper
00:20:51zipper that very closely matches matches Amelia's flight jacket. So
00:20:55So all of that is a body of evidence evidence that is very compelling.
00:20:57compelling. It's a very strong circumstantial circumstantial case. I like to say
00:21:01say as a lawyer and what has never never been found is the smoking gun.
00:21:05gun. And that's what Rick is trying trying to establish with the Taraia
00:21:08Taraia Object hypothesis. And we're we're very honoured as Purdue University
00:21:12University to come in alongside and and support Rick and Archaeological
00:21:15Archaeological Legacy Institute because because for US, the story is a bit
00:21:19bit personal. Amelia was a boilermaker. boilermaker. She was an adjunct professor,
00:21:23professor, career counsellor for
00:21:24for women on our campus and our affiliated
00:21:28affiliated organisation, Purdue Research Research Foundation, actually funded
00:21:31funded the Electra, helped gave it it to gave money to her in the form
00:21:34form of a research grant that she she used to develop the experimental
00:21:38experimental long range aircraft aircraft that she called her flying flying laboratory. So this gives
00:21:42gives us a chance. Alongside Rick
00:21:44Rick to help complete her story.
00:21:46story. Steve, as you know, people
00:21:48people have been speculating about
00:21:51about this for decades. You certainly certainly have some fascinating lines
00:21:55lines of investigation as you look look for that smoking gun. But no
00:21:58no one's really been successful so so far. I mean, what makes you think
00:22:01think that you'll be successful this
00:22:03this time around? Well, I'll let
00:22:06let Rick give the more complete answer.
00:22:09answer. But just it's just very persuasive. persuasive. Again, the body of evidence
00:22:12evidence that already existed. But
00:22:15But now this evidence that's visible visible to the plane I from satellite
00:22:19satellite imagery that very closely
00:22:20closely resembles a plane and it's
00:22:24it's corroborated by contemporaneous contemporaneous aerial photographs photographs from 1938 that indicate
00:22:27indicate an anomaly was very close close to the Taraia Object even back
00:22:31back that long ago. And then Rick Rick can talk about a helicopter
00:22:34helicopter flyover video that was was taken in 2001 that indicates
00:22:38indicates that a metallic object object was there, right in the same
00:22:40same spot in the lagoon. Rick, tell
00:22:42tell us about that. We have visual
00:22:46visual evidence, not only the satellite,
00:22:48satellite, which cover a period from
00:22:51from 2015 up until the present day,
00:22:55day, pointing to this object. And And then you go back to 2001. TIGHAR
00:22:58TIGHAR saw a video of a helicopter
00:23:02helicopter back in 2001 and that that they happened to pass directly
00:23:05directly over this location. And And in that video. There is a reflection
00:23:08reflection that appeared very briefly,
00:23:10briefly, but at that exact location. location. But it was a reflection
00:23:14reflection from the bottom of the the lagoon. Again, that's the same
00:23:17same precise location, the orientation orientation of the object was precisely
00:23:20precisely the same as what we see see in the other imagery. And then
00:23:24then as Steve said, we can go back
00:23:26back to 1938 with New Zealand aerial aerial photographs pointing to an
00:23:30an object that was there. We see see the same thing from two opposite
00:23:33opposite directions in the island
00:23:34island and not just the
00:23:39photograph. Well. I think we really really have to go look at those things. things. I mean, you're going to a
00:23:42a remote island. You're there on on a ship right now. What's your
00:23:45your journey been like and what will will it be like when you get there?
00:23:49there? Quite literally, how do you you get to this area to investigate
00:23:52investigate what you need to investigate?
00:23:56investigate? Well, I mean, we're we're facing some rough rather than
00:23:59than right now gives us some concern.
00:24:03concern. We're making progress toward toward the island. We expect to be be travelling for another day and
00:24:07and a half or so. We'll see what
00:24:08what it looks like when we get there.
00:24:12there. We're going to be going ashore ashore when we as soon as we can,
00:24:15can, assuming that the weather is is suitable, we won't be going ashore
00:24:19ashore if weather is dangerous for for us to go through. But you know
00:24:23know we're ready for anything. We're
00:24:26We're prepared to handle rough weather weather as long as we can get ashore.
00:24:29ashore. Once we get ashore, we'll we'll do all of our plan, cut our
00:24:32our way through the forest and the the revealing and so forth. So I
00:24:35I you know, we're going to stay on on our plan. And one thing we're
00:24:39we're undeterred. We're not going going to be turning back because
00:24:43because of the weather. We've gotten gotten this far. We're going to take
00:24:47take this all the way. And it probably probably should be pointed out that
00:24:50that we are self-sustained. I mean, mean, when we left Tarawa, we are
00:24:54are an entity unto ourselves on this
00:24:55this vessel. It is a working vessel.
00:24:58vessel. It serves our purposes. And And our needs very, very nicely.
00:25:02nicely. But it's not a pleasure cruise. cruise. So we're just dealing with
00:25:05with the typical conditions of living living and working. We've got a lot
00:25:08lot of work to do. We have a lot lot of equipment that we had to inventory,
00:25:12inventory, take out and test. Fortunately, Fortunately, all that equipment,
00:25:15equipment, even though it was transported transported from Eugene, Oregon,
00:25:18Oregon, and Pensacola, Florida, it's it's all working. So that's good.
00:25:21good. But we have a lot of rehearsing
00:25:23rehearsing to do, a lot of planning planning to do to carefully orchestrate
00:25:26orchestrate the activities that we'll we'll have to undertake as we make
00:25:29make the most use of our time on
00:25:31on the island. And allow me. To mention
00:25:33mention that we are on a vessel of
00:25:35of the Kiribati line. So we are working
00:25:38working with a crew from Kiribati.
00:25:41Kiribati. The island belongs to their their country and we're working with
00:25:44with their people, and I want to to acknowledge that we are forming
00:25:46forming a team with them. This is is a co-operative effort between
00:25:49between us and the people of
00:25:53German. Well, certainly a fascinating fascinating endeavour. All the best best to them. Do stay with us here
00:25:57here on BBC News. I'll see you soon.
00:27:37Dhabi, some misty mornings.
00:29:56online at bbc.com/business to get get the latest news wherever you
00:29:58you are. Business on BBC News. Make
00:30:02Make the connection. MUSIC
00:30:13MUSIC On On BBC News. Sandra Maksimovic reports
00:30:16reports on Serbia's student led anti-corruption anti-corruption protests. Plus the
00:30:20the growing debate over AI safety.
00:30:23safety. Global Eye.
00:30:45Hello and welcome to Global Eye. A programme that brings you
00:30:48you hard hitting investigations and and tales of hope and resilience
00:30:53resilience from teams across the
00:30:55the BBC World Service. I'm Sandra
00:30:57Sandra Maksimovic and this week we we are in Serbia.