Chinese Satellites Spot Large Object in South Indian Ocean

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Malaysian acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein speaks during a press conference at a hotel in Sepang, Malaysia, Thursday, March 20, 2014

Image: AP/Associated Press

By Brian Ries2014-03-22 12:58:25 UTC

A Chinese satellite has spotted a large object floating in the South Indian Ocean.

China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) announced on Saturday that its high-definition earth observation satellite "Gaofen-1" has spotted a floating object 75 miles south-west of the current search area off the coast of Australia.

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The object, which was spotted at 12:00 p.m. local time on March 18 is 74-feet by 43-feet, is just five feet shy of the larger of the two objects at the center of Australia's search and recovery efforts.

A Chinese satellite has spotted a floating image about 120 kilometers south west of the current search area off of Perth.

Image: sastind.gov.cn

The news was announced by Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting Minister of Transport, who says more information will come in the coming hours. Chinese aircraft and ships are headed to the area but the location has been shared with the Australians, who may get there first, he says.

Mr. Hussein says that he is hopeful the lead will produce results.

It has been more than two weeks since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing after taking off from Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport with 239 people on board. There have been a number of objects sightings since then, but none have turned out to be pieces of the missing jetliner.

It is unclear if the latest object is one of the two already spotted by a U.S. satellite and announced by the Australian officials leading the search in the South Indian Ocean.

Topics: Malaysia airlines, US & World, World