From a person related to one of the TWAers on that flight. Raytheon was testing a prototype surface to air interceptor missile. The Navy had Scud from the first Iraq War that they used as a target drone. The new missile's primary tracking system failed and it reverted to heat seeking. The closest heat source: 800.
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Oh good grief. I've heard some nutcase conspiracies around TWA 800 but this tops the list. Since when does anybody test new surface to air missile systems near one of the largest cities in the world among the busiest air corridors in the world? And where was this supposed Scud launched from? And a prototype missile suffers a failure in its primary tracking system and is allowed to revert to some back up mode that randomly acquires the first heat source it sees and guides to it?!? Suuure. And even if such a plan did slip past the hundreds of technicians and experts designed to filter out such stupidity, that is one weapon system I'd want no part of. We're not in the habit of employing weapons whose failure mode is to randomly acquire and guide to the first heat source they find in a several mile area. There is just a slight difference in heat signatures between a ballistic missile and a 747. Missile seeker technology has advanced just a little beyond the Helen Keller stage of shoot and hope. But, I suppose if this supposed "new" technology is something actually being pursued, we could always just ensure all our aircraft are on the ground before we launch any of these beauties.
But hey, if someone who was related to someone on TWA 800 actually said this....it must be true.
