'Black Hole' Theory for Missing Malaysia Flight 370? CNN Anchor Actually Asks

As the search effort for the missing Malaysia Flight MH370 continues, some questionable theories are being floated for the strange disappearance of the passenger jet, including — it seems — black holes, Yahoo News reports. On Wednesday (March 19), CNN anchor Don Lemon mentioned receiving Twitter messages from viewers with wild theories on the missing plane, which included black holes and the Bermuda Triangle.

"I know it's preposterous, but is it preposterous, do you think, Mary?" Lemon asked Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Schiavo wasted no time. "It is. A small black hole would suck in our entire universe, so we know it's not that. The Bermuda Triangle is often weather and 'Lost' is a TV show." Today (March 20), Australian maritime officials released new DigitalGlobe satellite photos that show potential debris from the missing jet, offering a new focus for the search teams. It bears mentioning that should a real black hole actually materialize anywhere near Earth, the odds of its massive gravitational influence going unnoticed by astronomers around the world are, well, astronomical. Read the full story at Yahoo News.

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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.