On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we talk about one of the most controversial airline crashes (and conspiracy theories) to date: the crash of TWA Flight 800. This ill-fated plane went down in Long Island, New York. It was July 17, 1996, at about 8:30 p.m., just a few minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight to Rome via Paris. About 10 minutes after takeoff, the pilot called in a strange reading on one of his fuel gates, and a few minutes later, the plane vanished from radar.

At the same time, the captain of another flight reported an explosion at the same altitude and heading of TWA Flight 800. The plane had exploded, broken apart, fallen into the ocean, and all 230 passengers and crew died. In and of itself, this shouldn’t be a big deal. Except it is. Enough eye witnesses said they saw something rise from the ground and strike the plane to make the FBI and even CIA get involved in the investigation instead of just the RTSB who had the official government mandate. The White House mentioned a missile or bomb in their debriefings, and it was perused as a terrorist attack. This was, after all, the same year as the Oklahoma City bombing and the basement bombing of the World Trade Center.

So, the investigation took a look at foreign powers from Ghaddafi to Hussein. But the massive public interest and multiple federal agencies turned the investigation of TWA Flight 800 into a disaster. The groups butted heads, shut down each other’s witnesses, and even allegedly stole evidence from each other. The official cause of the crash after several years was that there was a problem with the center wing fuel tank. But that doesn’t explain the eyewitnesses who claimed to see something in the sky hit the plane. Several books and documentaries have come out shooting down (no pun intended) the official story.

Was this a military missile test gone awry? Why did the feds screw each other up so much? What happened that was strange just before the plane took off? Was there a military vessel near Flight 800 when it crashed? How many bodies did they ultimately recover? Was it actually a meteor strike? Which host believes in the conspiracy and which don’t? This one gets heated!