Viral 'leaked' transcript of Titan sub's final communication confirmed as fake

Last year’s OceanGate tragedy sparked a maelstrom of speculation, conspiracy and downright disinformation, and now it has emerged that one of the most compelling pieces of “evidence” was, in fact, fake.

The Titan submersible was destroyed in a “catastrophic implosion” on 18 June, 2023, taking with it the lives of the five people on board.

In the aftermath of the disaster, a purported transcript of the sub’s final communications went viral online, apparently revealing the final words shared between someone trapped in the tiny vessel – presumably OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush – and the team on board its mothership the Polar Prince.

The document, which has been viewed millions of times, raised a number of concerns, most notably by suggesting that passengers were aware of issues with the Titan some 18 minutes before its destruction.

The alleged log suggested that a series of alarms had alerted the submersible’s voyagers to the impending crisis and that they had desperately struggled, in vain, to return to the surface.

However, now the head of the US federal government team investigating the disaster has said the whole transcript was nothing more than a fabrication.

After almost a year of examination, Captain Jason D. Neubauer and his colleagues have found no signs that the Titan’s five passengers had any prior warning of the fateful implosion.

“I’m confident it’s a false transcript,” Capt. Neubauer, chairman of the Marine Board of Investigation, said. “It was made up.”

Exerpts of the transcript which has been widely shared online

The bogus transcript began circulating on the internet in late June, offering a minute-by-minute report rich in technical details.

Even experts were duped by its air of authenticity, acknowledging that its depictions of the sub’s descent were credible and in keeping with established timelines.

“Somebody did it well enough to make it look plausible,” Capt. Neubauer said, noting that it made those on board “look like they were panicking,” the New York Timesreports.

Indeed, the creator of a YouTube analysis of the log, which racked up more than six million views, lamented: “It’s just so scary to know that these guys spent 20 minutes in fear of their lives.”

LEAKED Titan Sub Transcript Shows Crew In Battle For Liveswww.youtube.com

The fake document suggested the Titan had informed its mother ship of a series of hull alarms and reported a series of crackling noises.

It claimed that the Titan’s last message was an ominous description of its hull sensor alarms as “all red”.

The transcript ended with the Polar Prince sending seven messages pleading for updates on the vessel’s status, with the last reading: “Please respond if you’re able.”

In an interview, submersible pilot and Explorers Club president Alfred S. McLaren said that he had found the log convincing.

“It makes sense,” he said. “It seems on the money” regarding how the Titan and its mother ship would have communicated.

After learning that it was, in fact, all a lie, Dr. McLaren speculated on the motive of the log’s unknown author.

“It may have been done to embarrass OceanGate,” he said. “It certainly was guaranteed to stir up the relatives.”

Nevertheless, despite the transcript’s persuasiveness, Capt. Neubaur said he and his investigating team easily saw through it. Though, this is largely because they gained access to the real records of the communications between the vessel and the Polar Prince, which remain an undisclosed part of the federal inquiry.

He said that his team, aided by investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, had “found no evidence” that Titan’s voyagers had any awareness of the imminent implosion or their fate.

Capt. Neubauer stressed that he and fellow investigators found “no evidence” that the Titan’s passengers had any awareness of their impending fate, and said he hoped this would console relatives worried that their loved ones had suffered in their final moments.

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