Email from Michael Hastings before crash mentions FBI probe ("Big Story"-"Going off the Radar")

reply to post by xuenchen


Hmm i see nothing wrong with the trees if you watch the actual video. the palmtrees are on the central devider
and the non palmtrees are on the side of the residents.
why did you choose to compare 2 pictures from different angels.
What looks out of place on those pictures to you?
You had to see the entire video to make that screendump. again why choose 2 different angels, what are you trying to proove or question by that?

reply to post by Curious69


well it must be me.

you are probably right.

reply to post by xuenchen


Yes, I see that.
Thanks for the link to the other thread,
Also, why is the car still there in daylight.

Makes NO sense, it would have been towed.

What I'd pay for that car's computer....

Compromised?
Maybe, but I wouldn't trust anyone's analysis but my own.....

reply to post by burntheships

Not towing the car, does not really support the conspiracy element here as i see it.
Why leave the evidence of foulplay on the streets for all to see in daylight?
I guess we can/should question everything but common sense would be nice.
Why dont you try to answer the question that you threw out here.
What makes not towing the car away suspecious to you?
Where i live, If a car accident is deadly or causes serious inguries. a automobile inspector is sent to
the site to evaluate and learn the cause.
I dont know if its simular in the U.S.
But its a better answer than just shouting foulplay to every detail.
I hope i dont look to hostile in my answers/questions, but again i like to see some common sense used here.
Besides your post is as close to a one liner as they come. first no no when posting here, if i understand right.

reply to post by Daedalus

oh look, ANOTHER worthless, minimal post from Sankari, that contributes exactly NOTHING to the thread... Huge surprise, this...

it has become clear to me that her purpose is to take threads off topic intentionally.

this is a pretty obvious assassination. the government has taken off the gloves and seems not to care how brazen their actions are.

Originally posted by Curious69
...Not towing the car, does not really support the conspiracy element here as i see it.
Why leave the evidence of foulplay on the streets for all to see in daylight?
I guess we can/should question everything but common sense would be nice.
Why dont you try to answer the question that you threw out here.
What makes not towing the car away suspecious to you?
Where i live, If a car accident is deadly or causes serious inguries. a automobile inspector is sent to
the site to evaluate and learn the cause.
I dont know if its simular in the U.S.
But its a better answer than just shouting foulplay to every detail.
I hope i dont look to hostile in my answers/questions, but again i like to see some common sense used here.
Besides your post is as close to a one liner as they come. first no no when posting here, if i understand right.

Your response may be correct - regarding how it might play against a conspiracy angle (at least from the side of the local PD). I have, however, as recently as 18 years ago, been on scene when such an accident occurred at around 2 a.m. in Houston, Texas. The vehicle that wrecked (high speed, curve, hit curb, etc...) ended up in the middle of a 7 lane stretch of road. My partner & I (as well as others on the scene) blocked off traffic and attempted to aid the driver...until the authorities arrived. It took quite a while to get him out of his car (jaws of life, etc...), and he was air-lifted to one of the local trauma centers. We were there until the "authorities" had finished their investigation (at least, their initial investigation), and it took no more than 3 and a half hours. The vehicle was towed-away before we were given the okay to leave.
Maybe things are done differently in Los Angeles.
As to leaving the vehicle until after daylight broke -- I do find that "out of the ordinary". Odd facts in a situation should always raise red flags -- whether one knows "why" they are odd, or not.

I dont know if it has been mentioned here, but look at the stillpictures in daylight and the accident video.
they show the gastank has detached from the car just hanging in a tube/wire, that would have helped spill the
content and make the fuel/air mix easier to accour.
How it did detatch from the vehicle when its a frontal impact is unsure. but i bet Mercedes would like to know.
the tank shows no signs of explotion from exteriour or interiour sources, so its highly unbelivable that the tank
is the cause of the loud explotion heard.
But given that the engine landed so far from the car the Gforces and affiliated sounds must have been tremendous.
As a firefighter myself i have seen my fair share of burning vehicles.
They all burn differently but are rearely ablaze, and we have atleast 7-10 min before arrival at any given situation
giving the vehicle atleast a 15 min burn before we arrive. and many are only half burned.
I have never seen a tank explode, even if engulfed by flames.Magnesium rims are one of the biggest issues
as they are like trying to put out termite.

reply to post by WanDash


Hi Wandash. well i only know the response to such accidents here in my country.
i guess if the accident spot is a highway or other heavely operated street the response time of the inspectors
is important. we operate only with a small fixed number of inspectors, who can happen to be on another site/
sick or whatever. in that case the police might document as much as possible with photos for later, to allow the site to be cleared. But in some cases where the traffic is not that important. we can wait till the inspector finds the time to do his job.
Still i dont know if thats the case in the states. they might have different rules from state to state for all i know.
But it does not look that suspecious to me.

Originally posted by Curious69
...Hi Wandash. well i only know the response to such accidents here in my country.
i guess if the accident spot is a highway or other heavely operated street the response time of the inspectors
is important. we operate only with a small fixed number of inspectors, who can happen to be on another site/
sick or whatever. in that case the police might document as much as possible with photos for later, to allow the site to be cleared. But in some cases where the traffic is not that important. we can wait till the inspector finds the time to do his job.
Still i dont know if thats the case in the states. they might have different rules from state to state for all i know.
But it does not look that suspecious to me.

In the states it isn't a cut & dried question, either... All kinds of rules/laws can vary tremendously, from one city to the next.
As I said - you may be correct (that this "fact" does not fit a credible conspiracy theory). I don't have a particular conspiracy theory to try and fit it in-to...so, I get to just look at the whole situation (as it develops) and see if a picture starts to emerge.
As to your question/s regarding the ejected engine (and transmission, I presume), and the discarded fuel tank - it is terribly odd to me. I don't think I've ever come upon an accident where the engine was fully launched from the vehicle. Guess we would need to see some photos of its flight/travel path, to be able to move that question any further.
Have you come upon scenes where the fuel tank dislodged from as nice a vehicle as this?
Does it seem to you that the fuel tank would have dislodged as a result of the vehicle hitting the curb at a particular angle?
Thanks.

The questions that i find the most pressing in this case is.
Why did Hastings drive that fast in the first place. did he have a history of speeding?
How would i react if suddently my car accelerated from itself? BREAKS TO THE FLOOR. has any witness seen
breaklights being used?
PRESSING THE HORN LIKE CRAZY and blinking with every light i have. I might not have the time or composure
to do any of those things. luckily i never been in such situation.
For how long was he on a straight path? does the road turn in front of him or did he have a free passage.
im not sure drones or explosives should be our first questions here.

reply to post by WanDash


Hi Wandash. In my experience 10 years as a firefighter i have never seen a dislodged fuel tank, but accidents come in many variants. and i dont disregard the possibility. but im sure Mercedes are scratching their heads.
The engine as told by many are constructed to come off. maybe not in the way it happened here, but if it can dislodge i dont see the problems in physichs that it can fly so far from the car. i have seen several cars where
the engine was torn out, and landed far away. not impossible and i dont see a angle here.
The accident video shows the photographer go from the burning car to the torn off engine and pan back to the car
the angels looks abit off but its thrown in the general direction of the impact as i see it, and its really not out of place to me. Something is off, i just dont see the material evidence in the pictures as provided.

Originally posted by Curious69
...Does anybody know if Hastings was known as a speedfreak?
Did he usually use the streets as a racetrack?
Even so. The mercedes of that vintage is usually a very easydriven and precise car, getting it wrong in a straight line
is possible but suspicious.
...

I don't think we'll have an answer on this question that all are satisfied with... But...pointing back to the topic of this thread -- Hastings had just gone "on record" with his friends, associates and employer...that he was "going off radar". If he really sent that message...and was sincere when sending it...no matter how often he might have liked to take joy-rides in the city -- I don't see him drawing attention to himself so soon (without coercion of some significant sort).
Now - his "off radar" location might well have been in the Los Angeles metropolitan complex...which could explain "why" he was still in LA that many hours after sending an email he would expect to be viewed by the FBI/NSA (again - IF he sincerely believed the contents of said email) - but - all vehicles driving around at 4 a.m. are more conspicuous (since there are far fewer) than during "normal operating hours".

The whole episode looks like "someone trying to draw attention"...and, not in a good light.

reply to post by WanDash


Hi Wandash. Im with you on that, why would he be driving like that if the intention was to stay under the radar?
That seems counterproductive to me.
But i just think that reading the different therories, most people start in the middle or the end asking questions.
cherry picking in the story to make it fit or more mysterious, just makes it harder to see the full picture, if that is what we are trying here.
making every little detail suspecious just blurs it all.

Originally posted by Curious69
...Hi Wandash. Im with you on that, why would he be driving like that if the intention was to stay under the radar?
That seems counterproductive to me.
But i just think that reading the different therories, most people start in the middle or the end asking questions.
cherry picking in the story to make it fit or more mysterious, just makes it harder to see the full picture, if that is what we are trying here.
making every little detail suspecious just blurs it all.

I know what you mean -- On the other hand, I have to decipher puzzles on a daily basis...and, after seeing suspicious activity "once" that looks a certain way...and is found to be fraudulence or trickery or simply "bad people doing bad things to others"...every time I see something that looks like, or has a similar feel to that suspicious activity - I go the extra mile, to make certain I have covered all bases.
It takes more work - and you gain fewer friends - by having to cipher through all the "facts" that are broadcast in the early stages of a case like this. I can't stand watching erroneous facts continually used as evidence for any side of a debate.
For me - it looked like the car ended up between two fairly large palm trees. I haven't been able to find many photos of the crash site, and am trying to get a picture in my head of where the car would have been, when the engine launched... (in addition to other questions)

reply to post by WanDash


I made a google picture search on the accident, i found some pictures of the tree where ppl had laid flowers ect.
it did not have major damage from what i saw. the palm just left to it has simular marks/scrapes and might very well
have been in a accident too.
I miss some overview pictures, can i ask you to maybe find the route driven on google maps.
im pretty sure from a such picture it would be possible to place the car and engine on the site, there should be plenty of landmarks on the video and pictures to reconstruct the site and placement of things.
lets start there.

reply to post by Curious69


The engine and transmission was found a hundred and fifty feet in the opposite lane from the car. It was located in front of the storm drain that is painted red.








Here is the location. Same plant behind the storm drain.
goo.gl...

From the tree closes to the camera in the picture to the storm drain in the distance on the corner. You can see the storm drain from the location next to the light pole and the red paint on the storm drain.
goo.gl...

reply to post by JBA2848


Yes i found those pictures too. But i would like to pinpoint the place on google maps, to be able to place the vehicle and engine on the picture.
mapping the visible damage on the car in reference to the firehydrant and palmtree.
With the weight of the engine and end placement of it, it should be possible to estimate the speed of the car
and the visible panel damage on the car should tell if the car drove straight or sideways in to those objects.
i found the rough location on google streetwiew but i have not found the crash site yet.
Btw. Hitting the firehydrant and scraping over it could explain how the gastank came undone.

reply to post by Curious69


Gas tank never came undone. The object behind the car is the exhaust pipe.




Under the car with exhaust.


Under the car with exhaust taken out and the shielding showing gas tank.


Another picture showing exhaust and the shielding for the tank.

reply to post by JBA2848


well spotted and i stand corrected. No doubt that is the same shape size as the rear muffler.
i was jumping to the conclusion based on the pipe? that seems to connect to it.
Just goes to show that jumping to conclusions and not making prober research can ruin a good theory.
i fell into the trap with both legs. Thanks for not just taking my word for it.