Simha rasi 2011

Born in WB, India

1. Zionists claim that the Nakba was not an ethnic cleansing, and that the current assault on Gaza is not an ethnic cleansing.The united nations has described both as an ethnic cleansing. The definition of ethnic cleansing is forceful removal of a certain group from the land, which certainly describes the Nakba and Gaza. The Zionists commited several attacks on Palestenian villages and killed many people. This all played a role in their exit of the land.

Source on united nations describing both as ethnic cleansing: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/un-expert-warns-new-instance-mass-ethnic-cleansing-palestinians-calls
https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/ethnic-cleansing.shtml
Sources for those who described the Nakba as an ethnic cleansing:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/03/israel-nakba-history-1948/
1. 2023, pp. 30, 65, 71, 81, 182, 193–194; Abu-Laban & Bakan 2022, p. 511; Manna 2022; Pappe 2022, pp. 33, 120–122, 126–132, 137, 239; Hasian Jr. 2020, pp. 77–109; Khalidi 2020, pp. 12, 73, 76, 231; Slater 2020, pp. 81–85; Shenhav 2019, pp. 49–50, 54, and 61; Bashir & Goldberg 2018, pp. 20 and 32 n.2; Confino 2018, p. 138; Masalha 2018, pp. 44, 52–54, 64, 319, 324, 376, 383; Nashef 2018, pp. 5–6, 52, 76; Auron 2017; Rouhana & Sabbagh-Khoury 2017, p. 393; Al-Hardan 2016, pp. 47–48; Natour 2016, p. 82; Rashed, Short & Docker 2014, pp. 3–4, 8–18; Masalha 2012; Wolfe 2012, pp. 153–154, 160–161; Khoury 2012, pp. 258, 263–265; Knopf-Newman 2011, pp. 4–5, 25–32, 109, 180–182; Lentin 2010, ch. 2; Milshtein 2009, p. 50; Ram 2009, p. 388; Shlaim 2009, pp. 55, 288; Esmeir 2007, pp. 249–250; Sa'di 2007, pp. 291–293, 298, 308; Pappe 2006; Schulz 2003, pp. 24, 31–32
The first prime minster of Israel even said that his goal was ethnic cleansing of the arabs:
https://www.progressiveisrael.org/ben-gurions-notorious-quotes-their-polemical-uses-abuses/

5 October 1937, Ben-Gurion wrote in a letter to his 16 year old son Amos: “We must expel the Arabs and take their places…. And, if we have to use force-not to dispossess the Arabs of the Negev and Transjordan, but to guarantee our own right to settle in those places- then we have force at our disposal.”

“We walked outside, Ben-Gurion accompanying us. Allon repeated his question, What is to be done with the Palestinian population? ‘Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture which said ‘ Drive them out! ‘ “Yitzhak Rabin, leaked censored version of Rabin memoirs, published in the New York Times, 23 October 1979.

“We must do everything to insure they (the Palestinians) never do return.”

David Ben-Gurion, in his diary, 18 July 1948, quoted in Michael Bar Zohar’s Ben-Gurion: the Armed Prophet, Prentice-Hall, 1967, p. 157.
In 1899 Zionists declared their goal to colonize palestine.
https://www.nytimes.com/1899/06/20/archives/conference-of-zionists-elect-delegates-at-their-meeting-in.html
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1. ZIonists claim that arabs have equal rights to jews in the land, and that for them this proves it is not apartheid. This is a lie from the zionists. Jews have a special right called the right to return, the right to return allows jews from any nation to get a free citizenship easily, and it even gives them a palestenians home that the person is still living in, this is known as settlers. The settlers could be from any country, but they not only get a citizenship but they are allowed to violently displace palestenians from a home they currently live in. There are many cases of this happening. OCHA reported, from 1 January to 19 September 2023, Israeli settlers and forces killed 189 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and wounded 8,192. This is not only legal but encouraged by the ISraeli government because it is meant to express their dominance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settler_violence

1. Zionists claim that Hamas is the only one at fault when any Palestenians die in the conflict. No matter what happens Zionists will never ever take any responsibility for any issues in this conflict. Their goal is to depict themselves as the civilized peaceful people, while Palestenians are the savages who refuse peace. They often do this by blaming Hamas for everything. The reality that Zionists will not tell you is that Hamas was irrelevant until the mid 2000s. They were not founded until late 1980s, and the group that they came out of had no military power. Israel saw them as a non threat to their goals, and they even decided to fund them because they thought itd be a powerful tactic against the more powerful groups.

Sources on ISrael funding Hamas: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eus-borrell-says-israel-financed-creation-gaza-rulers-hamas-2024-01-19/
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/19/hamas-israel-palestine-conflict/
The times of Israel even describes hamas as Netanyahus project.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/
Thats why the people on this subreddit who are paid money to defend israel (becaause nobody would do that for free), will often use Hamas as the excuse for everything. Because the people that pay them obviously use the same rhetoric foundation that Netanyahu built which is to blame everything on hamas. Even though Hamas is a bunch of irrelevant random people with random weapons. Even if Hamas didnt exist somebody would aquire weapons to fight against the IDF.
The reality is that there is no hamas presence in the west bank, yet the people there live under Israels checkpoints and bullying by their IDF. You can read about it here, and other sources. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/22/how-does-israels-occupation-of-palestine-work
Israel treats people a way in west bank, that will show you that this all has nothing do with Hamas. They treat people so poorly in the west bank that it shows that Hamas is clearly just an excuse to justify any action taken against Palestenians.
In fact Israel was fully aware of the attack coming on october 7th but chose to ignore it. This is likely because they wanted it to happen, and were happy to sacrifice their citizens for the sake of justifying a total destruction and ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-attack-intelligence.html#:~:text=Israeli%20officials%20obtained%20Hamas's%20battle,for%20Hamas%20to%20carry%20out.
This is why their rhetoric after oct 7th was extremely aggressive, they thought that the attack would be easy to use to justify any actions against Gaza people. They thought western people would be very happy to support the destruction of Gaza because the october 7th. They were surpised to find that people did not like seeing babies and kids dying as a payback for this one attack.
Lastly its important to mention that Israel uses the Palestenians election of hamas to justify ethnic cleansing. Their argument is meant to conclude that because Palestenians support an evil group therefore they must all die. The problem is that this election took place almost 20 years ago, and a Majority of Palestenians alive today did not participate in this election!
5- Genocide, Zionists dont like this term, but the thing about a genocide is that there is a process. There are 10 recognized stages of genocide https://museeholocauste.ca/en/resources-training/ten-stages-genocide/. I will be using these descriptions below:

1. Classification

Groups in a position of power will categorize people according to ethnicity, race, religion or nationality employing an us versus them mentality
This is certainly happening. For example the Israeli government described Palestenians as animals, and Netanyahu compared them to Amalek who were genocided in the bible. The south Africa case against Israel included many of these sorts of statements, because they understand that Genocide begins with rhetoric, just like the Nazis started it that way. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/14/intent-in-the-genocide-case-against-israel-is-not-hard-to-prove
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3. Discrimination
A dominant group uses laws, customs, and political power to deny the rights of other groups. The powerless group may not be granted full civil rights or even citizenship.
The right to return being an exclusively jewish right is an example of discrimination. This lists 7 laws that discriminate between Israelis and Arabs.
https://imeu.org/article/the-7-most-racist-israeli-laws

1. The Jewish Nation-State Law

One of Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws. Stipulates that the right to self-determination in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories “is unique to the Jewish people” and encourages racial segregation and discrimination against Palestinians in housing by directing the state to promote the “development of Jewish settlement as a national value.”

1. The Law of “Return”

Gives Jews from anywhere in the world the right to immigrate to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and to automatically receive Israeli citizenship. At the same time, Israel denies indigenous Palestinians who were expelled during and after Israel’s establishment their legal right to return to their homeland because they aren’t Jewish and treats Palestinian citizens of the state, who comprise more than 20% of Israel’s population, as second-class citizens.

1. The Admissions Committee Law

Authorizes hundreds of smaller towns to set up “admissions committees” to reject applications from Palestinians, LGBTQ people, and others deemed undesirable using criteria such as being “unsuitable to the social life of the community… or the social and cultural fabric of the town.”

1. Absentee Property Law and Land Acquisition Law

Allows Israel’s government to expropriate land and other property belonging to Palestinians who were driven from their homes during the state’s establishment. The primary tool used by Israel to steal huge amounts of land and private property from Palestinians who were expelled and denied their right to return, including many internally displaced within Israel’s borders.

1. Israel Lands Law

Another of Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws. Stipulates that ownership of state lands can only be transferred between the government and quasi-governmental agencies like the Jewish National Fund, which only leases land to Jews. Ninety-three percent of the land in Israel is state owned. Israel's discriminatory land policies make it extremely difficult for Palestinians with Israeli citizenship to gain access to land for residential, commercial, agricultural, or other uses.

1. The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law

Prevents Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who are married to Palestinian citizens of Israel from gaining residency or citizenship status, including those who were expelled from towns inside what became Israel in 1948. Forces thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel to leave the country or live apart from their spouses and families.

1. The Nakba Law

Bans public funding for institutions and organizations involved in commemorating the violent expulsion of three quarters of all Palestinians during Israel’s establishment as a Jewish-majority state in 1948, known to Palestinians as the “Nakba” (“catastrophe”).
Researchers have identified 65 laws which discriminate against arabs in Israel
https://www.adalah.org/en/law/index
The settlers taking peoples land is enough to prove apartheid.
4. Dehumanisation
The diminished value of the discriminated group is communicated through propaganda. Parallels are drawn with animals, insects or diseases.
I have shown you an example of Palestenians being compared to a disease and animals in the rhetoric. Netanyahu also called Palestenian children the children of darkness. The South African case has brought many of these examples to the court.
6. Polarisation
Propaganda is employed to amplify the differences between groups. Interactions between groups are prohibited, and the moderate members of the group in power are killed.
There are examples of jews who oppose zionism and they are typically bullied by zionists.
9. Extermination
The massacres begin. The perpetrators see their actions as “extermination” since they do not consider their victims to be entirely human.
the indiscriminate bombing by israel
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/13/politics/intelligence-assessment-dumb-bombs-israel-gaza/index.html
https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-bomb-campaign-gaza-hamas-war-defense-army/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/world/middleeast/us-criticizes-israel-for-indiscriminate-bombing-in-gaza.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/13/politics/intelligence-assessment-dumb-bombs-israel-gaza/index.html#:~:text=Nearly%20half%20of%20the%20air,a%20new%20US%20intelligence%20assessment.
Zionists claim that Israel does not target civilians, but there is plenty of evidence of this happening. They almost excuseively target civilians. The United States themselves who fears Israel has critisized them for indiscriminate bombing. Meaning that they are not careful about who they are targeting.
Its important to note that there are some jews who were part of the Nazi army, and supported the Nazis. The idea that Arabi Israelis existence changes whether or not its genocide are apartheid is simply a debate tactic used by zionists.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-jew-who-worked-for-the-nazis-and-hunted-down-refugees-in-wwii-greece/
https://www.brandeis.edu/jewish-experience/history-culture/2023/february/holocaust-jewish-courts.html
Some jews even participated in Nazi army.

With these facts in mind, most accept as common knowledge today that persons of Jewish descent were the most endangered people under Htler, and when considering the Nazi definition of who was a “full Jew,” they would be right. Yet, what many do not know is that probably several thousand Jews—and more than 150,000 “partial” Jews—served in the Wehrmacht, Germany’s military.

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/hitlers-jewish-soldiers/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-24-mn-12209-story.html
The michling were half jews, there were several that participated in the nazi party.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischling
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You can imagine a typical argument from nazis being "jews participated in the nazi army therefore it wasnt a genocide".
6- Claims that the muslims want to genocide all jews. First of all jews lived in the muslim lands for over 1000 years. They lived all over the muslim lands in various different countries. Sometimes there may have been issues between them but for the most part Zionists will try to exaggerate this to justfiy their own genocides.
For example Jews had a golden age of culture in islamic spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_Jewish_culture_in_Spain#:~:text=The%20golden%20age%20of%20Jewish,cultural%2C%20and%20economic%20life%20flourished.
SOme jews still live in the middle east today despite the fact that they could easily go live in Israel and take a palestenians home for free if they wanted, and get good benefits paid for by US tax payers.
In fact the Muslims were the ones who allowed the jews back into jerusalem. This is a fact that Zionists will never accept.
on page 71-72, The jewish historian gil Moshe, who wrote this history book in the 20th centruy says:
https://ia600703.us.archive.org/24/items/AHistoryOfPalestine/A%20History%20of%20Palestine.pdf
Similarly, his contemporary Salmon ben Yeru]:lim, in his Arabic commentary toPs. xxx: wrote' ... as we know, th**e temple remained in thehands of the Romans for more than 500 years and they did not succeed inenteringJerusalem; and anyone who did and was recognised [as a Jew] wasput to death. But when the Romans left it, by the mercy of the God ofIsrael, and the kingdom oflshmael was victorious, Israel was permitted tocome and to live ... '**72[84] Until now we have seen that the Karaite commentators confirmwhat we know from the Christian sources, that it was forbidden to Jews toenter Jerusalem, and they point out that the Muslims changed this situation when they captured the city. The author of the 'Mysteries of RabbiShimon Bar Yo}:lai' also writes: 'The second king who will rise fromIshmael [that is to say, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab] will be a lover oflsrael andwill repair their cracks and the cracks of the temple'. AJewish chronicle, afragment of which is preserved in the Cairo Geniza, also confirms that itwas 'Umar who gave permission to the Jews to settle in Jerusalem and onthe basis of his decision seventy Jewish families came from Tiberias andsettled there.
So the muslims are the ones who allowed the jews back into Jerusalem after 500 years of exile, if islams goal was to genocide all jews like the zionists claim, then they certainly wouldnt lift a ban on their entry into their most important city. You can read on all of the conflict between jews and christians, the romans and the jews. They were not treated well by them for a very long time. According to muslim historians from that period, the jews under roman occupation viewed the muslims as liberating them from the romans.
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7- I want to address the claim that israel is just defending themselves.
The first prime minster of Israel said :
“Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves … politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves… The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country. … Behind the terrorism [by the Arabs] is a movement, which though primitive is not devoid of idealism and self sacrifice.”
— David Ben Gurion. Quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky’s Fateful Triangle, which appears in Simha Flapan’s “Zionism and the Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938 speech.
“We must do everything to insure they (the Palestinians) never do return.”
David Ben-Gurion, in his diary, 18 July 1948, quoted in Michael Bar Zohar’s Ben-Gurion: the Armed Prophet, Prentice-Hall, 1967, p. 157.
“If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?”
David Ben-Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister): Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121.
Its clear that you cannot be a conquerer while being the victim defending yourself. Its not defense if you are conquering other people. If you look at the https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-and-non-jewish-population-of-israel-palestine-1517-present population growth of jews in Palestenine it grows because of the exlusion from europe. This caused conflict, and even though jews were only 30 percent of the population the united nations offered them over 60 percent of the land. Therefore the arabs declined because they were 68 percent of the population, so they thought it wasnt a fair deal to only recieve around 35 percent of the land. The zionists often use the rejection of "peace" as a way to depict Palestenians as savages who cant be dealt with. The reality is that the land they inhabited was going to be taken away from them, and it was a vast majority of the land. Not a fair or peaceful deal from their perspective. This is why people today often view Israel as merely an extension of british colonialism, because they were allied .

1. last thing I want to refute is the notion that Israelis are exclusively indegenous to the land. The reality is that Palestenians dna is indegenous to the land. It is very possible that some Palestenians ancestors may have been jews who converted to islam. There are many sources which confirm that Palestenian dna is not from saudi arabia like the Zionists claim. Therefore the claim that Zionists are exclusively indiegnous to the land is false.

https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/2015-10-20/ty-article/palestinians-and-jews-share-genetic-roots/0000017f-dc0e-df9c-a17f-fe1e57730000
https://www.juancole.com/2023/05/palestinians-indigenous-palestinian.html
https://www.shavei.org/blog/2016/06/05/palestinians-jewish-roots/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11543891/
9-Last thing I want to talk about is Israelis power over the united states. Users here try to claim that it has no power at all. First of all congress voted to censure tlaib and omar for being against israel.
https://apnews.com/article/congress-house-censure-resolution-tlaib-8085189047a4c40f2d44ada4604aa076
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/us/politics/ilhan-omar-genocide-jews-columbia.html
The fact that they all agreed to do this shows how powerful Israel is. We also see the govt making laws that would make it illegal to critisize Israel which breaks freedom of speech.,
Usa has given 300 billion in total to israel
https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
In 1997 and 1999, a survey was conducted for us govt members and it concluded that AIpac was the 2nd strongest lobby in the usa. In 2001 ir ranked fifth, this is very significant because this was during the war on terror. It means that these wars may have been influenced by the Israeli lobby.
https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/11/18/fortune.25/index1.html
https://inthesetimes.com/article/poll-aipac-losing-influence
https://merip.org/2007/06/the-israel-lobby-in-perspective/
There are other Israeli lobbys such as jstreetpac. Many candidates today recieve funding from one of the Israeli lobbys. Trump said that Israel used to own congress, which means that they were certainly viewed as powerful for a long time.

Here's my birth chart in a nutshell, I'm unable to complete my formal education because of poor mental health , and now I lack focus , I feel like I've hit the dead end . Will things change and I become financially independent sooner or later ?

A very peculiar title, i agree but the following extract from a long forgotten post and the reply to it in the now defunct Yahoo Varahamihira group.
The same is available here.
I copy paste the same.
PK [pkvirus99] Sunday, February 22, 2004 8:04 PMvarahamihira Subject: Sri Varaha Answers to Lesson-5 Assignments
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HARE RAMA KRISHNA*****************OM KRISHNA GURU***************OM NAMO NAARAAYANAAYAA**********************Respected Visti Guruji and other Gurujis and Dear Members!.....................................................................1. What is the meaning of the word Rajayoga? Explain with examples.Answer: Rajayoga is the conjuction or aspect of the planets which will rise the native to higher status in terms of fame or wealth or ruling powers. Rajayoga can be caused by planets in strenth. For example Tarus and Libra lagna Saturn is Yoga Karaka as Saturn being the lord of Kendra and Kona Simultaneous. If this yogakaraka saturn conjoins/aspects Hora Lagna, Gati Lagna and transfers its power to the Lagna Lord or Atmakara then the native will rise higher in the life. As per Sage Parasara, Rajyoga is caused by the relationship between Karakamsa Lagna and Janma Lagna or conjuction/aspect of Atma Karaka and Putra Karak etc. (Infact I have to study in detail about the the Raja Yoga, which I intended to do once I post the answers this Assignment which is basically dealing with Vipareeta Raja Yoga.)
[sanjay Rath:] A yoga that results in the association of the factors defining the self with the King (Raja) is called Rajayoga. Since the Sun is the natural King it should be strong. Similarly, combinations where the self associates with the renunciate (Saturn) is called Pravrajya yoga and for this Saturn shoud be strong.
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[sanjay Rath:] For Taurus lagna or Libra, Saturn in the 12th house causes Rajayoga while in strength in the 9th it can give pravrajya...be careful with Saturn and Rajayogas.
Apart from the benefic combinations as given above, even the conjuction of the lords of dusthana can cause Rajayoga under certain conditions. Such yoga is called Vipareeta Rajayoga as it is caused by the lords of dusthanas becoming week and distryoing each other causing good to the native. As the loss of somebody is gain of someother ones, when the dusthana lords are conjoin together they end up fighting with each other and ultimately they destroy each other and become week their loss is gained causing Vipareeta Raja Yoga. Vipareeta Rajayoga is caused due to any of the following combinations. Case A) When the lords of dusthanas conjoin in Dusthana. And also these lords become week by their dibility in Rasi/Navamsa. In this condition native will rise with the death/fall of the enemy. Case B) When the lords of the dusthanas conjoin in Kendra/Kona and strong by being exalted in Rasi/Navamsa. In this condition the planets causing VRY should aspect/conjoin Lagna Lord or Atmakaraka so that transfer of the takes place to the native. In this condition native will rise with the death/fall of the ally. Case C) Also Vipareeta Rajayoga is caused by the placement of debilitated/week and Yogakaraka Saturn in the dusthanas. This is due to the fact that Saturn is the significator of the Dusthanas and its placement in Dusthanas will destroy the dusthana affairs causing it very week. Case D) Also Vipareeta Rajayoga is caused by the placement of strong Malefics in 3rd / 6th houses from the Arudha Lagna. As the 3rd and 6th houses indicates the Parakrama and wars, placement of the malefic planets in this houses will give courage and victory over the enemy. As the placement of the malefics happen to be in Arudha Lagna which indicates what will rise in the material plane, native become a great victor in material life. Malefic planets place in the 3rd/6th house should be strong enough for the fructification of the Vipareeta Rajayoga of this kind. Case E) Also Vipareeta Rajayoga is caused by the placement of the benefic planets in 3rd / 6th house from the Arudha Lagana if they are very week. This is due to the reason that the placement of benefic planets in 3rd/6th house makes native of humble and spiritual natured and if these benefic planets happen to be very week they it gives the opposite rises the native in material world. In all the above mentioned condutions conjuction of the exalted planets and yogadas will confirm the Vipareeta Raja Yoga.
[sanjay Rath:] Good assessment.

1. What is the meaning of Pravrajya Yoga? Do illustrate.

Answer: Pravrajya Yoga is the combination of the planets which will make the native renounce all the materialistic comforts and live a saintly life. For example simultaneously aspect/conjuction of Saturn, Venus and Ketu on 4th house can cause a person renounce everything and lead the moksha marga.
[sanjay Rath:] Why 4th house? I think Saturn & Ketu in the 4th house will give TRUCKS and such large elephant kind of Vehicles.
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Similarly under certain combinations which can give Raja Yoga but the planets involved become too weak then they give the opposite results leading the person to renounce and such a yoga is called Vipareeta Pravarajya Yoga Vipareetha Pravarajya Yoga is caused by the placement of week malefic planets in the 3rd or 6th houses from the Arudha Lagna. As the Arudha Lagna indicates the status of the native as seen by the world (ie., matieral success), placement of Malefic planets in the 3rd and 6th from the Arudha Lagna give Parakrama to the native and Victory over the enemy. If these malefic planets happend to be very week then the opposite results are given i.e, it leads to the Vipareetha Pravrajya Yoga.
[sanjay Rath:] So you say that Viparita Pravrajya occurs when a native is defeated in battle and chased away from his kingdom. Having nothing else to do he becomes a Sadhu!!

1. Would you consider your own horoscope one of Rajyoga or Pravrajya Yoga, or is there too much confusion??Answer: Instead of my own horoscope I am taking the horoscope of one of my friends to identify the Rajayoga and/Pravrajya Yogas. Birth details are as following.

[sanjay Rath:] Why did you take the friends chart? So there was some confusion in own chart??
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Date of birth : 03rd of September, 1975. Time of birth : 05:00:00 AM (IST) Longitude : 78 E 50 Latitude : 13 N 50
As the lord of the 6th house Saturn and lord of the 4th House moon conjoin in in the 12th house satisfies the first rule Vipareetha Rajayoga. As the conjuction takes place in dusthana, the dusthana lords invoved should be ween by being in Debility in Rasi/Navamsa. As Moon is in its own rasi Cancer gains strength and hence Vipareeta Raja Yoga strength reduces a bit. As the Saturn owns the 7th from Lagna & Ghati Lagna placed in Hora langna qualifies as Yogada. As the presence of the yogada confirms the fructification of VRY native may gain wealth as the Hora Lagna is prominently involved. As per the Vipareetha Raja Yoga rules concerned with this dusthana lord conjuction in dusthana, native will rise with the death of enemy representing the planets involved in VRY. As Moon represents the people in the form of mother (maternal/patenrnal aunties etc.,)
[sanjay Rath:] Moon is mother , Venus rules aunts and Saturn representing the people in the forms of elder co-borns, may represent Vipareetha Rajayoga with the people inimical to the native in those forms represented by the Moon or Saturn.[sanjay Rath:] So what is happening? Is there Rajayoga or Pravrajayoga?? Is the person going to have position and status or renounce the world or do neither and live a normal life...be clear.

1. Case Study: Male born 4th September 1969 at 1:52':37" AM IST at Delhi, India. What happened to the native in his 5th year of age and how was Rahu dasa for him? Is there Vipareeta Rajyoga in this chart?Answer: Scenario 1: VRY due to conjuction of Dusthana Lords As per the rules of the Vipareeta Rajayoga, lords of the two evil houses coinjoin in the evil house. I.e., Lord of 3rd House Sun is coinjoined with the lord of the 6th house Ketu (Co-lord of Scorpio) in 3rd house. This satisfies the first rule of the VRY that the lords of the evil houses should conjoin. Also as these two conjoin in a evil house (3rd house) it partially satisfies the 2nd rule of the VRY. As per the second rule of the VRY if the dusthana houses lord conjoin in another dusthana, they need to be week by their placement in debility either in Rasi/Navamsa. As sun being in his own Rasi (Simha Rasi) that too in simha upto first 20 degrees happens to be moola trikona Sun is strong. One can consider the decrease in strength of the Sun by its placement in Virgo. (Sun considers Mercury as its enemy) Hence one can consider that Sun has reduced its strength to some extent but still it is not very week. Also Ketu being placed in Dhanur Rasi in Navamsa makes it strong. Hence second half of the 2nd rule of the Vipareeta Raja Yoga is not satisfied then VRY is not very strong and hence will function only for short duration if at all it can fructify. But the absence of Yogadas or absence of any debilitated conjuction with Sun and Ketu rules makes VRY further week hence one can rule out the VRY due to this combition. Saturn being placed in Hora Lagna and 7th from Ghati Lagna. Also Saturn aspects the Lagna and Ghati Lagna with Graha Dristi. Can we consider Saturn as Yogada due to these reasons? Ofcourse Saturn neither owns Hora Lagna/Ghati Lagna nor owns 7th from any of these. If so then I am sure that VRY will function during the Dasa of Sun/Ketu and Antar Dasa of Saturn, or during the Dasa of Saturn and Antardasa of Saturn/Ketu. Hence plece clarify whether Saturn can be given the status similar to Yogada.?

[sanjay Rath:] No, it has nothing to do with the lagna. The person may associate with powerful people as GL & HL associate with 9th lord but the lagnesh/lagna is away from all this and busy reading with Jupiter. So what do you think happened?
Scenario 2: VRY due to the placement of Malefics in 3rd or 6th from Arudha Lagna As per this Vipareeta Raja Yoga rule the placement of strong Malefic(s) in 3rd or 6th from the Arudha Lagna confers the Raja Yoga in the reverse form i.e., Vipareeta Raja Yoga, as Arudha Lagna represents everything about the person in the Materialistic Plane, placement of Malefics in 3rd / 6th House from Arudha pada makes native successful in the Materialistic place as these it boosts the Paraakrama of the native if placed in 3rd from AL and victory against enemies if placed in 6th from AL. As Rahu is placed in the 6th house from Arudha Lagna satisfies the first of of this Vipareeta Raja Yoga condition, also Rahu being placed in his own Rasi (Kumbha Rasi) and as being conjoined with Moon in Navamsa makes it strong hence satisfies the second half condition of the Vipareeta Raja Yoga. Also Mars is placed in the 3rd house from Arudha Lagna in his own Rasi Scorpio gives combination for the Vipareeta Rajayoga. Out of the two Vipareeta Raja Yoga formed, Rahu is more strong as Rahu aspects Hora lagna & Ghati Lagna by Rasi Drishti and Lagna and Ghati Lagna with Graha Dristi. As the influence of the Rahu on the Ghati Lagna is more prominent will give the ruling powers/fame to the native during the Dasas of Rahu (?). (Similar results are shown even during Mars dasas/antar dasas). Rahu Dasa and Mars Antardasa or vice versa can give powerful Vipareet Rajayoga Results. Hence Vimsottari dasa period between 20th of February 1973 and 17th of April 1973 can give powerful VRY due to Mars Dasa and Rahu Antardasa. NOTE: I STILL DO NOT KNOW HOW THE VRY FUNCIONED DURING RAHU DASA.
\[sanjay Rath:] From AL, Rahu is in the 6th house in exalted navamsa so it shows that some kind of a destruction is taking place. Now Rahu is the 9th lord and is aspecting the Sun..like an eclipse. Rahu is in marana karaka sthana and is highly inimical to Mercury and Jupiter in AL. Further under pachakadi sambandha, planets placed in the 6th from Jupiter will be destroyed by Jupiter. So, Rahu acts like a destroyed planet both from lagna and AL, even though it is in strength. Thus although there was fortune around, he got nothing of it and for 18 years lived a miserable life in a tiny room although, technically he owned lots of property. When Jupiter dasa came, he got this roperty and sudenly hia AL shot up, he had new car, big house..almost like a fort in Delhi etc. The inheritance came through.
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Sun is in the 12th from AL indicating loss of father or serious differences with father. Father died in 5th year in the first Pitri shoola dasa of Leo. Examine this in detail now.5. Case study: Male born 5th January 1934 at 10:17' AM IST at Allahabad, India. His chart is given below. Is there VRY in this chart? If so, when and how shall it function. If not, why not? He became a Cabinet Minister with the advent of Jupiter dasa. How did Jupiter in the 8th house give such excellent results?Answer: NOTE: I did not get Makara Navamsa Lagna for the time of birth 10:17 am IST. Instead time 9:55 am IST gives the Navamsa lagna has given in the document. Hence I took time as 09:55 am IST as the birth time to bring the Navamsa in synchronization with the one that is given in the assignment. As 12th house lord Sanidev and 3rd house lord Mangal conjoin in the 12th house i.e., dusthana lords conjoin in dusthana qualifies the first rule of Vipareeta Raja Yoga. For such combination planets in such conjuction should be week by being debilitated either in Rasi or Navamsa. As Mars is placed in its exaltation rasi and also Saturn is placed in its rasi which gives it strength hence second condition for that VRY that the planets in VRY combination need to be weak is not met. Hence Vipareeta Rajayoga is not present but native will surely rise high in life due to the conjuction of dusthana lord in dusthana. I do not know the reason behind why the native become cabinet minister during Jupiter Dasa. But when we consider the Arudha Lagna, Sun and Merucry are placed in the Arudha Lagna. Sun being a royal planet gives the native ruling powers also Jupiter is placed in 10th from Arudha Lagna, could this be the reason why the native become the cabinet minister during the Jupiter Dasa (?)
[sanjay Rath:] See the parivartana yoga between Jupiter and Mercury concerning 10th & lagna lords from AL. So realise the importance of Arudha lagna in all his Rajayoga etc inthis world of maya.

1. Case study: Female born on 23 January 1950, 6:15' AM IST 77E26, 28N40 Ghaziabad, India. Is there VRY in this chart? Is widowhood indicated? If so, then at what age can it be expected and how would her spouse pass away? Hint: Her husband was a top politician in India.Answer: As 3rd house co-lord Rahu conjoins with 8th house lord Moon in the Kendra satisfies the first condition of the VRY. As per the second condition, these planets need to be strong in Rasi/Navamsa and should transfer its power to Lagna/Lagna Lord / Atma Karaka. Rahu is exalted in Saggitarius Rasi in Navamsa while Moon being in 4th has directional strength and hence strong. As both Moon and Rahu aspects Lagna and AtmaKaraka placed in Lagna with Rasi drishti indicats the transfer of VRY powers by the Dusthana Lords to native. As the Mercury is the lord of the 7th house indicates the husband. As Strong dusthana lords aspecting both 7th house Gemini and its lord Mercury placed in Lagna indicates the High status(?). As the 2nd from the UL is occupied by the Saturn a malefic planet hence indicates the seperation from Husband. (?) As the sthira karaka for the husband is jupiter indicates the death of the husband. As jupiter is debilitated in Makara Rasi moreover being placed with Functional malefic Venus (owner of 6th and 11th house) hence may indicate the troubles during Venus Dasa and Pratyantardasa(?). Widow hood can be expected during the Venus dasa starting from November, 1990. As per the rule if the Vipareetha Rajayoga takes place by the placement of Dusthana lords in Kendra, Native can attain the power with the ally/friend/relative. Hence once can expect the fructification of the Vipareetha Rajaya with the death of her husband. As the Lagna Lord Jupiter is not too strong and the presence of clear Yogadas in the chart indicates Vipareeta Rajaya but of a little lesser state. NOTE: NEED TO LEARN THE CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF HUSBAND.

[sanjay Rath:] Very very good. You got the Venus very correctly..so can it be vehicle accident..see Venus.

1. Case study: Male born:19 December 1954 at 00:20' AM at Delhi, India. Is there VRY? What happened with the advent of Saturn Dasa.Answer: 12th Lord Sun and 6th co-lord Rahu being placed in Kendra in 4th house satisfies the first condition of the Vipareeta Rajayoga. For such combinations, lords involved need to be strong for the fructification of the Vipareeta Raja Yoga. Rahu is strong by being placed in its exaltation Rasi in Saggitarius. Sun is also strong by being placed in its Exaltation Rasi in Navamsa. Mars being the lord of 7th from Hora Lagna aspecting Ghatika Lagna with Rasi Drishti and Hora Lagna and Laga with graha drishti (4th and 8th aspects respectively). Hence the presence of Yogada confirms the fructification of the VRY. Moreover the aspect of Exalted Saturn on Rahu and Sun confirms the Fructification of the Vipareetha Raja Yoga. Moreover Jupiter is also exalted in Cancer Sign in 11th house. Hence native can rise in the life during the Rahu/Sun dasas and antardas. As per the rule of the VRY of this kind native gain with the death of allry/friend. As Sun represents father and Rahu represents the Maternal Grand parents, native may gain the powers due to the death of fathepaternal grand parents. Also the graha drishti of exalted Saturn on the VRY combination also give the Raja Yoga durings its Dasa and Antardasas. As Saturn being the lord of the 5th house indicating fan following and 4th being the house indicating politics is it the native rose high in the politics with the advent of Saturn Dasa (?).

[sanjay Rath:] No this is totally wrong. Try again and THINK. Be very careful with Saturn..

If you have followed Lawrence's filmography since 2011, he has acted only in a handful of films. 4 of them, Kanchana 1, 2, 3 and Shivalinga is the usual Lawrence horror template. Less said about MSKS, the better. Rudhran was another disaster while chandramukhi 2 failed to match the original. In all these films his acting can be summarised as being either formulaic or over the top, especially in Rudhran and MSKS.
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Fast forwards to late 2022, when it was announced that he will be portraying a role in KS's next project. Naturally, I was not too keen on this based on his previous works. Later, Lokesh says in an interview that he considered Lawrence for the role played by VJS in Vikram. Now after watching Double X, I understand why.
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Double X has the added burden of being a sequel to JigarThanda (2014), and Lawrence was playing a role similar to what Simha did then, a role which was widely and critically appreciated in Part 1. You know what your getting from SJS, he is a fantastic actor and totally justified his portions in the film with a stellar performance. Lawrence remained the wildcard, whose act has to match that of SJS.
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When I entered the hall, I didnt have much expectations. But at the end of the 170 minute joyride, I just want to give a big salute to KS for bringing out the performer in Lawrence. An actor who can act in a variety of emotions, be it angry, sad, emotional, depressed or revolting, all in 1 movie. This was a stark contrast to his earlier projects. While the first half of the film showed the brash and energetic side of the character, The second half totally flips over and shows the character as one that is grounded, understanding and revolting.
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The dialogues were especially good and Lawrence's emoting was insane, especially in the portions leading up to the pre climax and climax portions. That was the mark of a great actor. And dare i say, Lawrence overshadowed SJS in this movie. The best part of the movie was the way in which each character was written. The character arcs are so beautifully established and shows the transformation they undergo throughout the course of the movie.
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At this point, I also want to mention this was a perfect way to get audiences invested in the emotional aspect of the film, the emotional core was well written and really drew us in, unlike what Shankar tried to do in 2.0, both being on the same theme. This was really really good.
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There is a great actor inside Lawrence and he brought it out fully in Double X. I sincerely hope other directors take note of this and utilise him well in the future instead of giving him template roles like rudhran or C2. Double X was an amazing film and it will rank among the top films I have watched this year. while the setting is similar to part 1, the story of part 2 drew me in more. A solid 10/10 from me.

This happened when I was 7 years old. A little backstory
At the time I, (7f), had recently moved with my mother and younger brother (5) to our new home in Fairmont, WV so she could be closer to her new boyfriend. Anyways, I had brought the cat I had basically rasied from a kitten (Her name was Tigress) on the move with me.
Tigress was a black tortie with heterochromia, which is a conditoon that doesn't cause harm to anmials or people, but makes their eyes two different colors, for instance, Tigress had one baby blue eye and one caramel brown eye. I had Tigress harness and leash trained, as she was an ESA for me due to my horrible anxitey.
One day, I had decided I wanted some candy and Tigress also needed a walk, so I got her in the harness, as well as my allowance and we walked to the dollar store down the road. I got myself a bag of fun size chocolate bars and a canister of that good green slime that Hasbro used to make before the new gen started to eat it.
On the way back up the hill to my house, our neighbor, Karen (Honestly, this happened when I was 7, so i don't actually remember her name lol), was waiting for me to come up the hill. She stopped me and this is the following convo that ensued.
EK: Oh your cat is so pretty! Can I pet her?
ME: Uh no. The doctor told me that she isn't supposed to be petted by strangers. She's my ESA.
EK: Don't you dare speak to your elders that way, little missy! I can pet the damned cat if I want to and there is nothing you can do about it!
Of course, this caused me to get anxious and Tigress, being a trained ESA picked up on this and began to growl at the lady in order to prevent me from having an anxiety attack in the street.
Karen began to scream and ran inside as i managed to calm down and i picked Tigress up and we went home where i splurged on my newly bought and halfway metled chocolate bars.
A few days pass, when I decide I wanted to go get a certain toy i had seen at the dollar store and my mom let me, knowing that Karen was still after my cat, she gave me pepper spray at 7 years old. (Now that i look back on this, i call my mother out for being stupid here. What the hell is a seven year old going to do with pepper spray?)
Anyways, I am walking back, this time with Tigress on high alert for danger, when Karen comes over to us again. Mind you, I was now kinda afraid of this crazy lady.
EK: I want that cat now, Kid! I could treat her so much better than you are right now, with the poor baby on that awful thing!
ME: No, she is an ESA, and is keeping me calm. The harness and leash do not hurt her.
EK: I don't give a flying fuck, you little bitch, i want her and if you don't give her to me now, i will get her euthanized!
Obviously, she scared me and i began to sob, causing Tigress to pull me by the leash closer to her and curl against my legs to try and calm me. My other neighbors seen it and the father of my older best friend (9f) came over in a rage.
BFD: leave the kid alone you old bitch! She is not giving you a service animal all because you want her! Go back inside and leave (Me) alone!
EK: How dare you defend that brat! She is obviously hurting that innocent creature and if I cannot take her to protect her then putting her down would be best.
By this time, i am in a full blown anxiety attack and sit down, as Tigress begins to lick my face to try and help, as well as loud meowing to alert my mom and anyone else in the area.
My 9f friend raced to get her Nana and my mom who both came running over to the scene. My friends Nana got Tigress and took her and my friend home while my mom basically ripped this Karen a new one once she realized what happened.
M: Leave my daughter the fuck alone you bitch! Tigress is her ESA and is not for adoption! MY daughter has anxiety, go crawl back into your hole!
EK: Oh so you go along with the lies that "Anxiety" is a real medical condition? It isn't honey, docs these days just say that so they can force meds on you.
M: My daughter is not medicated because of Tigress. Leave her the hell alone or i will call the fucking police on you!
After that day, Karen left me alone when i went to the store and such with Tigress. Sadly, when I was 9 I had to say goodbye to my beloved kitty. She had a cancerous mass in her abdomen and had to be put down. I had thought this was the end of Karen, but i was wrong.
A few days ago, i recieved a text from a person on FB that i didn't know. She was asking about my cat. this is the following convo.
UP: Hi, do you still have your cat?
ME: Uh, i have two now, Billy, my disabled cat, and my kitten Princess.
UP: Oh no, sorry. i am talking about this cat. *sends photo of Tigress from 2009*
ME: Oh no, i am so sorry. That is my former Emotional Support Cat, Tigress. She passed away in 2011.
UP: No she didn't!
ME: She did. I went through the pain of losing her at 9 years old.
The person quits talking to me after that, but two days after our conversation, she tagged me in a post. The post read something like this:
This spolied bitch won't give my DYING grandma her cat because she claims her cat has already passed away from "Cancer" when she was 9. The cat is still alive, photos of the cat are even on her facebook page! All i wanted was to give my Grandma the cat she wanted, but no the spolied bitch (my FB name) had to fucking ruin her happiness! \Post has photos of me and Tigress when she was a Kitten and the night she passed away**
Obviously i DMed her back and ripped her a new one, as the timestamps on the photos are between 2008 and 2011. She told me to stop lying and being an asshole, and give her Grandma, the woman who basically stalked me for a year, the cat that had already passed away from cancer. I told the girl to fuck off and leave me alone, as this hurt me on a new level, as i miss Tigress deeply and no cat can ever replace her spot in my soul.
So, AITA here?

I’ve been told there are some formatting issues with this in the Reddit App. If you see a wall of text try the mobile site or desktop site.   The 1980 explosion aboard Itavia Flight 870 remains one of the deadliest unsolved aviation incidents and unsolved mass murders in modern history. Decades of investigation highlighted an unstable political situation, allegations of a military cover up, rumors of a failed assassination attempt, and an ongoing secret war… but no culprit.   A Routine Flight   On June 27th 1980 at 20:08 CEST, Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870, departed Guglielmo Marconi Airport in Bologna, Italy for a routine flight to Palermo’s Punta Rasi Airport. The aircraft, an American built McDonnell Douglass DC-9, departed an hour and 53 minutes behind schedule. The aircraft maintained regular contact with air traffic control. Aside from some ground based navigation beacons not working properly, there was no indication of any problem during the flight.   At 20:37 the plane was instructed by air traffic control to contact them again once they were ready to begin their approach for landing. The pilots acknowledged this instruction. This would be the last transmission from Itavia 870. Radar contact with the aircraft was abruptly lost near the island of Ustica, about 120 kilometres (70 mi) southwest of Naples at 20:59.   A subsequent search of the area found floating wreckage and bodies. All 81 people aboard had been killed.   The event would become known in Italy as the Ustica Massacre.   The Investigation Begins   Italy, unlike many industrialized nations, at the time had no independent body responsible for the investigation of air accidents. This was contrary to established international standards which dictated that major accidents should be investigated by an independent authority of aviation experts such as the American National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Board (AAIB.)   Instead a collection of prosecutors, Italian civil regulatory agencies, and the Italian military all launched their own investigations into the accident. Many of those working on these investigations had little to no experience in investigating plane crashes.   The first of these investigations was launched by the Italian Ministry of Transport, led by Minister Rino Formica.   The lack of any emergency communication from the aircraft coupled with the discovery of a large debris field led investigators to conclude that the aircraft had disintegrated in flight. Such a disintegration would have been caused by a collision, explosion, or structural failure within the aircraft.   Hindered by the lack of physical evidence, this investigation would eventually conclude that poor maintenance had caused fatigue cracks in the plane which ultimately resulted in the inflight breakup.   Italian prosecutors were not satisfied with the conclusion of this investigation. Multiple criminal inquiries were opened but little progress was made. After all, most of the evidence had sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.   What little could be recovered pointed to a concerning possibility. Traces of explosive residue were found on floating pieces of the plane. Were the passengers of Itavia 870 victims of a terrorist bombing?   Anni Di Piombo   The 1970s-1980s were a violent time in Italy. The era came to be referred to as Anni Di Piombo or the Years of Lead. These decades were marred by violent clashes between the Italian government, right wing extremists, and communist militants. Between 1968 and 1988, 428 people were killed in a series of assassinations, bombings, and gang attacks as rival groups competed for control of the country.   Just two months after the loss of Itavia 870, a bomb exploded at the Bologna Centrale Railway Station killing 85 and injuring 200 more. Members of the right-wing Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari or NAR were tried and convicted for this attack yet the group denied responsibility.   Italy had also been a victim of international terrorist acts during the same era. In 1973, a group of Palestinian gunmen stormed the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome. One aircraft was destroyed on the ground by a bomb and second was hijacked and flown to Kuwait. 34 people were killed in this attack.   It seemed likely that the loss of Itavia 870 could have been another attack by one of Italy’s many extremist groups or an international terror organization.   While investigators worked to piece together scattered evidence, Andrea Purgatori, a reporter for Italian Newspaper Corriere Della Sera, received an anonymous tip from someone claiming to have ties to the investigation. The shocking claim made headlines around Italy and the world. Itavia 870 was brought down not by a bomb, but by a missile.   A Secret War   Outside of the unstable political situation in Italy, the 1980s had also seen the greater Mediterranean area turn into a hot bed for Cold War conflict. Tensions between NATO forces and Soviet backed Libya, led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, were running high. Libya had been declared a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States in 1979 due to the country’s ties to various terrorist groups throughout the world. This led to a substantial buildup of NATO and Libyan forces in the Mediterranean Sea and light skirmishes between the rival powers were not rare.   During this time, it was common practice for Libyan fighter jets to shadow passenger aircraft in order to evade radar detection as they crossed the sea to receive maintenance in friendly Eastern Bloc nations. Italy, it was alleged, turned a blind eye to this practice due to the economic ties it maintained with Libya. The new theory, put forward by the Italian media proposed that a Libyan jet was shadowing Itavia 870. This jet was engaged by NATO fighters and the Itavia DC-9 was caught in the crossfire.   This theory gained a significant boost when on July 18th, just 20 days after the loss of flight 870, the wreckage of a Libyan MiG-23MS and the body of its dead pilot, a Syrian named Ezzedin Koal, were found in Southern Italy at Mount Sila. This seemed to prove what many in the media had already been speculating, that Libyan jets were operating in Italian airspace and engaged in combat with NATO aircraft.   However, the official report on the Libyan crash concluded that the jet was unarmed and had no external fuel tanks, standard equipment if the jet was engaged in combat patrols or being ferried to the Eastern Bloc. The Italian authorities concluded that the pilot of the Libyan jet had suffered a heart attack during a training mission and the aircraft had subsequently crashed. Libyan authorities agreed, to some extent, with their conclusion stating that the pilot had been issued an ill fitting oxygen mask which likely caused him to lose consciousness and crash. Despite the official explanations, some military eyewitnesses claimed that the MiG showed signs of damage from gunfire. As a result, the exact circumstances surrounding the crashed Libyan plane remain a considerable source of controversy to this day.   A Failed Assassination   An alternative theory mentioned in several official reports and promoted by some Italian politicians, including former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, states that Itavia 870 was shot down in a case of mistaken identity during a failed assassination attempt of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.   According to the theory, Gaddafi departed Libya in his personal jet but was warned of the assassination attempt and landed safely in Malta. NATO jets, said to be of American or French origin, then mistakenly shot down Itavia 870 instead due to its outwardly similar appearance to Gaddafi’s plane and its location near where he was expected to be flying.   Gaddafi’s government began to promote the idea that a NATO plane shot down Itavia 870 after their own investigation in 1989. In 2003, during a speech honoring the 34th anniversary of his rise to power, Gaddafi himself said that he subscribed to the assassination theory stating “The Americans were sure that I was on board that plane and that's why they shot it down.”   A document supporting American or French involvement in the tragedy from the Libyan intelligence service was said to have been passed to Human Rights Watch during the 2011 Libyan Civil War. I was unable to find this document online but found a handful of references to it.   There are countless other conspiracy theories regarding this unknown missile ranging from British Special Forces locating the crash site and killing survivors to silence them, rumors that there was a clandestine move to silence a reporter who was a passenger on the plane, rumors of mafia involvement, and even a theory put forward by author and former Mossad case officer Victor Ostrocsky which stated that the Itavia flight was shot down by Israeli jets believing it to be carrying uranium to Iran.   Rampant speculation on the part of the media, politicians, and some investigators was beginning to overshadow the investigation into Ustica Massacre.   An Alleged Coverup   To make matters worse, it was starting to appear as if the Italian Military was deliberately obstructing the investigation. Several key records from the time of the accident at various radar stations were missing. One radar log appeared to have had a page carefully removed. Several tapes of radar activity also went missing when prosecutors tried to find them. Military officials maintained that there was nothing suspicious about the missing records and claimed that some of them weren’t even for the day of the flight in question but this explanation did not satisfy investigators.   Suspicion began to build that the military knew more than it was letting on, with some sources claiming that Italian fighter jets were ready to begin the search for the missing aircraft almost immediately after the crash, and a military training aircraft operating in the area of the crash had raised a general emergency alarm before the time of the incident. Although it was not unusual for aircraft to raise such an alarm on missions in the area, media sources seemed to believe that this was too close a time match to be a mere coincidence.   There was also much speculation on the role of the US Navy in the disaster. Of particular interest to investigators was the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga which was stationed in the Mediterranean in 1980. Involvement in the crash by the USS Saratoga was disproven however in 1993 when investigators requested copies of marriage certificates and wedding photos of couples married in Naples on June 27th 1980. The photos clearly showed the Saratoga docked in the Naples harbor, not conducting flight operations.   Italian investigators also noted a number of “suspicious” deaths and other accidents befalling military personnel believed to be close to the Itavia 870 investigation. Such incidents were investigated by Judge Rosario Priore in connection with his inquiry into the Ustica Massacre.   These included suicides such as that of Alberto Dèttori, the radar non-commissioned officer, employed in the Poggio Ballone radar station, who was found to have hung himself on duty in 1987. Another officer on duty in a radar station, Marshal Franco Parisi was found hanged in 1995 after he was summoned to re-appear in court regarding issues with his testimony on the crash. Judge Priore would write in his report that even if evidence of homicide was not found, it was clear their deaths were related to the crash, even it that just meant they couldn’t live with the knowledge of what had happened.   Colonels Mario Naldini and Ivo Nutarelli, the two pilots of the aircraft which raised the aforementioned general alarm, were killed in a crash during the Ramstein Airshow in 1988 which killed 68 others. Judge Priore investigated this accident as well looking for connections to the Itavia investigation but concluded the air show accident would have been nearly impossible to stage.   General Roberto Boemio, who investigators believed could give them valuable testimony was found murdered in Brussels in 1993. His murder remains officially unsolved.   In total, twelve deaths and other accidents were investigated for the victim’s potential ties to the Ustica Massacre. Ultimately there was no conclusive evidence that any of the people involved were silenced by some shadowy conspiracy. Judge Priore believed that aside from the suicides of the radar operators, most of the accidents and deaths were coincidental.   While speculation around the circumstances of the crash and a potential military coverup swirled and captured the imagination of the public, pressure was mounting against the Italian government to release an official report on the cause of the accident.   Secrets of the Deep   It wasn’t until 1987, 7 years after the accident, that any meaningful amount of physical evidence was recovered. Under immense public pressure, the Italian government contracted with a French salvage company to recover the wreckage of the DC-9 from the bottom of the sea. Operators eventually located the plane at a depth of 3,700 meters and spread across three main concentrated areas.   The wreckage was recovered and brought to an empty hanger at a military base in Rome where it was painstakingly reassembled by engineers working for Alitalia, Italy’s largest airline.   Italian investigators working as part of the Blasi Commission noted explosive residue and bits of shrapnel embedded in seat cushions and the bodies of passengers which once again pointed to an explosion aboard or near the aircraft.   Ultimately, investigators were unable to agree on the origin of the explosion with evidence in favor of either a missile or a bomb. The report released by this commission simply concluded that an explosion of unknown origin brought down the Itavia flight.   By 1990, yet another investigation was launched into the crash. Unlike the previous four investigations started by the Italian government, this time an international committee of expert aviation accident investigators was brought in as part of a “technical commission” serving under Judge Rosario Priore.   In an unusual move (in terms of air accident investigation) the commission was told that their investigation would form the basis of a criminal indictment against parties believed to either be responsible for the accident or who withheld evidence and obstructed the prior investigations, most notably members of the Italian Military.   The technical commission took on the task of re-examining the available evidence to answer the most important question surrounding the Ustica Massacre. What brought down flight 870, a bomb or a missile?   The Blasi Commission Evidence   Investigators gave serious consideration to the possibility that Itavia 870 was shot down. In fact, there was considerable evidence, albeit circumstantial, supporting a missile strike.   Radar records taken from a number of sources seemed to show very brief blips of objects approaching Itavia 870 at a high rate of speed coming from the west. According to NTSB investigator John Macidull, who examined the radar records for signs of other aircraft, approaching from the angle of the setting sun is a common fighter pilot tactic that allows the pilot to camouflage their approach to an enemy.   The cockpit voice recorder revealed part of what were believed to be the last words of the pilot. “Gua-“ believed to be the first syllable of the word “Guardare,” the Italian word for “look.” The voice recording is difficult to work out due to electronic noise introduced on to the recording when the aircraft broke apart. Did the pilot see something approaching the plane?   The reconstructed wreckage of Itavia 870 appeared to have a large hole near the rear of the plane that didn’t match the damage pattern of the area surrounding it. Investigators believed this was the entry hole where the missile struck the aircraft.   Some metal fragments imbedded in the seat found by investigators were believed to not match any material found on the plane.   Fragments originating at the front of the aircraft were found imbedded in the rear of the aircraft. This, investigators said, was consistent with an explosion outside of the aircraft which would force pieces towards the back.   A discarded external fuel tank common to many American made fighter aircraft was located within the Itavia 870 wreckage field. The fuel tank showed signs of red paint similar to that of Itavia aircraft.   The Technical Commission’s Report   Technical commission investigator Frank Taylor, a veteran air crash investigator from the UK’s AAIB, found that the previous Blasi Commission hadn’t recovered enough of the aircraft to make any sound judgement on the cause of the accident. Using a computer program he had helped develop during the investigation of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103, he produced a more accurate map of the debris field. By 1992 a second series of salvage efforts recovered more than 96% of the aircraft.   With more of the aircraft recovered, Frank Taylor’s team set about examining the wreckage and other records of the flight. Their findings began to cast doubt on the missile strike scenario beginning with the electronic records of the crash.   The radar records which appeared to show objects approaching the aircraft could be explained as pieces from Itavia 870 after it broke up in flight. Other unknown blips on the radar could have simply been random noise. While the Blasi commission calculated that the radar returns being just random noise was highly unlikely, Taylor’s team also noted that the chance of approaching fighter aircraft creating such a small radar return would be equally unlikely. Aa a result the radar evidence was deemed inconclusive.   Listening to the cockpit voice recording in which the pilot says “look,” investigators concluded this could have been about anything, not necessarily an approaching fighter jet or missile.   The team concluded of the electronic evidence that although circumstantially they could point to a missile strike, this on its own did not prove that Itavia 870 was shot down. But what about the physical evidence?   Of considerable interest to the team was the hole in the aircraft alleged to be the entry point of the missile. It was determined, using markings written on the back of the aircraft’s skin during construction, that these fragments had been misplaced by the team who reconstructed the wreckage. The small parts we’re actually from the front of the plane which had suffered considerable damage from being the first to hit the sea. Moreover, the team found no evidence of an “exit wound” that would point to a missile that had passed through the aircraft.   The team also examined the foreign chunks of metal imbedded in the aircraft. The Blasi investigation had declared that these pieces did not match any known part of the DC-9, however, there indeed was a material match in the landing gear wells.   With regards to the pieces from the front of the aircraft found embedded in the rear, the team found that this was not necessarily evidence of a missile and could have been a result of the aircraft hitting the water nose first at high speed which would cause some pieces to be thrown backwards.   The team also examined the military fuel tank with red paint transfer found in the area of the wreck. While it was indeed a tank from an American made military aircraft it was a very common tank that could have come from countless flights from any nation flying American jets. It would be impossible to trace the origin. It was also found that the red paint found on the tank did not match the paint from the DC-9, thus ruling out a collision with a piece of the aircraft.   In the end, with this new reconstruction of the crash produced by the technical commission, there were no unexplainable radar tracks, no entry points for a missile, no exit wound for a missile that passed completely through the aircraft, no evidence of a collision, and no unexplained foreign material.   In 1994, a series of tests were conducted by the Defense Research Energy laboratory in the UK. This included the detonation of a bomb in a DC-9 lavatory. The resulting damage was described as nearly identical to the recovered wreckage of the aircraft.   The technical commission report stated that the only conclusion supported by scientific evidence was a bomb placed aboard the aircraft in the rear toilet.   The technical commission presented their findings to Judge Rosario Priore. They were prepared to answer questions about their work and findings.   Priore dismissed the findings of the technical commission as useless. No additional questions were asked and the team was not given an opportunity to defend their work. Judge Priore decided not to publish the technical commission report as part of the investigation. It appeared that the Italian investigators had made up their minds. Itavia 870 was brought down by a missile and nothing could convince them otherwise.   Taylor went on to defend his team’s findings and publish details of the investigation in aviation journals. In 2014 during an interview for Canadian Documentary Series Air Crash Investigation Taylor stated “We discovered quite clearly that somebody had planted a bomb there, but nobody on the legal side, it would appear, believed us and therefore, so far as we are aware, there has been no proper search for who did it, why they did it, or anything else. As an engineer and an investigator I cannot see why anybody would want to consider anything other than the truth.”   Taylor’s findings were criticized by the Italian Judiciary and press for not providing a complete explanation of the damage to the plane. According to some articles, Taylor’s findings did not show evidence of explosive traces in the lavatory and failed to account for parts of the toilet that were found undamaged as well as the lack of damage to some windows on the plane. Taylor and the rest of the expert team continued to defend their work for years after the conclusion of their investigation.   The Trials   In the wake of the technical commission report and it’s subsequent dismissal, the investigation appeared to have reached a dead end. Prosecutors attempted to move forward in court with what little they had.   Several Italian Air Force officers were tried and some convicted for a number of alleged offences, including falsification of documents, perjury, abuse of office and aiding and abetting. Four Italian Generals were charged with high treason for their alleged role in the accident and suspected coverup.   In 2004, two of the generals, Corrado Melillo and Zeno Tascio, were found not guilty. Other allegations could not be pursued as the 15 year statute of limitations had expired. Generals Lamberto Bartolucci and Franco Ferri remained suspected of treason until 2005 when an appeals court ruled that there was no evidence supporting the charges. This ruling was upheld in 2007 by the Italian Supreme Court.   In September of 2011, a Palermo civil tribunal ordered the Italian Government to pay €100 million ($137 million) in damages to the families of the victims of The Ustica Massacre for failing to protect the plane, concealing the truth about the accident, and destroying evidence. This ruling was upheld by the Italian Supreme Court in 2013 who stated that there was “abundantly clear evidence” that the flight was brought down by a missile.   Il Muro Di Gomma   In Italy, the investigation into the Ustica Massacre, particularly the lack of cooperation from Italian officials has been described as “il muro di gomma” or “the rubber wall.” Questions about the accident seemed to just bounce off unanswered. The Italian Judiciary, and much of the Italian public, seems convinced, though a wealth of circumstantial evidence and suspicious military actions, that a missile of some unknown origin brought down Itavia 870.   For Frank Taylor and his team, the Itavia 870 investigation represents what happens when “reasonable assumptions” are confused with “absolute facts.” Taylor wrote in his article on the accident that “A very important lesson to be learned by all investigators is that one must continuously reassess evidence with a completely open mind. We as humans are all open to suggestion and thus, without being aware of the influences upon us, may otherwise reject a new idea with no proper justification.”   In either case, bomb or missile, the true perpetrator of The Ustica Massacre remains unknown after 41 years.   A Lasting Legacy   The circumstances behind the Ustica Massacre remain a considerable source of controversy and conspiracy among the Italian public to this day. One can find any number of articles and conspiracy blogs promoting one theory or another.   In 1999, the Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo or ANSV was formed as Italy’s official investigative body for air accidents, removing responsibility for such investigations from civil prosecutors and regulators. Since it’s formation, the ANSV has investigated a number of accidents in Italy, but no other airline bombings.   In 2006 the wreckage of Itavia Flight 870 was released from evidence and transported from Rome to Bologna to become a permanent memorial to the 81 victims of the Ustica Massacre. In a quiet hanger part of the Bologna Museum of Memory, sits the reassembled wreckage of the Itavia DC-9. 81 pulsing lamps have been placed above the plane. 81 black mirrors with integrated loudspeakers repeat quiet messages, each describing a typical thought or worry for a passenger aboard a fight.     Further Reading   English Wikipedia Article on Itavia 870   Italian Wikipedia Article with much more information on the investigation and controversy. Includes a number of links to contemporary newspaper reports.   Technical Report by investigator Frank Taylor. Gives a detailed account of the technical investigation process and describes how exactly the aircraft broke apart.   Wikipedia, Years Of Lead. Article on political violence in Italy in the 1970s-80s.   Italian Wikipedia, 1980 Libyan Air Force MiG-23 Crash. Gives much more detail on the investigation into the MiG crash and the controversy surrounding it.   Libyan Air Wars Part 1: 1973-1985. Book with information on Libyan Air Force activity in the Mediterranean in the 1970s and 80s. Contains details of engagements between NATO and Libyan forces and the MiG crash at Mt. Sila.   Malta Independent: Libyan Secret documents said to uncover Ustica tragedy… and how Gaddafi escaped to Malta unscathed   La Republica: The US Wanted to Hit Me Aboard the DC-9 in Ustica   Collection of digitized investigation and court documents related to the Ustica Massacre, mostly in Italian.

Edit: Apparently some people are not seeing this formatted in paragraphs. Try viewing this in the mobile or desktop versions of Reddit. It should work there.   I wrote this for unresolvedmysteries but I figured I’d share it here too. This accident was covered in the Season 13 episode Massacre Over The Mediterranean. The episode was good but I feel it doesn’t quite capture how complex and controversial this investigation was in Italy. I learned a lot writing this.   The 1980 explosion aboard Itavia Flight 870 remains one of the deadliest unsolved aviation incidents and unsolved mass murders in modern history. Decades of investigation highlighted an unstable political situation, allegations of a military cover up, rumors of a failed assassination attempt, and an ongoing secret war… but no culprit.   A Routine Flight   On June 27th 1980 at 20:08 CEST, Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870, departed Guglielmo Marconi Airport in Bologna, Italy for a routine flight to Palermo’s Punta Rasi Airport. The aircraft, an American built McDonnell Douglass DC-9, departed an hour and 53 minutes behind schedule. The aircraft maintained regular contact with air traffic control. Aside from some ground based navigation beacons not working properly, there was no indication of any problem during the flight.   At 20:37 the plane was instructed by air traffic control to contact them again once they were ready to begin their approach for landing. The pilots acknowledged this instruction. This would be the last transmission from Itavia 870. Radar contact with the aircraft was abruptly lost near the island of Ustica, about 120 kilometres (70 mi) southwest of Naples at 20:59.   A subsequent search of the area found floating wreckage and bodies. All 81 people aboard had been killed.   The event would become known in Italy as the Ustica Massacre.   The Investigation Begins   Italy, unlike many industrialized nations, at the time had no independent body responsible for the investigation of air accidents. This was contrary to established international standards which dictated that major accidents should be investigated by an independent authority of aviation experts such as the American National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Board (AAIB.)   Instead a collection of prosecutors, Italian civil regulatory agencies, and the Italian military all launched their own investigations into the accident. Many of those working on these investigations had little to no experience in investigating plane crashes.   The first of these investigations was launched by the Italian Ministry of Transport, led by Minister Rino Formica.   The lack of any emergency communication from the aircraft coupled with the discovery of a large debris field led investigators to conclude that the aircraft had disintegrated in flight. Such a disintegration would have been caused by a collision, explosion, or structural failure within the aircraft.   Hindered by the lack of physical evidence, this investigation would eventually conclude that poor maintenance had caused fatigue cracks in the plane which ultimately resulted in the inflight breakup.   Italian prosecutors were not satisfied with the conclusion of this investigation. Multiple criminal inquiries were opened but little progress was made. After all, most of the evidence had sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.   What little could be recovered pointed to a concerning possibility. Traces of explosive residue were found on floating pieces of the plane. Were the passengers of Itavia 870 victims of a terrorist bombing?   Anni Di Piombo   The 1970s-1980s were a violent time in Italy. The era came to be referred to as Anni Di Piombo or the Years of Lead. These decades were marred by violent clashes between the Italian government, right wing extremists, and communist militants. Between 1968 and 1988, 428 people were killed in a series of assassinations, bombings, and gang attacks as rival groups competed for control of the country.   Just two months after the loss of Itavia 870, a bomb exploded at the Bologna Centrale Railway Station killing 85 and injuring 200 more. Members of the right-wing Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari or NAR were tried and convicted for this attack yet the group denied responsibility.   Italy had also been a victim of international terrorist acts during the same era. In 1973, a group of Palestinian gunmen stormed the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome. One aircraft was destroyed on the ground by a bomb and second was hijacked and flown to Kuwait. 34 people were killed in this attack.   It seemed likely that the loss of Itavia 870 could have been another attack by one of Italy’s many extremist groups or an international terror organization.   While investigators worked to piece together scattered evidence, Andrea Purgatori, a reporter for Italian Newspaper Corriere Della Sera, received an anonymous tip from someone claiming to have ties to the investigation. The shocking claim made headlines around Italy and the world. Itavia 870 was brought down not by a bomb, but by a missile.   A Secret War   Outside of the unstable political situation in Italy, the 1980s had also seen the greater Mediterranean area turn into a hot bed for Cold War conflict. Tensions between NATO forces and Soviet backed Libya, led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, were running high. Libya had been declared a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States in 1979 due to the country’s ties to various terrorist groups throughout the world. This led to a substantial buildup of NATO and Libyan forces in the Mediterranean Sea and light skirmishes between the rival powers were not rare.   During this time, it was common practice for Libyan fighter jets to shadow passenger aircraft in order to evade radar detection as they crossed the sea to receive maintenance in friendly Eastern Bloc nations. Italy, it was alleged, turned a blind eye to this practice due to the economic ties it maintained with Libya. The new theory, put forward by the Italian media proposed that a Libyan jet was shadowing Itavia 870. This jet was engaged by NATO fighters and the Itavia DC-9 was caught in the crossfire.   This theory gained a significant boost when on July 18th, just 20 days after the loss of flight 870, the wreckage of a Libyan MiG-23MS and the body of its dead pilot, a Syrian named Ezzedin Koal, were found in Southern Italy at Mount Sila. This seemed to prove what many in the media had already been speculating, that Libyan jets were operating in Italian airspace and engaged in combat with NATO aircraft.   However, the official report on the Libyan crash concluded that the jet was unarmed and had no external fuel tanks, standard equipment if the jet was engaged in combat patrols or being ferried to the Eastern Bloc. The Italian authorities concluded that the pilot of the Libyan jet had suffered a heart attack during a training mission and the aircraft had subsequently crashed. Libyan authorities agreed, to some extent, with their conclusion stating that the pilot had been issued an ill fitting oxygen mask which likely caused him to lose consciousness and crash. Despite the official explanations, some military eyewitnesses claimed that the MiG showed signs of damage from gunfire. As a result, the exact circumstances surrounding the crashed Libyan plane remain a considerable source of controversy to this day.   A Failed Assassination   An alternative theory mentioned in several official reports and promoted by some Italian politicians, including former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, states that Itavia 870 was shot down in a case of mistaken identity during a failed assassination attempt of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.   According to the theory, Gaddafi departed Libya in his personal jet but was warned of the assassination attempt and landed safely in Malta. NATO jets, said to be of American or French origin, then mistakenly shot down Itavia 870 instead due to its outwardly similar appearance to Gaddafi’s plane and its location near where he was expected to be flying.   Gaddafi’s government began to promote the idea that a NATO plane shot down Itavia 870 after their own investigation in 1989. In 2003, during a speech honoring the 34th anniversary of his rise to power, Gaddafi himself said that he subscribed to the assassination theory stating “The Americans were sure that I was on board that plane and that's why they shot it down.”   A document supporting American or French involvement in the tragedy from the Libyan intelligence service was said to have been passed to Human Rights Watch during the 2011 Libyan Civil War. I was unable to find this document online but found a handful of references to it.   There are countless other conspiracy theories regarding this unknown missile ranging from British Special Forces locating the crash site and killing survivors to silence them, rumors that there was a clandestine move to silence a reporter who was a passenger on the plane, rumors of mafia involvement, and even a theory put forward by author and former Mossad case officer Victor Ostrocsky which stated that the Itavia flight was shot down by Israeli jets believing it to be carrying uranium to Iran.   Rampant speculation on the part of the media, politicians, and some investigators was beginning to overshadow the investigation into Ustica Massacre.   An Alleged Coverup   To make matters worse, it was starting to appear as if the Italian Military was deliberately obstructing the investigation. Several key records from the time of the accident at various radar stations were missing. One radar log appeared to have had a page carefully removed. Several tapes of radar activity also went missing when prosecutors tried to find them. Military officials maintained that there was nothing suspicious about the missing records and claimed that some of them weren’t even for the day of the flight in question but this explanation did not satisfy investigators.   Suspicion began to build that the military knew more than it was letting on, with some sources claiming that Italian fighter jets were ready to begin the search for the missing aircraft almost immediately after the crash, and a military training aircraft operating in the area of the crash had raised a general emergency alarm before the time of the incident. Although it was not unusual for aircraft to raise such an alarm on missions in the area, media sources seemed to believe that this was too close a time match to be a mere coincidence.   There was also much speculation on the role of the US Navy in the disaster. Of particular interest to investigators was the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga which was stationed in the Mediterranean in 1980. Involvement in the crash by the USS Saratoga was disproven however in 1993 when investigators requested copies of marriage certificates and wedding photos of couples married in Naples on June 27th 1980. The photos clearly showed the Saratoga docked in the Naples harbor, not conducting flight operations.   Italian investigators also noted a number of “suspicious” deaths and other accidents befalling military personnel believed to be close to the Itavia 870 investigation. Such incidents were investigated by Judge Rosario Priore in connection with his inquiry into the Ustica Massacre.   These included suicides such as that of Alberto Dèttori, the radar non-commissioned officer, employed in the Poggio Ballone radar station, who was found to have hung himself on duty in 1987. Another officer on duty in a radar station, Marshal Franco Parisi was found hanged in 1995 after he was summoned to re-appear in court regarding issues with his testimony on the crash. Judge Priore would write in his report that even if evidence of homicide was not found, it was clear their deaths were related to the crash, even it that just meant they couldn’t live with the knowledge of what had happened.   Colonels Mario Naldini and Ivo Nutarelli, the two pilots of the aircraft which raised the aforementioned general alarm, were killed in a crash during the Ramstein Airshow in 1988 which killed 68 others. Judge Priore investigated this accident as well looking for connections to the Itavia investigation but concluded the air show accident would have been nearly impossible to stage.   General Roberto Boemio, who investigators believed could give them valuable testimony was found murdered in Brussels in 1993. His murder remains officially unsolved.   In total, twelve deaths and other accidents were investigated for the victim’s potential ties to the Ustica Massacre. Ultimately there was no conclusive evidence that any of the people involved were silenced by some shadowy conspiracy. Judge Priore believed that aside from the suicides of the radar operators, most of the accidents and deaths were coincidental.   While speculation around the circumstances of the crash and a potential military coverup swirled and captured the imagination of the public, pressure was mounting against the Italian government to release an official report on the cause of the accident.   Secrets of the Deep   It wasn’t until 1987, 7 years after the accident, that any meaningful amount of physical evidence was recovered. Under immense public pressure, the Italian government contracted with a French salvage company to recover the wreckage of the DC-9 from the bottom of the sea. Operators eventually located the plane at a depth of 3,700 meters and spread across three main concentrated areas.   The wreckage was recovered and brought to an empty hanger at a military base in Rome where it was painstakingly reassembled by engineers working for Alitalia, Italy’s largest airline.   Italian investigators working as part of the Blasi Commission noted explosive residue and bits of shrapnel embedded in seat cushions and the bodies of passengers which once again pointed to an explosion aboard or near the aircraft.   Ultimately, investigators were unable to agree on the origin of the explosion with evidence in favor of either a missile or a bomb. The report released by this commission simply concluded that an explosion of unknown origin brought down the Itavia flight.   By 1990, yet another investigation was launched into the crash. Unlike the previous four investigations started by the Italian government, this time an international committee of expert aviation accident investigators was brought in as part of a “technical commission” serving under Judge Rosario Priore.   In an unusual move (in terms of air accident investigation) the commission was told that their investigation would form the basis of a criminal indictment against parties believed to either be responsible for the accident or who withheld evidence and obstructed the prior investigations, most notably members of the Italian Military.   The technical commission took on the task of re-examining the available evidence to answer the most important question surrounding the Ustica Massacre. What brought down flight 870, a bomb or a missile?   The Blasi Commission Evidence   Investigators gave serious consideration to the possibility that Itavia 870 was shot down. In fact, there was considerable evidence, albeit circumstantial, supporting a missile strike.   Radar records taken from a number of sources seemed to show very brief blips of objects approaching Itavia 870 at a high rate of speed coming from the west. According to NTSB investigator John Macidull, who examined the radar records for signs of other aircraft, approaching from the angle of the setting sun is a common fighter pilot tactic that allows the pilot to camouflage their approach to an enemy.   The cockpit voice recorder revealed part of what were believed to be the last words of the pilot. “Gua-“ believed to be the first syllable of the word “Guardare,” the Italian word for “look.” The voice recording is difficult to work out due to electronic noise introduced on to the recording when the aircraft broke apart. Did the pilot see something approaching the plane?   The reconstructed wreckage of Itavia 870 appeared to have a large hole near the rear of the plane that didn’t match the damage pattern of the area surrounding it. Investigators believed this was the entry hole where the missile struck the aircraft.   Some metal fragments imbedded in the seat found by investigators were believed to not match any material found on the plane.   Fragments originating at the front of the aircraft were found imbedded in the rear of the aircraft. This, investigators said, was consistent with an explosion outside of the aircraft which would force pieces towards the back.   A discarded external fuel tank common to many American made fighter aircraft was located within the Itavia 870 wreckage field. The fuel tank showed signs of red paint similar to that of Itavia aircraft.   The Technical Commission’s Report   Technical commission investigator Frank Taylor, a veteran air crash investigator from the UK’s AAIB, found that the previous Blasi Commission hadn’t recovered enough of the aircraft to make any sound judgement on the cause of the accident. Using a computer program he had helped develop during the investigation of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103, he produced a more accurate map of the debris field. By 1992 a second series of salvage efforts recovered more than 96% of the aircraft.   With more of the aircraft recovered, Frank Taylor’s team set about examining the wreckage and other records of the flight. Their findings began to cast doubt on the missile strike scenario beginning with the electronic records of the crash.   The radar records which appeared to show objects approaching the aircraft could be explained as pieces from Itavia 870 after it broke up in flight. Other unknown blips on the radar could have simply been random noise. While the Blasi commission calculated that the radar returns being just random noise was highly unlikely, Taylor’s team also noted that the chance of approaching fighter aircraft creating such a small radar return would be equally unlikely. Aa a result the radar evidence was deemed inconclusive.   Listening to the cockpit voice recording in which the pilot says “look,” investigators concluded this could have been about anything, not necessarily an approaching fighter jet or missile.   The team concluded of the electronic evidence that although circumstantially they could point to a missile strike, this on its own did not prove that Itavia 870 was shot down. But what about the physical evidence?   Of considerable interest to the team was the hole in the aircraft alleged to be the entry point of the missile. It was determined, using markings written on the back of the aircraft’s skin during construction, that these fragments had been misplaced by the team who reconstructed the wreckage. The small parts we’re actually from the front of the plane which had suffered considerable damage from being the first to hit the sea. Moreover, the team found no evidence of an “exit wound” that would point to a missile that had passed through the aircraft.   The team also examined the foreign chunks of metal imbedded in the aircraft. The Blasi investigation had declared that these pieces did not match any known part of the DC-9, however, there indeed was a material match in the landing gear wells.   With regards to the pieces from the front of the aircraft found embedded in the rear, the team found that this was not necessarily evidence of a missile and could have been a result of the aircraft hitting the water nose first at high speed which would cause some pieces to be thrown backwards.   The team also examined the military fuel tank with red paint transfer found in the area of the wreck. While it was indeed a tank from an American made military aircraft it was a very common tank that could have come from countless flights from any nation flying American jets. It would be impossible to trace the origin. It was also found that the red paint found on the tank did not match the paint from the DC-9, thus ruling out a collision with a piece of the aircraft.   In the end, with this new reconstruction of the crash produced by the technical commission, there were no unexplainable radar tracks, no entry points for a missile, no exit wound for a missile that passed completely through the aircraft, no evidence of a collision, and no unexplained foreign material.   In 1994, a series of tests were conducted by the Defense Research Energy laboratory in the UK. This included the detonation of a bomb in a DC-9 lavatory. The resulting damage was described as nearly identical to the recovered wreckage of the aircraft.   The technical commission report stated that the only conclusion supported by scientific evidence was a bomb placed aboard the aircraft in the rear toilet.   The technical commission presented their findings to Judge Rosario Priore. They were prepared to answer questions about their work and findings.   Priore dismissed the findings of the technical commission as useless. No additional questions were asked and the team was not given an opportunity to defend their work. Judge Priore decided not to publish the technical commission report as part of the investigation. It appeared that the Italian investigators had made up their minds. Itavia 870 was brought down by a missile and nothing could convince them otherwise.   Taylor went on to defend his team’s findings and publish details of the investigation in aviation journals. In 2014 during an interview for Canadian Documentary Series Air Crash Investigation Taylor stated “We discovered quite clearly that somebody had planted a bomb there, but nobody on the legal side, it would appear, believed us and therefore, so far as we are aware, there has been no proper search for who did it, why they did it, or anything else. As an engineer and an investigator I cannot see why anybody would want to consider anything other than the truth.”   Taylor’s findings were criticized by the Italian Judiciary and press for not providing a complete explanation of the damage to the plane. According to some articles, Taylor’s findings did not show evidence of explosive traces in the lavatory and failed to account for parts of the toilet that were found undamaged as well as the lack of damage to some windows on the plane. Taylor and the rest of the expert team continued to defend their work for years after the conclusion of their investigation.   The Trials   In the wake of the technical commission report and it’s subsequent dismissal, the investigation appeared to have reached a dead end. Prosecutors attempted to move forward in court with what little they had.   Several Italian Air Force officers were tried and some convicted for a number of alleged offences, including falsification of documents, perjury, abuse of office and aiding and abetting. Four Italian Generals were charged with high treason for their alleged role in the accident and suspected coverup.   In 2004, two of the generals, Corrado Melillo and Zeno Tascio, were found not guilty. Other allegations could not be pursued as the 15 year statute of limitations had expired. Generals Lamberto Bartolucci and Franco Ferri remained suspected of treason until 2005 when an appeals court ruled that there was no evidence supporting the charges. This ruling was upheld in 2007 by the Italian Supreme Court.   In September of 2011, a Palermo civil tribunal ordered the Italian Government to pay €100 million ($137 million) in damages to the families of the victims of The Ustica Massacre for failing to protect the plane, concealing the truth about the accident, and destroying evidence. This ruling was upheld by the Italian Supreme Court in 2013 who stated that there was “abundantly clear evidence” that the flight was brought down by a missile.   Il Muro Di Gomma   In Italy, the investigation into the Ustica Massacre, particularly the lack of cooperation from Italian officials has been described as “il muro di gomma” or “the rubber wall.” Questions about the accident seemed to just bounce off unanswered. The Italian Judiciary, and much of the Italian public, seems convinced, though a wealth of circumstantial evidence and suspicious military actions, that a missile of some unknown origin brought down Itavia 870.   For Frank Taylor and his team, the Itavia 870 investigation represents what happens when “reasonable assumptions” are confused with “absolute facts.” Taylor wrote in his article on the accident that “A very important lesson to be learned by all investigators is that one must continuously reassess evidence with a completely open mind. We as humans are all open to suggestion and thus, without being aware of the influences upon us, may otherwise reject a new idea with no proper justification.”   In either case, bomb or missile, the true perpetrator of The Ustica Massacre remains unknown after 41 years.   A Lasting Legacy   The circumstances behind the Ustica Massacre remain a considerable source of controversy and conspiracy among the Italian public to this day. One can find any number of articles and conspiracy blogs promoting one theory or another.   In 1999, the Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo or ANSV was formed as Italy’s official investigative body for air accidents, removing responsibility for such investigations from civil prosecutors and regulators. Since it’s formation, the ANSV has investigated a number of accidents in Italy, but no other airline bombings.   In 2006 the wreckage of Itavia Flight 870 was released from evidence and transported from Rome to Bologna to become a permanent memorial to the 81 victims of the Ustica Massacre. In a quiet hanger part of the Bologna Museum of Memory, sits the reassembled wreckage of the Itavia DC-9. 81 pulsing lamps have been placed above the plane. 81 black mirrors with integrated loudspeakers repeat quiet messages, each describing a typical thought or worry for a passenger aboard a fight.     Further Reading   English Wikipedia Article on Itavia 870   Italian Wikipedia Article with much more information on the investigation and controversy. Includes a number of links to contemporary newspaper reports.   Technical Report by investigator Frank Taylor. Gives a detailed account of the technical investigation process and describes how exactly the aircraft broke apart.   Wikipedia, Years Of Lead. Article on political violence in Italy in the 1970s-80s.   Italian Wikipedia, 1980 Libyan Air Force MiG-23 Crash. Gives much more detail on the investigation into the MiG crash and the controversy surrounding it.   Libyan Air Wars Part 1: 1973-1985. Book with information on Libyan Air Force activity in the Mediterranean in the 1970s and 80s. Contains details of engagements between NATO and Libyan forces and the MiG crash at Mt. Sila.   Malta Independent: Libyan Secret documents said to uncover Ustica tragedy… and how Gaddafi escaped to Malta unscathed   La Republica: The US Wanted to Hit Me Aboard the DC-9 in Ustica   Collection of digitized investigation and court documents related to the Ustica Massacre, mostly in Italian.