Malaysian Airlines Flight 17: Russian TV Spins Conspiracy Theories About Plane Crash; Another Group Links Air Mishap to Illuminati

The site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash is seen near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. The Malaysian Flight MH-17 was brought down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back opposing sides. REUTERS

Like the first Malaysian Airlines tragedy that rocked the global aviation history in March, the downing on Thursday, July 17, of Flight MH 17 is wrapped in mystery, resulting in several conspiracy theories about the downing and subsequent plane crash that took 298 lives.

However, unlike the MH 370 disappearance in which theories are being floated by investigating bodies, for the recent air mishap, it is Russian TV which is releasing one conspiracy theory after another with one apparent reason: that is to absolve the Russian government of any alleged involvement in the incident.

One theory aired by Rossiya 1 is that the Ukrainian fighter pilots saw a red, white and blue logo, which is the sign that it is the official presidential jet, and fired at it, believing it had on board Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the New York Post pointed out that Rossiya failed to take into consideration the fact that Mr Putin's plane no longer flies over Ukrainian air space since March due to the ongoing conflict between the two European countries over the annexation of Crimea by Moscow.

Another theory came from Channel One TV, which reported that pro-Russian rebels fired and shot down a jet on the same day, but it was not the ill-fated MH 17, but another aircraft that hit the Malaysian Airlines plane.

On Friday, Igor Girkin, the commander of rebel group, allegedly said to Russkaya Vesna, a pro-Russia Web site, the bodies found at the crash site in Ukraine were decomposed, drained of blood and believed dead days before MH 17 flew over the country's air space. Girkin said the shooting of the Malaysian Airlines was just staged to blame the separatists, saying Ukrainian authorities "are capable of any baseness."

The downing of the Kuala Lumpur-bound jet joins the growing list of planes shot in the air, killing everyone on board. Some of those incidents happened seven decades ago such when Nazi Germans shot down a British Overseas Airways flight from Lisbon to London in 1943.

Like Malaysian Airlines, Air Rhodesia jets were shot down by Zimbabwean rebels in 1978 and 1979, although the MH tragedies were closer since it was only four months apart. One difference, though, was that the nations were at war with one another, but not in the case of MH 17.

Others on the list include the ill-fated Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983, Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988, Itavia Flight 870 (1980), El Al Flight 402 (1955), Cathay Pacific Airways (1954), Libya Arab Airlines Flight 114 (1973) and Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 (2001).