Quote Originally Posted by Hanna View Post
I honestly think [the "abducted survivors" claim] is a fanciful story that probably doesn't have a lot of substance although undoubtedly dramatic and intriguing.
I agree with you on this point, Hanna. I think the simple truth is that 269 people were killed as a result of accidental mis-identification, technological failure, and human error, all compounded by political paranoia and military over-zealousness -- similar to the tragic case of Iran Air 655 in 1988.

To answer your earlier question about the relevance of this in today's world, I would say that if you're interested in Soviet history, the KAL 007 tragedy was a highly significant event in the late Soviet period. And even if you believe, as I do, that this was essentially a terrible accident and that Reagan was totally wrong to spin it as "barbarism" by the "Evil Empire," the internal Soviet response in the aftermath of the accident (particularly the decision to engage in international deception about the black boxes) is also possibly revealing about the willful lack of transparency within the Soviet political system. And I admit that "lack of transparency" has been an issue in American policy, too -- but I would insist that it's much easier to be massively deceitful in a country with only one political party and complete state control of the media.