More on the Michael Hastings mystery

The above video features an interview with Joe Biggs, a friend to Michael Hastings. Biggs, who strikes me as a calm and rational observer, feels that the famed reporter's death was not an accident. On the morning of the crash, Hastings sent his friend an uncharacteristically strange and panicky email.

Kimberly Dvorak, also interviewed in this video, is an investigative reporter who decided to take a closer look at the Hastings mystery. She has interviewed witnesses who insist that the car exploded well before it struck the palm tree. Dvorak's work strikes me as very credible.



I may get in trouble for posting this one. Mark Dice is a somewhat over-the-top conspiracy buff who has seriously annoyed me in the past. But here he discusses -- rather intelligently -- the possibility of a modern car's electronics being commandeered by a hacker. We have talked about this technology in a previous post, which published a talk by Dr. Kathleen Fisher of DARPA. If she says it's possible -- it's possible.

Moreover, in the first video above, counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke expresses his view that Hastings' car may have been hacked by a cyber-attack.

There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for major powers -- including the U.S. -- know how to remotely seize control of a car.

Even if you don't accept any conspiratorial scenarios of the Hastings incident, you simply have to be concerned about these new electronic attack capabilities.

Another mystery: Why was Hastings' body cremated -- against the wishes of his family? I've never heard of such a thing previously! (So far, the story has not been confirmed by Hastings' wife.)

Here is another interview with Dvorak in which she discusses the mystery cremation (and threats against her own person)...



We're not sure which story Hastings was working on. Apparently he did not even tell his wife, although he let people know that he was onto something big.

Here's one takeaway: If you are an investigator looking into something large and nasty, don't keep your mouth shut -- at least, not completely shut. Keep a friend informed, and hide a file in a secure location.