All is not well in the official Lockerbie story. In fact, few things remain standing. In recent months, there have been allegations that police plotted to mislead the original inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing, resulting in a wrongful conviction. One key expert has gone on record as stating that he committed perjury, whereas witness testimony reveals an altogether different scenario from that which is known, including the unreported presence of millions of needles that littered the crash site.

One of the new allegations that is now largely destroying the official version of the Lockerbie bombing, is that evidence gathered at the scene of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270 people, was lost or destroyed. Misleading or false evidence, it is alleged, was then provided to incriminate Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan agent convicted of the atrocity at a trial in the Netherlands in 2001. It is alleged that the police investigation of Megrahi was "reverse-engineered" with evidence provided to match the thesis that he was guilty.
As part of this framing, some key statements were withheld. These included at least two by Tony Gauci, a Maltese shopkeeper who allegedly sold a shirt to the bomber. Apparently, a police officer showed Gauci a photograph of Megrahi in a magazine shortly before he was asked to identify the Libyan at his trial. The shopkeeper's eventual identification of Megrahi in court was regarded as pivotal in persuading the judges of his guilt.
But other statements by Gauci show him giving different versions of events from his later identification of Megrahi. In one, he "very positively" identifies to a detective the man in his shop as Mohammed Abu Talb, a terrorist with links to the Iranian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC). In a separate statement, Gauci tells police Megrahi "didn't buy any shirts for sure" from him. There was also a press statement, prepared by Dumfries and Galloway police in 1990, which named members of the PFLP-GC as its chief suspects, but this statement was never released.

The quality of evidence concerning a fragment of circuit board allegedly found at the crash site - which was equally instrumental in convicting Megrahi - has also been questioned. One statement, dated July 18, 2007 and signed by Ulrich Lumpert, who worked as an electronic engineer at MeBo from 1978 to 1994, is at the heart of this revelation.
Lumpert was a key witness (N° 550) at the Lockerbie trial. In his testimony, Lumpert stated that "of the 3 pieces of hand-made prototypes MST-13 Timer PC-Boards, the third MST-13 PC-Board was broken and [he] had thrown it away." In his affidavit, certified by Officer Walter Wieland, Lumpert admits having committed perjury: "I confirm today on July 18th 2007, that I stole the third hand-manufactured MST-13 Timer PC-Board consisting of 8 layers of fibre-glass from MEBO Ltd. and gave it without permission on June 22nd 1989 to a person officially investigating in the Lockerbie case," Lumpert wrote. (The identity of the official is known.)
"It did not escape me that the MST-13 fragment shown [at the Lockerbie trial] on the police photograph No PT/35(b) came from the non-operational MST-13 prototype PC-board that I had stolen," Lumpert added. "I am sorry for the consequences of my silence at that time, for the innocent Libyan Mr. Abdelbaset Al Megrahi sentenced to life imprisonment, and for the country of Libya." In just seven paragraphs, the Lumpert affidavit elucidates the longstanding mysteries surrounding the infamous MST-13 timer, which allegedly triggered the bomb that exploded Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.

All of these revelations add further weight to claims that it was politically unacceptable to pursue the PFLP-GC when the Gulf war in 1991 made it necessary to maintain good relations with Iran and Syria. Robert Black, emeritus professor of Scots law at Edinburgh University, who helped broker Megrahi's trial in the Netherlands, said: "My concerns have always been about what actually happened and getting to the truth. [Megrahi] should not have been convicted on the evidence before the trial judges."

A reading of the transcripts of what occurred at the Lockerbie trial also paints a largely different picture from what we officially know. Take, for example, the presence of what appear to be millions of unanswered-for sewing needles.
This is the testimony of DC Alexander McLean, working in Sector B with then CI Harry Bell, plus 5 detectives. "[I f]ound there, sir, an area of devastation. It had been discovered or made sure previously that no persons were still living at that time. And what had --we had been told at the briefing was that the aircraft in question, in effect, had divided into three pieces. The cockpit at Tundergarth, the fuselage and part of the wing had dropped onto the area of Park Place, at Rosebank Crescent, Lockerbie." Later on, the witness states how he and his team "encountered one or two difficulties, sir. And one of the major ones was that on the aircraft there was a million sewing-machine needles being conveyed, and they landed with the fuselage in the sector - B Sector. And unknown to us at the time, one or two officers got pricked with the needles. And so eventually we had to spread a very large tarpaulin right along the site and move forward sort of by inch by inch." "The sewing-machine needles were being carried as cargo on the aircraft?" "That's correct, sir."

The above evidence seems to have been missed by all concerned but is worthy of further examination. A million sewing machine needles weighs up to ¾ ton. Who would pay air freight charges to fly needles to America, when sea-freight is so obviously cheaper? Who was the sender? Who was the end-user? Where is the bill of lading, invoice and the delivery note? Is there an insurance claim by the sender? With the increase in terrorist activities, the use of nail bombs - very similar to sewing needles - has made it clear that such an addition causes much wider devastation than "just" a bomb.
Alternatively, it is remarkable how similar an electric sewing machine needle is to a flechette. This weapon of terror, is also less than 2" long, has a flattened portion in the centre instead of a thread hole and has small flights to ensure stability. Known as a 'terrain-denial weapon of terror', it is dispersed in packs of thousands in an omni-directional scything motion. Witnesses have described victims as both "flayed alive" and "cut to burger-size pieces". Royal Ordnance, at that time state-owned, were specialist packers of such warheads. There is apparently an art in lacing the layers of needles with the explosive to achieve the correct effect. The missile known as the Lockheed Hydra 70 is equipped to use such warheads.

However, in the development period from the early 1980s up until at least 1992, such missiles were having serious problems with "Rad-Haz", their electrical components. Although very sophisticated, they were also very sensitive to extraneous electrical influence, commonly called "radiation hazard". In layman's terms, it was equivalent to a neighbour's garage door remote switching off your television every time he used it. It is perhaps highly significant that the Maid of the Seas exploded during exchanges with Prestwick, when her navigator would be involved in relatively lengthy broadcasts confirming the flight path to be used across the North towards JFK Airport. No attention at all appears to have been given to this most obvious starting point in any investigation. Instead, we have a rush to judgment in favour of a fantastic conspiracy theory with huge flaws in the technical evidence.

Looked at rationally, the actual evidence suggests an accident. The accident is terrible in its cause, its nature, its consequences and its implications, but it is nonetheless an accident. It is of course illegal to carry munitions of war in a civil aircraft, especially if secretly. There would be serious questions concerning liability and culpability. And neither Iran nor Libya would - or could - be blamed. A potential accident, or false flag operation, would thus become the most logical possibility as to the true nature of the Lockerbie incident.