China Satellite Spots Object, but Searchers Find Nothing

While possible clues about the fate of a Malaysia Airlines jet missing for more than two weeks keep coming from satellite images, it was as frustrating as ever today to turn the hints from space into actual sightings. China released a satellite image showing an object floating in a remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean near where planes and ships have been crisscrossing since similar images from an Australian satellite emerged earlier in the week. China's image, showing an object that appeared to be 72 feet 43 feet, was taken around noon Tuesday.

Australian officials said the location was within the 14,000-square-mile area they searched today, but the object was not found. An Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman she did not know whether the precise coordinates of the location had been searched, but added that coordinators will use the information to refine the search area. The authority, which is overseeing the search in the region, said a civil aircraft reported seeing a number of small objects in the search area, including a wooden pallet, but a New Zealand military plane diverted to the location found only clumps of seaweed. The agency said searchers would keep trying to determine whether the objects are related to the lost plane. (More Malaysia stories.)