Chinese Satellite Photos Might Show Pieces of Missing Malaysian 777 Airliner

Chinese officials reportedly had images shortly after plane went missing March 9, but only released them Wednesday.

According to CNN,  Chinese officials said they captured satellite imagery of three distinct objects floating in the ocean, Northeast of where the plane took off.   The location was South of Vietnam.

The objects were 43 by 59 feet,  and 14 by 22 meters, and the third, 22 by 24 meters.   The objects could be consistent with pieces of a downed airliner, but nothing else conclusive was said.

Due to what Vietnamese officials called a "lack of direction" they said they are pulling back on search efforts until Maylaysian officials can give them a better idea of where to look for the plane.

The search area has been expanded to over 27,000 square miles, but there have been conflicting reports.  The Maylaysian Air Force said it had reportedly tracked the plane on a destination hundreds of miles away from it's intended course, near the Maylay Peninsula. But  officials in the Maylaysian prime minister's office said no military officials had told them of this.    The military radar supposedly captured the plane's path, even though it's transponder had apparently been turned off and civilian air traffic controllers had lost contact with it.

Aviation experts say expansion of the search is troubling because it reveals officials have no clear idea where the plane really was when it disappeared.   No word was given if search efforts will be sent to the area where the Chinese satellite saw the three images in the water.