A row of metal seats found washed up on America's eastern shoreline has sparked widespread discussion online speculating on the source. According to the New York Post, the seats were first spotted by a beachgoer last week. Matthew Jacob Perry was walking along the beach in Margate, New Jersey when he came across the mysterious find. He later posted a TikTok video of the seats which has since then gone viral. Mr Jacob believes that the rusted seats are from a lost or forgotten airliner. The video was also posted on his Instagram account.
Watch the video here:
''I wasn't sure what it was. I thought it was a tree branch at first. As I got closer, I realised that I was looking at seats. The closer I got they appeared to be plane seats,'' Mr Jacob, who is also an actor, told People magazine.
The video showed rusted seats that still had their springs, though the fabric was gone. Some of the seats had a metal handrail between them, looking similar to those in an airplane.
Meanwhile, the internet was abuzz with speculation. Many said that the seats could have come from the wreckage of TWA Flight 800, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about eight miles south of East Moriches, N.Y. on Long Island on July 17, 1996.
''Everyone is saying TWA flight 800 but I'm pretty sure it's the TZB 900,'' one user wrote. ''I'm an aircraft mechanic, those are not aircraft seats. Mounting rails are completely different. (Seat to floor),'' another wrote. A third said, ''This is amazing. Airplane seats, sure do look like it.''
A fourth added, ''I agree maybe the Malaysia flight???''
However, Margate Police Chief Matthew Hankinson told NJ.com that the seats, ''are far too heavy to come from anything like a plane.''
''The seats are stripped down to the metal with nothing left from cushions, seat belts, or buckles that would indicate they came from a plane crash. A detective did some further research and found that decommissioned railcar seats are typically stripped down to the metal parts and taken out to sea and dumped to help build artificial reefs,'' the cop added.
He said recent storms could have knocked the seats free from a reef.
