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  • 2020-12-10 (xsd:date)
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  • Was the 'Hidden Truth' of Titanic 'Covered Up for Decades'? (en)
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  • Since at least February 2020, an online advertisement appeared across the internet, displayed on websites that partnered with the Taboola advertising platform: Experts Reveal The Potentially Hidden Truth Behind The Titanic. Readers who clicked on the ad were led to a story on a website called Serendipity Times. Its headline read: Experts Discovered The Real Reason The Titanic Sank – And The Truth Had Been Covered Up For Decades. This story was a variation of our previous reporting on the theory that a coal fire had accelerated the sinking of the Titanic. In 2017, a new documentary was released, titled, Titanic: The New Evidence. The crux of the documentary was that photographs had been found that were captured during the ill-fated ship's construction. The pictures purportedly supported the theory that a coal fire on the ship's hull was ignored. However, the Serendipity Times advertisement and headline were misleading. There was no indication that the coal fire theory or the documentary's found photographs had been covered up for decades. The words covered up implied purposeful deceit, for which there was no evidence. In reality, the pictures had simply been gathering dust in an attic. The coal fire theory itself also was not new. As for the legitimacy of the coal fire theory and the 2017 documentary, our previous reporting took an in-depth look into both. Further, reporting from The New York Times said that experts found the coal fire theory to be compelling, but were divided over how important a role the fire may have played. The story from the Times also quoted David Hill, described as a former honorary secretary of the British Titanic Society. He argued that, while the damage caused by the fire to the steel walls protecting the hull may have hastened the disaster, the blaze was not the decisive factor. We previously covered another story about an old camera found on the ocean floor that purportedly had photographs from the Titanic. This false claim had also first appeared in misleading online advertisements. (en)
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