area around the connection pad for the output relay of the ‘MST-13’ timer.”
But, it wasn’t similar in ALL respects..
None of the independent scientists who carried out testing on the fragment were called to give evidence. The mater wasn’t brought up with the production manager from the company which had made the boards for the MST- 13 timers. The fact the composition of the coating showed that PT/35b had been made by a completely different process from the MEBO instruments was never highlighted.
Further investigation carried out by Megrahi’s defence team in preparation for his second appeal revealed the company which made the PCBs for the MST-13 timers had never used an electroless plating technique. All the instruments supplied to Libya by MEBO had the usual lead- alloy coating on the circuitry.
PT/35b could not have come from a timer sold to the Libyan armed forces as claimed by the prosecution.
The visual match between the fragment and the boards from the
MEBO timers is striking, indicating that they all originated from the same template. In most other respects the match is perfect, in particular the use of nine-ply fibreglass (when eight-ply is more common) and the presence of a green solder resist coating on the reverse of the board only, when the usual place for such a coating would be on the business side. PT/35b is an odd mix of professional and amateur construction. It looks like a deliberate copy of an MST-13 circuit board, but with just that one tiny discrepancy – possibly due to it being a one-off item made without access to a manufacturing production line.
Despite allegations to the contrary PT/35b can be seen to be the same item all through its history. Nobody switched it for something else dur- ing the investiga- tion. It probably went to America at least once, but it was accompanied by an officer of the Dumfries and Gal- loway Constabu- lary during that time, so it didn’t leave the control of the Scottish police.
A few other points can be clarified. Despite allegations to the contrary PT/35b can be seen to be the same item all through its history. Nobody switched it for something else during the investigation. It probably went to America at least once, but it was accompanied by an officer of the Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary during that time, so it didn’t leave the control of the Scotish police. Most of the brouhaha surrounding its provenance is unfounded, or at least unproven.
Who made it, and why? Did it fall out of the sky that December night, or was it somehow added to the rest of the debris recovered from the shirt collar at a later date, its dodgy provenance concealed behind the smokescreen of the disorganised forensics notes? If we knew any of that, we might be a lot closer to solving the mystery of the Lockerbie bombing, still impenetrable aſter more than a quarter of a century.
*Dr Morag Kerr is author of the book ‘Adequately Explained by Stupidity? - Lockerbie, Luggage and Lies’.
Partial forensic assembly of Pan Am 103 fuselage February 2016 19
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