UAAG CH11

In August, the temperature in Helsinki dropped a few degrees lower.

During the day, while Zhuo Huan and Old Joseph were at the laboratory conducting magnetization experiments on the Rolls-Royce engine, a hazy drizzle fell over the factory area. By nightfall, there was a chill that pierced the bones.

August in the Northern Hemisphere should be the most unbearably hot time of the year. To be precise, it should be the second hottest month. July sees the peak of continental temperatures, and while August is slightly cooler, it shouldn’t be as low as ten-something degrees.

“Helsinki, latitude 60°N,” Fu Cheng said, looking into Zhuo Huan’s eyes. “In fact, it is very close to the Arctic Circle.”

Only the Arctic Circle could still have low temperatures around ten degrees in August.

Zhuo Huan leaned back in his swivel chair, applying slight backward pressure with his waist, causing the adjustable backrest to recline by 15 degrees.

He looked up at the black-haired young man before him, and the two gazed at each other silently.

Suddenly, Zhuo Huan got up. The wheels of the swivel chair made a faint friction sound on the floor as he walked around his large desk toward Su Fei. When he passed Fu Cheng, he didn’t even look up; he directly took a piece of gum from the messy pen holder on the desk and stuffed it into Fu Cheng’s hand.

Because he stuffed it into his hand only when he was very close, no one else saw it. Only Fu Cheng stood there, stunned, pinching the piece of gum.

He turned around.

Zhuo Huan walked to Su Fei’s desk, crossed his arms, and scoffed.

“Stop hiding. Your face is so big the computer screen can’t cover you.”

Su Fei: “Fuck! This is a damn 27-inch monitor, 27 inches!” Is my face really that big?

Zhuo Huan tsked, curled his fingers, and rapped his knuckles on the desk a few times. “Find all weather reports within the Arctic Circle from December 19th to 20th, 2019. Three minutes. I want to see all the information on the big screen.”

Su Fei: “…”

Are there no child protection laws in Finland anymore!

In front of Zhuo Huan, the baby-faced minor cursed under his breath while rapidly typing on the keyboard, scraping meteorological reports of the Arctic Circle on the day of the crash from various countries’ weather networks. Two minutes later, he forcefully hit the “enter” key and said triumphantly, “Done!”

Instantly, dense meteorological reports were projected onto the large screen in the center of the investigation headquarters hall.

Zhuo Huan said impatiently, “Filter out the magnetic field parameters as priority.”

Su Fei muttered quietly, “You didn’t say that just now.”

He spent five minutes extracting all the magnetic field parameters and compiling them into a graph. Everyone gathered around the big screen to observe the magnetic field variation curve. Su Fei didn’t stay idle; a genius never just works according to others’ instructions. Staring intently at the monitor, he spent another ten minutes creating a full 3D magnetic field map.

Cutting the Earth in half, he created a 3D image of just the Northern Hemisphere. Then, based on the magnetic field intensity of the Arctic Circle on that day as recorded by various countries, he drew curved magnetic field lines in the ethereal mid-air.

The chaotic magnetic field lines looked like a tangled ball of black yarn, making one’s scalp tingle just looking at it.

However, within these magnetic field lines, some parts were blank.

Fu Cheng looked at Su Fei in surprise. Before he could speak, Su Fei understood his meaning and raised his hands. “Don’t look at me. This is a simulated magnetic field line map roughly drawn based on global meteorological reports.”

Fu Cheng: “Magnetic field lines are closed curves. These areas are not only unclosed but also missing magnetic fields.”

Su Fei also felt bitter in his heart. “How can you blame me for this? There are only a few countries globally that measure magnetic field parameters in their weather reports, and even fewer inside the Arctic Circle. I’ve already included reports from countries outside the Arctic Circle like China and the US; this is all there is. Not every country is wealthy enough to care about polar climate when they aren’t even in the Arctic Circle.”

The Arctic Circle is a vast area. Unless it is a laboratory specifically conducting polar climate research, no one would specifically measure the magnetic field intensity within the Arctic Circle.

“It’s not really necessary to calculate the magnetic field intensity of the entire Arctic Circle anyway; that’s unrealistic.” Old Joseph looked at the magnetic field map on the screen, rubbed his chin, looked at Zhuo Huan, and asked directly, “Is it possible?”

Zhuo Huan’s gaze quickly swept through the magnetic field lines.

Magnetic field lines are closed curves artificially designed by humans to simulate ethereal magnetic fields.

The denser the magnetic field lines, the stronger the magnetic field intensity.

The entire Earth is like a giant magnet. Magnetic field lines pass from the North Pole through the Earth’s core to the South Pole; then they fly from the South Pole into the sky, pass over the equator, and return to the North Pole, traversing the magnetic center. Thus, a complete magnetic circuit is formed.

Zhuo Huan looked for a long time before withdrawing his gaze. He said quickly and directly, “The probability is infinitely close to zero,” then turned to look at Fu Cheng. “Have you flown polar routes?”

Fu Cheng: “I have.”

Zhuo Huan: “Then you should know that once a phenomenon of excessive magnetic field strength like a magnetic storm occurs, polar flights will choose to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport.”

Su Fei was confused. He was neither a professional pilot nor an aircraft designer.

Seeing his bewildered expression, Lina smiled and explained to him, “Didn’t you notice when you flew from Shanghai to Helsinki? When flying over the Arctic Circle, the flight attendants force all window shades to be closed and don’t allow passengers to open them without permission? This is because cosmic radiation is too strong within the Arctic Circle, which can cause great damage to the human body. Closing the window shades to block a bit of radiation is better than nothing.”

Old Joseph also said, “Right, when I flew polar routes back in the day, I had to make emergency landings several times. Once a magnetic storm occurs, the aircraft’s communication systems and instruments are affected, requiring a temporary emergency landing.”

Speaking of this, Old Joseph secretly glanced at Zhuo Huan.

In fact, when Fu Cheng proposed the hypothesis of the Arctic Circle’s magnetic field influence, he realized that this was almost impossible as the cause of the accident. But he didn’t expect Reid to make such a mistake. Knowing clearly that once a magnetic storm occurs, the plane would inevitably react on the spot rather than delaying until landing to have an accident, he still listened to Fu Cheng and had Su Fei make the 3D magnetic field map.

Fu Cheng stared fixedly at Zhuo Huan, his gaze calm and determined. “This is the only explanation.”

Zhuo Huan glanced at him, and in the next moment, he turned to look at Old Joseph.

Zhuo Huan: “I said the probability is infinitely close to zero, but I didn’t say it was non-existent.”

Old Joseph was stunned. “Huh?” He paused, then emphasized, “But if a phenomenon of excessive magnetic field strength occurs, the plane will definitely make an emergency landing or turn back. JAL JL917 did not.”

Fu Cheng: “That is precisely the strangest part.”

Old Joseph: “Strange how?”

“December 19, 2019, was a day of intense geomagnetic outbursts seen only once in 38 years. This outburst came without warning; meteorologists did not predict it beforehand.” Fu Cheng asked Su Fei to project flights that had made emergency landings in the Arctic Circle over the past year onto the big screen. “Look, even when there are no intense geomagnetic outbursts, almost every month there are two planes making emergency landings in Russia. But on the day when the geomagnetic field was strongest, JAL JL917 braved the powerful magnetic field without making an emergency landing in Russia, or even reporting aircraft damage to air traffic control. This suggests only one possibility.”

His voice paused, and Fu Cheng said word by word, “This plane was not affected by the geomagnetism at all, or rather, its pilots didn’t feel they had encountered a strong magnetic storm seen once in 38 years.”

Su Fei asked strangely, “Didn’t encounter a magnetic storm? How is that possible? The next day, major weather programs around the world reported that a strong magnetic field riot occurred in the Arctic, and the number of aurora outbursts broke historical records. When I collected the weather reports just now, I saw a lot of news reports.”

Fu Cheng turned to look at Su Fei. “Why is it impossible? If the plane had been affected by the magnetic field at the time, the pilots would have reported to air traffic control on the spot. But they didn’t. On the day when the magnetic storm was strongest, the plane flew smoothly and was even able to land. This is the first suspicious point.”

Fu Cheng walked to Zhuo Huan’s desk and picked up the survivor interview records he had just placed there. “And the second suspicious point is this: 65 people confirmed seeing auroras with their own eyes. So the question is, with the window shades lowered, how did they see the auroras outside the plane?”

Old Joseph was startled. He took the interview records from Fu Cheng and quickly flipped through them all.

“I saw beautiful auroras on the left side of the plane.”

“Green auroras appeared outside the plane.”

“We sat by the window and looked to the left, seeing a long, narrow aurora. It was like a green ribbon. Ami said it was her first time seeing an aurora; it must be a good omen. Maybe we really will meet Santa Claus when we go to Santa Claus Village…”

Old Joseph suddenly looked up. “Why?!”

Everyone was discussing the impact of geomagnetism on flight JL917 intensely. Only Zhuo Huan stood in front of the big screen, reaching out his hand to trace these magical curves created by nature.

He slowly closed his eyes, and the lines projected on the screen floated in his mind, appearing before his eyes.

Behind him, Fu Cheng raised questions, which were then countered by Old Joseph.

Lips parting slightly, Fu Cheng wanted to say the answer, but he didn’t know how to answer Old Joseph.

He could find the suspicious points, but he couldn’t answer them.

Why did JAL JL917 not make an emergency landing or report encountering a strong magnetic field on the day of the strongest magnetic storm?

Why did passengers see auroras through the window shades when they should have been lowered?

The black box could only record data for the thirty minutes before the crash.

It failed to record the moment these passengers spoke of seeing the aurora, nor could it tell everyone present why this bizarre and bizarre air crash happened.

“The second question…”

Everyone turned to look at the man standing in front of the big screen.

His posture was upright. Looking from behind, a perfect curve connected his shoulders and waist. No one would imagine that this was a great aircraft designer rather than a model.

His slightly long hair was tied casually behind his head. Zhuo Huan didn’t turn back; he raised his hand, his index finger tapping forcefully on a blank spot in the magnetic field lines.

“The answer to the second question: The aurora appeared in a place where window shades did not need to be lowered, so they saw the aurora.” Zhuo Huan turned around, radiating a powerful aura that allowed no doubt. “The plane had already left the airspace where window shades were required to be lowered, so the flight attendants no longer stopped passengers from opening them.”

After a brief moment of surprise, Fu Cheng and Old Joseph suddenly understood.

Old Joseph realized, “Because the magnetic storm was intense, auroras also erupted in airspace outside of regulations. So that’s it! Yes, it can only be this way. The aurora outburst was too dense and widespread, seen once in 38 years. So in the safe zone, after opening the window shades, auroras could also be seen.” Pausing, Old Joseph looked at Zhuo Huan again. “But Reid, if the second answer is this, then it doesn’t explain the first question—encountering such a strong magnetic storm, why didn’t the plane experience communication disruptions, or even why…”

“It didn’t crash on the spot.”

As Old Joseph’s voice fell, everyone at the investigation headquarters looked at Zhuo Huan in unison, waiting for him to give a reasonable answer.

Fu Cheng quietly watched the man standing in front of the projection screen.

He was wearing a very casual T-shirt, with a black jacket tied casually around his waist, somewhere between lazy and leisurely.

Compared to the other investigators in suits and leather shoes present, he looked more like an artist, unconventional and uninhibited. No exquisite jeweled bow tie, nor hair slicked back with wax to reflect light.

However, Fu Cheng knew that this person would definitely provide the answer. He believed it without reason.

This belief was strange yet familiar.

He picked it up again from the depths of his memory at the end of the swamp, covered in black mud. When he touched it, what rang in his ears was this person’s ruthless announcement and the desperate cries of countless people.

However, standing tall in the depths of darkness, it still shone brightly.

It turned out that from beginning to end, he had never abandoned his belief in this person.

Not even for a second.

Fu Cheng pressed his lips tight, lowered his head imperceptibly, hiding his tightly clenched fingers.

Unaware of the black-haired young man’s gradually darkening gaze, Zhuo Huan reached his right hand behind him and knocked on the big screen. His expression was indifferent and relaxed. “There is a specialization in every field. Professional matters should be left to professional people to solve. There is one person who might know the answer to this question—”

Su Fei asked curiously, “Who? Someone knows something you don’t? Even you have times when you don’t know things? Which expert can make people bow down? Tell us quickly.”

Zhuo Huan glanced at him, not even bothering to respond.

He walked to the printer and took a document from the output tray. Only then did everyone notice that before Fu Cheng went to Zhuo Huan to offer his opinion, this man seemed to have been searching for information and had printed a copy in passing.

Zhuo Huan threw the document on the table.

Everyone looked over.

Nonlinear Dynamic Model of Hysteresis in Deterministic Magnetostrictive Actuators

Author: Teichi Tsunai.

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