Lt. General Thomas McInerney USAF (ret) is a man to be reckoned with, and he has gone out on a limb citing sources  he cannot reveal for his assertion that Malaysia Airlines 370 was taken by a criminal act, that the United States government knows more than it is revealing, and that the airplane could well be on the ground on Pakistan.

Appearing last night on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, the general stated that his theory was not based on mere conjecture. As summarized by the Daily Caller, this ensured:

General, I’ve known you a long time, I know you too well to know that you’re not just making this up, this is not something you’ve concocted. You’ve spoken to a number of people, am I correct?,” Sean Hannity asked McInerney during Tuesday night’s episode of “Hannity” on Fox News.

“Yes, but that’s all I want to say, Sean, please,” McInerney responded.

The general also cited the actions of the Israeli and American military forces as evidence that they know something is up.

“First of all, let me say, when the U.S. Navy quits their search — their ship search — they must know something in the Indian Ocean,” he said. “When the Israeli Defense Forces, when they increase their air defense alert, they must know something.”

“My concern is, if this airplane could be used as a bearer of a weapon of mass destruction or even conventional munitions that could attack a carrier, the Israelis, other allies, American Forces, for instance,” he added. “We have to be very alert until we know exactly where this airplane is.”