--- title: Video: Malaysian ‘Witch Doctor’ Recruited to Find Missing MH370 Jet description: He divined that the plane was either still in the air or had crashed into the sea canonical: https://time.com/22803/watch-malaysian-witch-doctor-attempts-to-find-missing-jet/ author: Michelle Arrouas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-13T06:25:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:44:28.965Z article:section: World og:title: Video: Malaysian ‘Witch Doctor’ Recruited to Find Missing MH370 Jet og:description: He divined that the plane was either still in the air or had crashed into the sea og:url: https://time.com/22803/watch-malaysian-witch-doctor-attempts-to-find-missing-jet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cc8684788e45cd6/69868536d0b6f2affb303325/rtr3gpda.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ibrahim Mat Zin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Video: Malaysian ‘Witch Doctor’ Recruited to Find Missing MH370 Jet twitter:description: He divined that the plane was either still in the air or had crashed into the sea twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cc8684788e45cd6/69868536d0b6f2affb303325/rtr3gpda.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WATCH: Malaysian ‘Witch Doctor’ Attempts to Find Missing Jet by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Mar 13, 2014 6:25 AM CUT  Ibrahim Mat Zin performs a ritual to help find the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Ibrahim Mat Zin performs a ritual to help find the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.© Damir Sagolj—Reuters by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Mar 13, 2014 6:25 AM CUT After five days of futile search for flight MH370, supernatural efforts have even been enlisted to find the missing Boeing 777-200. On Monday, a famous _bomoh_, a Malay term for a shaman, performed a prayer at the international airport in Kuala Lumpur. He was allegedly there at the invitation of one of the top leaders from the Malaysian government, reports the [_South China Morning Post_](http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1447159/video-chinese-ridicule-malaysias-recruitment-witch-doctor-track-missing "undefined")_._[ ](http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1447159/video-chinese-ridicule-malaysias-recruitment-witch-doctor-track-missing "undefined") Ibrahim Mat Zin, also known as Raja Bomoh Sedunia Nujum VIP, or “Shaman King of the World Fortune-Telling VIP,” used bamboo binoculars and a fish trap as spiritual tools. He divined that the Malaysia Airlines plane is either still in the air or has crashed into the sea. Both the shaman and the Malaysian government were ridiculed on social media by Chinese and Malaysian netizens. A total of 239 people were aboard the plane when it disappeared without a distress call on Saturday morning. \[[_SCMP_](http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1447159/video-chinese-ridicule-malaysias-recruitment-witch-doctor-track-missing "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/22803/watch-malaysian-witch-doctor-attempts-to-find-missing-jet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/22803/watch-malaysian-witch-doctor-attempts-to-find-missing-jet/"},"headline":"WATCH: Malaysian ‘Witch Doctor’ Attempts to Find Missing Jet","datePublished":"2014-03-13T06:25:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:44:28.965Z","description":"He divined that the plane was either still in the air or had crashed into the sea","url":"https://time.com/22803/watch-malaysian-witch-doctor-attempts-to-find-missing-jet/","keywords":["MH370","Malaysia","Malaysia Airlines","Malaysia Airlines missing jet","Flight MH370"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cc8684788e45cd6/69868536d0b6f2affb303325/rtr3gpda.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Arrouas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michelle-arrouas/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cc8684788e45cd6/69868536d0b6f2affb303325/rtr3gpda.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ibrahim Mat Zin","caption":"Ibrahim Mat Zin performs a ritual to help find the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.","creditText":"© Damir Sagolj—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mh370/","name":"MH370"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/22803/watch-malaysian-witch-doctor-attempts-to-find-missing-jet/","name":"WATCH: Malaysian ‘Witch Doctor’ Attempts to Find Missing Jet"}}]}] ```