New Guinean authorities, with the help of the Australian, US and Japanese governments, are investigating the discovery of what is thought to be the skeleton of a World War II pilot.
Bush walkers discovered the skeleton hanging from a jungle canopy halfway along the 96 kilometre historic Kokoda Track, a World War II path which was used for troop movements during the battle.
The man who discovered the skeleton said it was swinging in a tree, caught up in a seat harness and was covered with moss.
The suspected remains of a WWII airman discovered in a jungle region of Papua New Guinea have turned out to be the moss-covered branches of a tree.
Hikers on the country’s Kokoda Trail found what appeared to be the remains of a parachutist tangled in wires and dangling in a tree two weeks ago.
The Australian military sent a team to investigate the “body” only to discover it was a branch tangled in vines.
An Australian Defence Force (ADF) statement said that although the location of the find was below a flight path commonly used by Allied aircraft during WWII sorties, the “remains” were in fact a moss-covered branch.
