Troy Johnson Disappeared After a Plane Crash in 2015 — New Conspiracy Theory Has Emerged

According to KCAL News, 39-year-old Troy Johnson went missing on Aug. 13, 2015, while "flying an experimental Lancair plane that was seen crashing into the ocean 460 miles from San Francisco." He was a seasoned pilot traveling from Phoenix, Ariz. to Hesperia, Calif. but stopped in Palmdale, Calif. to refuel. When his plane suddenly veered off course, "military radar operators picked the plane up off the coast of Point Reyes," which is near San Francisco.

"During the flight there was some unknown mechanical malfunction," his brother-in-law Lindsay Woods told the outlet. "The plane's auto pilot continued on its course until the fuel supply was exhausted and it descended into the ocean." The Coast Guard ended their search in the evening on Aug. 14. It has been eight years since that horrible tragedy and one of his daughters has a conspiracy theory about what actually happened that day. Let's get into it.

Conspiracy theories are often born out of a desire to feel a sense of control over a situation a person has no control over. For Troy's daughter Alison, who goes by @alisonnfit on TikTok, her lack of closure surrounding the death of her father naturally lends itself to any number of theories. It's important to approach this with empathy.

With a glass of wine in hand, Alison provides some information about her father's life before he disappeared. "My dad had a top security clearance with the government. We lived on a mini airport, and owned like four to five planes through the company he worked for. No idea what company." I'm gonna stop here for a minute to explain that not all top security clearances are for government jobs. You are granted clearance from the State Department, but you can use it at a privately owned company.

Alison goes on to say that her father worked for the government but another possibility is he worked for a private company that was contracted by the U.S. government. I'm only mentioning this because she said he worked for a company, but wasn't sure which. Whatever her dad did, it involved a lot of flying for her entire family throughout Alison's childhood.

She recently stumbled upon video of her dad's plane crash that was taken by two military planes sent to help Troy once their radar picked up his aircraft. Naturally watching this took a toll on Alison, but she felt the need to press on. First she showed viewers her dad's flight path. "He went from Point Reyes, Calif. to Phoenix, Ariz., and then he made a pitstop in Palmdale, Calif. to get gas for his plane." What's weird about this is, he never stopped in Palmdale and always had enough gas.

Once he got gas in Palmdale, Troy ended up crashing 460 miles off the coast of California. "Their story is he lost consciousness and crashed," said Alison. She briefly shows a clip from KCAL News reiterating what she said. "Another important piece of information is, he was connected to the tower and stopped responding," hence the two fighter jets with the video footage. "They watched him crash into the Pacific, is what the Coast Guard said."

In the news clip, Troy's brother-in-law says he was an aeronautical engineer, which explains all of the airplanes and flying present in Alison's childhood, and suggests he was probably not working directly for the government. The Coast Guard also told Alison that Troy was "slumped over the controls but when you watch his plane crash they said they had video of Troy in the plane but you don't see that at all."

It's possible the pilots saw Troy but the video was too grainy to pick him up. I also think if there is video of Troy unconscious, it wouldn't be made available to the public. That's entirely too intimate and painful. She also questions whether or not boats were sent to look for Troy, because her family never got proof of that. Looking at what the Coast Guard did to locate the OceanGate submersible, I'm willing to bet they sent boats to search for Troy's plane.

We next see footage of the plane and it's in that pixelated, black and white style most people are familiar with. "There was no footage of the plane actually descending into the ocean, which I thought was so weird," says Alison. Unfortunately, Alison skips through the footage until she reaches the end which shoes the tail of the plane protruding from the ocean. It's difficult to cosign on her theory when viewers are only getting some of the information.

"Watching this is so bizarre," shares Alison. "Because half of me, my heart is breaking, but the other half is like is this even real?" Alison doesn't actually lay out a theory apart from saying if her dad showed up one day, she wouldn't be surprised.

Folks in the comments are pretty suspicious as well. As of the time of this writing, over 26,000 people agree with TikTok user @breadbread58 who said, "So do you think he's alive and in a witness protection program maybe due to his job?"

Another person offered to get her dad involved because he was a Federal Aviation Administration crash investigator. In a subsequent TikTok, Alison makes a reference to the Netflix show Outer Banks which involved a dad faking his own death. At least she's taking this whole thing in stride and can make a few jokes.