Manifest, a supernatural TV series about a plane flight that reappears after missing for five and a half years, is not based on a true story. While flight 828 really disappeared in the Manifest TV series, there has not been any real-life disappearance of flight 828. Many people believe that it is inspired by the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, but the story was actually written about five years before that ill-fated flight.
The show’s creator found it hard to generate interest in his script but following what happened in 2014, his story became more plausible and he found a network willing to produce the show. The show debuted in 2018 and has gripped audiences around the world. Its fourth and final season, which would hopefully unravel all the mysteries, began streaming on Netflix in 2023.
Is Manifest Based on a True Story?
Manifest is not based on a true story. There is, however, the wrongly held assumption that it is inspired by the tragic events surrounding the disappearance of Flight MH370. Flight MH370 was a Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared during a journey from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China, on the 8th of March 2014. The flight had 239 crew and passengers on board and lasted communicated with ATC 38 minutes into the journey.
It stopped communicating after then but was traced by military radar for an hour more before disappearing entirely. During that preceding hour, it sharply deviated from its flight path. To date, no one knows what actually happened to flight MH370. Various countries and even the private sector have pulled resources to conduct the most expensive search in aviation history. Still, there is no definite information on what happened to the flight.
Various theories have been proposed, including pilot sabotage and hijacking, but none has ever been confirmed. Some debris from the plane washed up in 2015 and it is believed that the plane was downed in the southern part of the Indian Ocean.
Manifest premiered in September 2018, four years after the disappearance of Flight MH370 and the natural conclusion was that it inspired the creator of Manifest but this is not so. Show creator Jeff Rake has revealed that the idea first came to him around 2009 during a road trip with his family.
He and his wife had to keep the kids in line and he suddenly found himself thinking about families being separated ad reunited after some time. He penned down his story and tried to sell it to a network but they were not that overly interested. It was when the MH370 disaster happened that his crazy idea became plausible, and he was able to get a network for the show.
Rake has revealed that he was inspired by other TV series, such as Lost, which focuses on the survivors of a plane crash who are stranded on an island and have to work together to protect themselves from malevolent forces.
What is Flight 828?
Flight 828 is a plane flight that disappeared in the TV series Manifest. The flight is billed as Montego Air Flight 828 and is traveling from Jamaica to New York with 191 passengers and crew on board. The plane experiences some crazy turbulence but successfully lands at the New York Stewart International Airport.
The passengers are initially overjoyed but their joy turns to confusion when they are met by government agents who explain to them that about five and a half years have passed between the date of their flight and the current time. The passengers are confused as to how their flight could have disappeared for five and half years, and this forms the basis of Manifest.
They have to figure out what happened to their flight and also cope with the upheaval in their personal lives. For instance, a young passenger named Cal discovers that he is five and half years younger than his twin sister while another passenger named Michaela discovers that her fiancé Jared has married her best friend.
What Happened to Flight 828?
Flight 828 disappeared during a routine flight from Jamaica to New York on the 7th of April 2013. The authorities conduct a wide search for it but do not find anything tangible. They, therefore, have to close the search with the investigation reports deemed inconclusive.
Fast forward five and a half years later to the 4th of November 2018, the flight suddenly lands at a New York International Airport. This perplexes both the people on the ground and the passengers who are informed that they have been missing for five and a half years and are presumed to all be dead.
Did Flight 828 Really Disappear?
In the TV series, Flight 828 really disappeared, and for five years, nobody could account for what had happened to the flight despite the massive search for it. Meanwhile, the passengers on the flight are in some suspended time frame. They, therefore, have no inkling of what had happened and the time that had elapsed between them taking off and arriving at their destination.
How Did Flight 828 Disappear?
Flight 828 disappeared during turbulence in the course of its journey but exactly how it disappeared is a mystery that will be solved as Manifest comes to a conclusion with a tying up of all the plotlines. All that is known is that something quite sinister is going on as the passengers receive various callings and visions. There is also the fact that the plane busted into flames and got destroyed once the passengers had finished embarking.
What Really Happened to Flight 828 in Manifest?
There have been several theories as to what happened to Flight 828 in Manifest. One school of thought has it that Flight 868 traveled through time and crashed in the future. The future people realized that the ripple effects would be quite negative and so they decided to send the passengers back to minimize the damages. Some others believe that it may have traveled into an alternate universe.
The characters in Manifest also have their own theories as to what happened to Flight 828. Ben believes that the flight crashed, and they all died before being resurrected and brought back for a higher purpose. Another character Saanvi Bahl believes that the passengers are all linked to a divine gemstone which makes it possible for them to come back.
Some revelations have been made as to what really happened to Flight 828 in season 4 of 2022. It is believed that Flight 828 in Manifest was trapped in a mysterious bright light for five and a half years. During this period, the passengers connect with divine consciousness.
It is this divine consciousness that sends them the callings, ie visions and clues, which they experience after they return back to earth. This theory has not been fully fleshed out but it will be fully unfurled as the show draws to an end.
Where Did Flight 828 Go?
Flight 828 disappeared into a divine consciousness or a mysterious bright light. This is revealed by the activities of Cal, a young boy that was on the flight with his dad and aunt. He discovers that he is now five years younger than his twin sister, who did not travel with them. Cal also returns to this divine consciousness in season three.
