Malaysian flight 370 might have ended up in the southern indian ocean

An Australian plane spotted "two objects" -- described as "circular" and "rectangular" -- in the south Indian Ocean while searching for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 -- with Malaysian officials prepared to make an announcement today on exactly what, if anything, has been found. 

The potential plane debris -- spotted in the search area southwest of the Australian city of Perth -- were described by Malaysian officials as grey or green and circular, while the second was orange and rectangular.

Authorities said the Australian navy supply ship, the HMAS Success, was attempting to locate the objects as soon as "the next few hours" to see if they are related to missing plane. 

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"It's possible that HMAS Success could pick up the objects within the next few hours or by tomorrow morning at the latest. It is currently the only vessel in the search area," Malaysia's Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said during a news conference, adding that they are working to "narrow the search area."

He said some 18,500-square nautical miles had been searched yesterday, while another 20,000 were scoured today. 

"There are new leads, but nothing conclusive," Hussein said in describing the possible debris spotted by the Australians. 

The announcement came only hours after other "suspicious objects" had been spotted by a Chinese aircraft within the search area while searching for missing jetliner, but could not subsequently be located by the U.S. Navy, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. 

The crew aboard an IL-76 plane spotted the two relatively big floating objects with many white smaller ones scattered over several square miles within the search area, according to China's Xinhua News Agency. The U.S. Navy's P-8 Poseidon was unable to subsequently locate the objects.