pursue this evidence they were distracted by another piece of evidence that popped up, which was a visual sight out in the desert. that one was very tempting because whenever somebody says they see the airplane people tend to put a lot of credence in that. >> reporter: that visual sight came from a ranch hand in the area who tells authorities the plane flew over him while he was standing on his porch just about 15 miles from where fossett took off. he says the plane was flying pretty low, just about a thousand feet. the tip changes everything. >> it was very distracting and they never looked back and looked at a previous evidence they had. >> reporter: the search area suddenly shifts dramatically, from the mountains about 60 miles northeast to the desert. the search continues for months. still, no sign of steve fossett or his airplane. that is until a hiker finds some of fossett's personal belongings.