While apparent moonset or sunrise are indeed a function of YOUR altitude to within a few minutes, I would suggest that that whole issue is a red herring
As a passenger - tourist with only a few long overseas trips at various times day and night ,etc IMHO- to believe anyone at night in the passenger section and absent that little screen display of route could notice stars- or even be aware of a gentle coordinated turn via an autopilot dial or a partly trained non pilot is almost absurd. Eyes open or closed. Now if a high banked turn was made, there would be a slight change ( depending on a coordination) in g's and if during the day some visual clues. But overwater- at night- unless one was fixated on A STAR OR SIMILAR, one would be clueless as to chan ge in direction or slight chane ( less than several thousand d feet in altitude ).
\And as a passenger - so what!!
So what remains ?
1) deliberate change in normal broadcast of transponder and other radio comm
2) delilberate change in course
3) no obvious landing places yet found or discovered
4) last track timing may be due to pinger schedule
5) and over a deep part of ocean
Above are reasonable (IMO) descriptions of available- somewhat factual/credible information released.
And they seem to poInt to A) no accident B) deliberate actions by ??
Hopefully that dampens all the rest - decompression, cell phones, satcom, flight simulators, loose oxygen bottles, hypoxia, and actions by residents of area 51.
