The island's inhabitants believed that the float and sailor were of naval origin, and had come from "Sydney". A post-war RAN investigation determined that as the raft's description did not match those manufactured for the RAN, this claim was incorrect. Subsequent writers on the subject have disagreed: Winter states that a carley float from "Sydney" would have been propelled by currents into proximity of Christmas Island around the time of its discovery, while Olson claims that the description of the float's rope and markings matched those used on British ships (from whose supplies "Sydney" could have drawn), the boilersuit indicated a naval rating, and that the quantity of marine growth corresponded with the time such a float would have been at sea. The JCFADT inquiry concluded "on the balance of probability, that the body and the carley float ... were most likely from HMAS "Sydney".", and while Frame was initially sceptical of the raft's origins, the evidence presented to that inquiry changed his mind.