 In the wake of CPNLAF military successes in March 1973, Sihanouk made a visit to the "liberated areas", appearing in photographs with Samphan, Yuon, and Hu Nim (as well as with Saloth Sar, though it is likely Sihanouk was unaware of the latter's seniority).The US initially dismissed the photographs as fakes, pointing out that the three senior cadres - known as the "Three Ghosts", as they had previously disappeared in the late 1960s and were widely presumed to have been murdered by Sihanouk's police - were thought to be dead.Later, movie film of the visit was released, which seemed to confirm that the "Three Ghosts" were in fact alive.