Dr Dirk Obbink now fills in (some of) the details he omitted in his draft of his publication of the Sappho fragments. He states:
the papyrus’s text was found to overlap, in two narrow vertical bands of letters, with fragments of two previously published papyri [no reference] containing fragments of Sappho[...] it was damaged in ancient times, torn up the centre of the one complete surviving column, and [...] The authenticity of the ancient mummy cartonnage panel, from which the papyrus was extracted [...] has been established through its documented legal provenance. The owner of the papyrus wishes to remain anonymous, [...]Source: Dirk Obblink, 'New poems by Sappho', Times Literary Supplement 5 February 2014
Details of the "documented legal provenance" of the cartonnage will now no doubt be released together with those of the other two fitting fragments. Where is the object itself now, and what about the detailed documentation of its dismemberment? What date was it, and from which (legally dispersed) cemetery did it come? What happened to the human remains?
No explanation was offered for the disappearance of the online text. Was this elaborate see-it-now-now-you-don't and generating suspense over certain details of the origin of the data showmanship, to generate more gossip, discussion and speculation?