Saint-Denis, Reunion Island (CNN) Debris believed to be from a Boeing 777 -- and possibly missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 -- is headed to France, where investigators hope sophisticated technology will help unravel a mystery nearly a year and a half in the making.

The debris -- which investigators seem increasingly confident came from a Boeing 777 -- was discovered this week on the remote Indian Ocean island of Reunion.

Work to conclusively identify the debris will begin midweek, French prosecutors say, but not before a French investigative judge meets with French and Malaysian air transport investigators and Malaysian judicial authorities.

Boeing said it is sending experts to France. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also will travel to take part in the probe, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

A preliminary report could come as early as next week, a source close to the French investigation told CNN. The report won't give "an exact sequence of events," the source said, but will at least eliminate some scenarios.

Photos: The search for MH370 Photos: The search for MH370 Two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a relative of one of the passengers burns incense in Beijing on March 8, 2016. Flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, as it flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. There were 239 people on board. Hide Caption 1 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On July 29, police carry a piece of debris on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A week later, authorities confirmed that the debris was from the missing flight. Hide Caption 2 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Staff members with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau examine a piece of aircraft debris at their laboratory in Canberra, Australia, on July 20. The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had said it was highly likely to have come from Flight 370. Experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, confirmed that the part was indeed from the missing aircraft. Hide Caption 3 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 In late February, American tourist Blaine Gibson found a piece of plane debris off Mozambique, a discovery that renewed hope of solving the mystery of the missing flight. The piece measured 35 inches by 22 inches. A U.S. official said it was likely the wreckage came from a Boeing 777, which MH370 was. Hide Caption 4 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of the flight's passengers console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on February 12, 2015. Protesters had demanded that the airline withdraw the statement that all 239 people aboard the plane were dead. Hide Caption 5 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A police officer watches a couple cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The couple's son was on the plane. Hide Caption 6 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2014. Data from communications between satellites and the missing flight was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers said they requested it be made public. Hide Caption 7 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14, 2014. Hide Caption 8 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13, 2014. Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The HMS Echo, a vessel with the British Roya; Navy, moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12, 2014. Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9, 2014. Hide Caption 11 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8, 2014. Hide Caption 12 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris in the southern Indian Ocean on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 13 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 14 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4, 2014. Hide Caption 15 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 30, 2014, a woman in Kuala Lumpur prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370. Hide Caption 16 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, 2014, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Hide Caption 17 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 18 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 19 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 20 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24, 2014. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Hide Caption 21 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014. Hide Caption 22 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22, 2014. Hide Caption 23 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, 2014, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It was a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes were looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. Hide Caption 24 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, 2014, showed debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could have been from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search. Hide Caption 25 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. Hide Caption 26 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19, 2014. Hide Caption 27 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 18, 2014, a relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. Hide Caption 28 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations in the Indian Ocean on March 16, 2014. Hide Caption 29 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13, 2014. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, search efforts expanded west into the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 30 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 31 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian air force members look for debris near Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 32 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014. Hide Caption 33 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11, 2014. Hide Caption 34 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported on March 8, 2014. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10, 2014. Hide Caption 35 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews on March 9, 2014, before returning to search for the missing plane in the Gulf of Thailand. Hide Caption 36 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 37 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 38 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 39 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 40 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 41 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 42 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Sepang on March 8, 2014. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. Hide Caption 43 of 43

Meanwhile, anguished friends and relatives of MH370 passengers, who had clung to the thin hope that perhaps their loved ones would some day be found alive, are coming to grips with the growing realization that's not likely to happen.

"What kept me going until now was repeatedly imaging the moment I would reunite with my daughter," said Beijing resident Zhang Meiling, whose only child was aboard the flight.

If confirmed, the piece of wreckage would be the first bit of physical evidence recovered from MH370. It could help resolve some questions about the fate of the aircraft, but many others remain unanswered.

Here's where things stand:

THE DEBRIS

The part turned up this week on the shore of Reunion, an island in the western Indian Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from the search zone.

"I thought perhaps it's from a plane crash so I said don't touch it anymore," said Johnny Begue, who was the first to spot the debris. "Because if it's a plane crash, then people have died and you have to [have] respect for them."

To experts, it looks a lot like a flaperon, part of an aircraft's wing that helps control its roll and speed.

Boeing investigators said they are confident the debris is from a 777 aircraft, according to a source close to the investigation.

The source said Boeing investigators are basing their view on photos that have been analyzed and a stenciled number that corresponds to a 777 component.

Another source told CNN that Boeing engineers have seen a part number -- 10-60754-1133 -- in photos of the component. A Boeing parts supplier confirmed the number was on a seal associated with the Boeing 777, the source said.

Images of the debris appear to match schematic drawings for the right-wing flaperon from a 777.

Malaysia's deputy minister of transport, Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, also weighed in, saying the part "most certainly belongs to a Boeing 777," but he didn't draw any more direct connection between the part and the missing flight. A French aeronautics investigator familiar with the ongoing investigation agreed.

Martin Dolan, the head of the Australian agency coordinating the underwater search for the plane, told CNN he is "increasingly confident but not yet certain" that the debris is from MH370.

But, he said, "the only 777 aircraft that we're aware of in the Indian Ocean that could have led to this part floating is MH370."

New debris, which washed ashore Thursday and appears to resemble remnants of a suitcase, is also part of the investigation, Reunion Island police officials confirmed to CNN. That debris will be taken to be analyzed at a police lab in Pontoise, outside the French capital, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement Friday. The prosecutor's office did not provide any timing for the analysis.

But Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said officials were less sure that "the bag has anything to do with MH370" than they are about the plane component.

Teams in Reunion have continued to search the stretch of coast where the debris was found.

THE INVESTIGATION

The debris was placed in a crate for the trip to France, where it will be taken to a lab operated by the French General Directorate of Armament. That agency has sophisticated equipment and expertise to quickly identify the plane the debris belongs to and what happened to it, a source close to the French investigation told CNN.

That analysis will begin on Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Malaysia, which is responsible for the overall investigation into MH370's disappearance, is sending teams of aviation officials to Toulouse, where investigators will analyze it, and Reunion, the country's Prime Minister said Thursday.

It's unclear when the identification process will be completed and its results announced.

"I understand that the photographs that are available are of such detail that it may be possible to make an identification without further physical examination," Truss said Friday.

THE THEORIES

The photographs have enabled aviation experts to weigh in one of the biggest aviation mysteries of recent years.

One group of independent observers said that the damage to the flaperon should give authorities a good indication that the piece came off while the plane was still in the air.

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The group, led by American Mobile Satellite Corp. co-founder Mike Exner, points to the small amount of damage to the front of the flaperon and the ragged horizontal tear across the back.

The rear damage could have been caused if the airliner had its flaperon down as it went into the ocean, some members of Exner's group wrote in a preliminary assessment after looking at photos and videos of the component.

But the lack of damage to the front makes it more likely the plane was in a high-speed, steep, spiral descent and the part fluttered until it broke off, the group said.

But an aircraft component specialist who spoke to CNN disagreed.

The lack of damage to the front section "tells me that the component could still have likely been back in its original position inside the wing itself," said Michael Kenney, senior vice president of Universal Asset Management, which provides plane components to airlines.

THE DISAPPEARANCE

Authorities have so far been unable to establish why Flight 370 flew sharply off its route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing and disappeared on March 8, 2014.

A preliminary assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies , produced in the wake of the MH370 disaster, suggested it was likely someone in the cockpit deliberately caused the aircraft's movements before the Malaysian airliner disappeared.

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Two U.S. officials briefed on the matter told CNN that the assessment, which was not intended for public release, was prepared months ago and was solely based on available satellite and other evidence.

The U.S. intelligence assessment was largely focused on the multiple course changes the aircraft made after it deviated from its scheduled Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing route. Analysts determined that, absent any other evidence, it's most likely someone in the cockpit deliberately moved the aircraft to specific waypoints, crossing Indonesian territory and eventually toward the south Indian Ocean.

Malaysian investigators haven't reported finding any evidence that casts suspicion on the pilots.

The airliner's crew has been the focus of attention since the mysterious disappearance, but no proof has emerged indicating they intended to destroy the plane . Law enforcement and intelligence agencies from numerous countries examined the plane's manifest of crew and passengers and found no significant information to suggest anyone on board posed an obvious threat.

Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 There is still no way to know for sure why Flight MH370 ended, but we are learning more about the lives of those on board. CNN is remembering them through snapshots shared with us. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Rodney and Mary Burrows were looking forward to becoming first-time grandparents after their return home to Australia. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Australians Catherine and Robert Lawton were traveling with friends on vacation when the flight disappeared. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Paul Weeks was traveling to Mongolia for a new job as an engineer. His wife says Paul left behind his watch and his wedding ring before the trip, in case anything happened to him while he was away. Anderson spoke with Paul's brother & sister who said they are coping by spending time together as a family. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Chandrika Sharma, left, was on Flight 370; her daughter Meghna and husband K.S. Narendran wait patiently, trying to manage their anxiety and longing for her return. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Muktesh Mukherjee and Xiaomo Bai had been vacationing in Vietnam and were on their way home to their two young sons in Beijing. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 76-year-old Liu Rusheng, an accomplished calligrapher and one of the oldest passengers on the flight, was in Malaysia to attend an art exhibition with his wife. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Teens Hadrien Wattrelos and Zhao Yan are shown in a photo on Wattrelos' Facebook page. The photo is captioned, simply, "I love you," in French. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Firman Chandra Siregar, 24, studied electrical engineering in Indonesia and was on his way to Beijing on board Flight 370 to start a new job at an oil company. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Patrick Francis Gomes, center, was the in-flight supervisor for the missing plane. His daughter describes him as a quiet person with a sense of humor. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Ch'ng Mei Ling, a Malaysian citizen who lives in Pennsylvania, is a process engineer at a chemical company. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 We do not have photos of all 239 passengers, but we wanted to remember that there are loved ones around the world missing them right now. View CNN's complete coverage of Flight 370. Hide Caption 12 of 12

THE SEARCH

Confirming that the part is from MH370 would establish "really beyond any doubt" that Flight 370 ended its journey in the Indian Ocean, Australia's Truss said.

It would also bolster Australian officials' confidence that they are searching for the rest of the plane's wreckage in roughly the right place, he said, as models of ocean currents make it credible that some debris would drift to the region around Reunion.

But the wreckage is unlikely to help with the underwater search for the remains of the plane, which is taking place in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean, far off the western coast of Australia.

"I don't think it contributes a great deal to our knowledge of where the aircraft is located," Truss said, noting the length of time since it entered the water and "the vagaries of the currents."

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Investigators need to find Flight 370's flight recorders to have any hope of gleaning a better understanding of what happened on board the plane.

And relatives want to know what became of their loved ones.

"We admit, we still do hope that one day they'll come back," said Maira Elizabeth Nari, the 18-year-old daughter of Andrew Nari, the chief steward on the plane. "But if they're not, then it's OK. We'll accept whatever it is, though many of us are in denial."

"No matter where the debris is found, we care more about the whereabouts of our family members," the statement from the Chinese families said.