sisyphusshrugged | terror and its discontents

SZ wraps up the whole brown terror in the skies thing

One of the Air Marshals on the flight told Time that none of the men gathered at the First Class restroom during final approach, like Annie said. And he said there was no terror.

He watched the men and saw nothing out of the ordinary. In a long, single aisle plane like the Boeing 757 that was carrying Flight 327, there are often many people standing or moving around. That was the case on this flight, says the FAM, who has flown hundreds of missions in his two and half years on the job. ...

The FAM's take? "I understand why the passenger felt some anxiety about activity on Flight 327," he says. "But that kind of activity was unusual but not a security incident. There was never a threat to the plane."

So, to quote the concluding narration from the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" favorite, Monster A Go-Go, "Suddenly there was no trace. There was no giant, no thing called Douglas to be followed. There was nothing in the tunnel but the puzzled men of courage who suddenly found themselves alone with shadows and darkness... Frank Douglas was rescued alive, well, and of normal size some 8,000 miles away in a lifeboat."

Of course, in the Annie Jacobsen version, this would have to be changed to: "Suddenly there were no terrorists, no bomb built from a Big Mac container and a disposable camera. There was nothing on the plane but the hysterical man and woman of scaredycatness who suddenly found themselves alone with shadows and darkness, their invitations to Scarborough Country and Hannity & Colmes rescinded....