Posted on 03/16/2006 6:39:27 PM PST by John Lenin
CHICAGO, March 16 (UPI) -- U.S. federal officials have confirmed they are investigating an incident where three men were seen studying and taking pictures of Chicago's Sears Tower.
The men were spotted outside the 110-story building by security guards about three weeks ago. The men were questioned and allowed to leave, but the guards notified the Chicago Police Department. They in turn notified the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Chicago Tribune reported
The guards recorded the car's license plate and it was traced to a rental agency, which said the car was returned about an hour after the incident.
It was later determined it had been rented with a fictional name, sources told the newspaper.
Also within the last three weeks, WLS-TV reported a man was questioned about sketching the Boeing World Headquarters building.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
Spooky - sounds too familiar.
How do you rent a car with a fictional name? They always take my drivers license and a credit card and type into the computer for 10 minutes before giving them back along with the keys.
PING
I notice that no mention as to possible ethnic background of these alleged "suspicious" folks.
Good question, I'm guesing they don't verify your drivers license with the DMV.
Probably red headed Baptists from Indiana,,,
I'll bet it's those damn pesky Lutherans out making trouble again.
ping
LOL
I was leaning more towards the Amish.
Any horse droppings in the area?
Scary that they can get a car with a Mohammad Doe name, though.
Oops, I should have said that I heard on ABC radio that the guards didn't get their names or license plate numbers. My bad.
Already posted. This thread is a duplicate.
Haven't you heard about fake ID's and stolen credit cards? This is like taking candy from a baby for any petty thief, much less organized crime or a terror group.
Duh. Question. Release. Call the Police. The guards are dumber than dirt.
I think you could learn everything you need to know about the Sears Tower from the internet if you planned to fly a plane into it. Hell, I was doing it myself in the 1980s with Microsoft's flight program.
I was no good at landings, but I could take off from Midway Airport and smack that tower a good one with my little Cessna. I thought it was funny at the time.
Why no mention in the article? (as if I don't already know)
Now who will be the first yahoo to make the racist suggestion that this might be a terrorist act? /s/
I kind of retracted my statement in the next post. I was listening to the ABC News version of the story, which was poorly done. My apologies for not reading the article fully.
Well of course they are. The warning on overdone hotdogs at basketball games didn't pan out to keep the average citizen concerned and willing to turn over even more control to the national government. So now we have yet another 'warning'. Anyone seen the coloring book threat chart of late?
Perhaps we should make it against the law to take pictures of buildings.
They're waiting for the Democrats to win back Congress this fall. Then they'll strike.
Ya, us Lutherans, we get into trouble a lot.
Kinda looks like the middle finger :)
No apologies needed. I was just pointing out the statement.
"It was later determined it had been rented with a fictional name, sources told the newspaper.
Also within the last three weeks, WLS-TV reported a man was questioned about sketching the Boeing World Headquarters building."
Why does this sound really weird ?
Why a "fictional name" instead of the normal " stolen credit card and fraudulent ID" ?
Why "sketching" a building ? 7-11 run out of disposible cameras ?
The report failed to mention they were with a woman! 
They did get the licence plate number, and traced it back to a rental car agency. It was rented under a fictitious name.
This is not difficult. Our own esteemed ICE actually enables this. And it is a crime for me to post how it is possible.
They always take my drivers license and a credit card and type into the computer for 10 minutes before giving them back along with the keys.
It is possible to rent an automobile at all but three (guess which three) airports using cash or travelers checks. There is still such an instrument as an International Driving Permit. Reciprocal agreements are not universal. A credit card does not guarantee citizenship. Insurance is not universal. Some people ride a shuttle, and public transit.
I know. I retracted my statement in my next post. Thanks for pointing it out.
Admin, can you delete post 13? I was a little fast on the trigger. Thanks.
scary thing is the sears tower is just a small deviation off the eastbound flightpath departing midway. Also hold the straight leg on approach about 30 sec and you are over the sears tower.
I feel real safe since 'da 'mare closed Meigs field by tearing up the runway in the middle of the night.....
GAy Muslim 'exterior redecorators'?
What's a 'fictitious name' anyway? Is 'John Smith' a fictitious name? Google, for example, says:
There are no fictitious names, I maintain!There is probably a Joe Schmoe somewhere out there!
I didn't play the game too long. I rarely had a successful landing but I could always crash into the Sears Tower.
That obviously didn't require much skill.
More on that here
The mosque in Bridgeview is radical and has been in the news lately too.
It's easy, Dog. Just go to the Maryland DMV, endure the excruciating wait, tell them "my name Jose Jimenez," give them some ID you printed up on your PC, then use your brand new Maryland driver's license and identity to apply for a credit card.
Those Amish.....their like ants...their all over the place.
Will it surprise anyone when Americans and other nations stop playing mindless defense, stop their ridiculous unilateral civility, and start using their superior ingenuity and technological power to terrorize Arabs as they board buses, shop in markets, go to school, pray, etc?
These vermin need to be taste reality - end of story.
Will it surprise anyone when Americans and other nations stop playing mindless defense, stop their ridiculous unilateral civility, and start using their superior ingenuity and technological power to terrorize Arabs as they board buses, shop in markets, go to school, pray, etc?
These vermin need to taste reality - end of story.
Please excuse my (fill-in-the-blank) "phobia."
I guess you have to be a potential terrorist to get away with it.
We had an unerving incident just after the horror of 9/11. We are at the Great Lakes with the huge locking system.
Three men from DEARBORN,Michigan- chaps of Arabic origin, were taking videos of the International Bridge. The law enforcement authorities saw no wrong, because that is what tourists do. The FBI were called however and interviewed the men.
Now the good news. In today's National Post we learn that the United States Coastguard is to install whopping great machine guns on their cutters. An illustration shows the M240B Machine gun.Even our local rag carried this headline.
USCG to lock'n'load in Great Lakes.
Hopefully this is a war of nerves. Trouble is that no law seems to cover it.
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