Reply #3: One explanation is that (ABC news consultant) Cannistraro botched it [View All]

[gbwarming]

These stories that you've posted have two elements
1. A detailed story provided by Cannistraro which was not confirmed by either the ME police or the FBI. He seems to be the sole source of the detailed story.

2. Various reports in Bangor and Jackman about middle eastern men taking cab rides, buying gas and cell phones. They don't all add up. The Jackman gas station report was a month before 9/11, the cell story four days before, and the cabbies are all over the place. The first cabbie drives 3 ME men (including Atta) and a white guy 10 days before 9/11, the second cabbie has four men buying luggage and rushing to catch a flight on 9/8, and the 3rd drove 'several' men to two malls on 9/10. IMO there is a considerable chance that these helpful citizens interacted with someone other than the hijackers.

How many tips did the FBI receive in the days and weeks after 9/11? Cannistraro/ABCnews focused attention on Bangor, but it is possible that dozens of other cities had similar sighting which went unreported. Hundreds of immigrants were detained without charge and tens of thousands of people of middle eastern descent were questioned in the weeks following 9/11.



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Maine connection to attacks probed;
A.J. Higgins and Renee Ordway, Of the NEWS Staff. Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Me.: Sep 13, 2001. pg. 1
Full Text (1071 words)
(Copyright 2001 Bangor Daily News)

ABC News reported Wednesday that Chitwood had confirmed that four of the suspected terrorists had crossed into Maine through Jackman.

But Chitwood said late Wednesday afternoon that his remarks had been misconstrued by the network, and he further maintained that the ABC reports quoting his theories about a Jackman connection were erroneous.
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Former CIA official defends story of Maine link to terrorism Governor, police spokesman deny hijackers were in Bangor;
A.J. Higgins, Of the NEWS Staff. Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Me.: Sep 15, 2001. pg. 1
...
Cannistraro's claims conflicted with statements made Thursday by Gov. Angus S. King and Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland. Both state officials said that based on the information provided to them by the FBI to date, there appeared to be no Bangor or Canadian connection with the airline hijackings. And Rebecca Hupp, interim director at BIA, said Friday she had received no inquiries from the FBI concerning any activities at the airport.

Cannistraro, a 27-year intelligence veteran with a private consulting firm that includes ABC News among its clients, conceded Friday it was possible some Maine officials were simply not in the loop.

"I can only tell you what the FBI told me and that was that three of these people got on the flight from Bangor," Cannistraro said Friday.
...
======= (Here is one later article addressing the Bangor investigation)
Question of Bangor link to attacks unanswered;
Doug Kesseli, Of the NEWS Staff. Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Me.: Oct 13, 2001. pg. 1
Full Text (1150 words)
(Copyright 2001 Bangor Daily News)
...
On Friday, Bangor Police Chief Donald Winslow reaffirmed earlier statements that his department has received no substantiated information that the suspected terrorists were in Bangor. Winslow added that he is not discounting the possibility that they were in the city at one point. After all, he said, some were believed to have been in the United States for years.

Enough people have reported sightings in the Bangor area to keep investigators busy.
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(Edit for spelling)