A friend told me something wild tonight

[JM]

He is a firefighter, and he told me of an incident a short while ago where we live. His squad got a call to a local downtown hotel, and when they got there, they found a wastebasket on fire in one of the rooms. Also in the room...

Several middle-easterners with high tech equipment including laptops and DSL connections, documents and maps of New York including building photos.

They called the info in and were told to immediately secure the room and call the FBI and DHS.

Not a single word in the media, local or otherwise. Not sure what to believe. He has no reason to BS me.

JM

[Nlighten1]

1. Why would...

terrorists have DSL connections in a hotel room?

[unblock]

4. aren't high-speed internet connections relatively standard in hotel rooms?

i just took a vacation and both amerisuites and hilton have high-speed internet connections in each and every hotel room.

even available for non-terrorists.

[Dookus]

2. was HE there?

or just people from his department? This has some of the stereotypical attributes of an urban legend.

[JM]

6. Yes, he was there...

...and nobody called the FD. The alarm went off from the smoke.

JM

[Dookus]

8. And what exactly did he see?

Middle-Easterners using computers? I'm shocked!

[JM]

10. From what I recall he told me...

...it was not just a bunch of guys with laptops. It was marked maps along with specific pictures of buildings in NY and specific pictures to go along with them. Suffice it to say they were in a location about 300+ miles from NY.

Add to that, from what I understand they had a type of internet connection in the building nobody else had. So if that is true, why would they have more horsepower than everyone else if there were already connections for the building?

I am asking, not accusing. I find the circumstances odd.

In a "normal" situation, I would think if somone had a laptop and was using the same connection and had a few maps lying around, fine, no big deal. But when a bunch of people in a room have a line more powerful that others, have more specific maps and supporting photos than ordinary, and most of all, allegedly don't evacuate much less try to put the fire out after setting off the fire alarms, I get a little suspicious.

I'm in the tech sector. It is more unusual to find an American-born caucasion working with a laptop where I am (depending on the business). There may be a perfectly valid explanation for the computer side of it, like working for a local tech firm on a long term contract and housing at a hotel instead of renting a house/apartment on a year lease. I just don't know though.

JM

[Dookus]

11. I don't understand

how a guest at a hotel can have a type of internet connection nobody else has. Did the alleged terrorists manage somehow to wire a DSL connection that hadn't been there previously?

[rustydog]

17. And the AYRAB terror suspects stayed in the room

typing on their computers with high-speed internet access and maps of NYC while fire alarms screamed outside and inside the room and smoke billowed from the trash can and allowed themselves to be caught?
Also, in a hotel, motel, house, car, garage,or doghouse fire, the police also respond.

Your story has a bit of a pew-factor. it stinks of urban legend.

[ck4829]

3. I believe it, but it does sound weird

I think it may be some sort of set-up. Just my theory. Did you ask who made the call to the fire department? I think your friend may have stumbled upon a staged terrorist act, the 'evidence' is just too convenient, but aborted the operation when they got there. Once again, it's just my theory.

[unblock]

5. even if true, there are so many perfectly innocent explanations

laptops and internet connections in a hotel room? goodness me, how scary. middle-easterners with laptops? unheard of! surely terrorists PRETENDING to be doing work while on a business trip. a conveeeeenient cover. and maps! maps! ridiculous, those are useless to anyone except terrorists!

and the kicker:

pretty clever of those terrorists to call the fire department for a tiny wastebacket fire and get plenty of witnesses to their proceedings. the old hide in plain view trick!

sheesh.

[JM]

7. Actually...

"pretty clever of those terrorists to call the fire department for a tiny wastebacket fire and get plenty of witnesses to their proceedings. the old hide in plain view trick! "

They didn't call. The alarm went off from the smoke. Interesting if, in fact, they were still there when the FD arrived to put out the fire. Anyone familiar with our culture would have been long gone if the alarms were sounding.

JM

[Dookus]

9. I also think

anybody in a room with enough smoke to set off a fire alarm wouldn't be casually sitting at a computer when the fire department arrived.

Sorry, but I don't believe this story.

[JM]

12. True, but...

...if the fire went out or was put out while the alarms were going off, they would still be sitting there, especially if they didn't know what to do when the alarms went off because they weren't familiar with that part of our culture. It doesn't take much to set the alarms off.

I'll see if I can verify the story through a second source. Another friend would likely know if it happened. If I get a "no comment" from him, it would be considered serious.

JM

[Dookus]

13. OK

you do that.

In the meantime, I'll consider this a typical urban legend.

In your verification, it would be helpful if you answered these questions:

What exactly caused the fire?
What exact equipment did the Middle-Easterners have?
What kind of special Internet connection did they have and how did they manage to wire it?
What nations were the Middle-Easterners from?
Where they Arab or Jewish?
Were they actively working on their computers after the alarm went off?
What hotel was it? And why don't they have alarms that alert residents before alerting the fire department?
Exactly how many firemen entered the room and witnessed the supposed terrorist activities?
Who are they, and will they testify under oath?
Did the hotel staff have any involvement?
What was their reaction?


Get those answers and we can have a reasonable discussion.


On edit:

Do you also maintain that terrorists plotting an attack would hear a hotel fire alarm, and due to ignorance, continue their planning without a hint of suspicion?

[JM]

14. Dookus, do me a favor...

...and put the flamethrower away. I am not sitting here accusing people of doing something terroristic, nor am I donning my tinfoil hat since it wasn't a police type of organization that reported it. It was the Fire Department and my source was somone who was allegedly on the scene. I believe the title of the thread was "A friend told me something wild tonight" and I repeated the pertinent facts as I understood them. I didn't even use the word "terror" in the post. I said on more than one occasion in the original post I didn't know what to make of it.

"Do you also maintain that terrorists plotting an attack would hear a hotel fire alarm, and due to ignorance, continue their planning without a hint of suspicion?"

It is plausible. Perhaps they thought if they put the fire out themselves and were behind closed doors, nobody would know where it was and nobody would be breaking the door down/letting themselves in.

Next, while terrorists are allegedly getting instruction on things cultural in order to fit in to our society, what to do in the event of a fire alarm may not be one of them. We take a great deal for granted in terms of our every day life, and who knows what they would be thinking. If you were visiting another country, do you think you would know what to do if you heard an alarm going off? Even if you did, do you think you would know if the alarm was centrally monitored or not? Just curious.

As for my trying to verify the story, another friend of mine works with DHS and would possibly know of the story. I am hopefully seeing him tomorrow night so I'll see if I can get some answers to those questions. I am, however, in agreement with you that there is not nearly enough info to make an adequate assessment of what this was/wasn't, which is why I didn't assert this was a terror incident off the bat.

JM

[pagerbear]

15. "I am not sitting here accusing people of doing something terroristic

...nor am I donning my tinfoil hat since it wasn't a police type of organization that reported it. "

No, what you're doing is spreading an irresponsible rumor.

[EstimatedProphet]

16. I understand what you're saying about not trying to accuse, but

This is the part of the story that turns everything else into urban legend territory: they all are sitting in the room WITH A WASTEBASKET ON FIRE, WHICH HAS PUT OUT ENOUGH SMOKE TO START FIRE ALARMS. There is simply no way that all of them could be awake and conscious with a wastebasket burning in a hotel room, putting out enough smoke to set off alarms, without them knowing it was burning. If they were going to plan a terrorist attack, there is no way they would either 1)stay in the room with incriminating evidence laying around, without putting it away somewhere (they got into the room with it after all, so it can be hidden somewhere), or 2)leave immediately so that it wouldn't immediately be connected to them. Culture doesn't play into this, because this isn't about an alarm, it's about having a burning trash can in your room that has set off the alarms.

[Dookus]

18. JM...

I'm not attacking you personally. I'm attacking the whole culture of unfounded rumors that seems to have pervaded our society.

I think stories like this are spread because they play into our worst instincts and fears, and people should be a lot less credulous about accepting them at face value. This story is quite similar to the recent one making the rounds about Syrian musicians using the toilet on an airplane - even if the details ARE true, the way they're presented is alarmist and, I believe, racist.