Alleged bin Laden sightings in the United States

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When authorities from the United States (U.S.) began scouring the globe looking for the location of Osama bin Laden following the September 11 attacks in 2001, there were a number of alleged sightings of Bin Laden in the U.S.

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Although some scholars believe that bin Laden took his new wife to visit the cities of Indianapolis and Los Angeles in 1978, [1] all later suggestions of bin Laden entering the U.S. were typically treated by authorities with skepticism, but were followed up at least cursorily. [2] In actuality, although many analysts believed he was hiding in Pakistan, there were no confirmed sightings of bin Laden from December 2001 to May 2011. [3] Lt. Charles Illsley of the West Valley City Police said that "When, day after day, media reports focus on a single person like Bundy or bin Laden, it is not too big a leap for somebody to go outside and think they see him. Images stick." [4]

All of these sightings were dismissed when bin Laden was confirmed dead after a U.S. raid in Pakistan on May 1, 2011. [5]

Reported sightings

In the immediate investigation surrounding the attacks, FBI agent Brian Rielly canvassed an apartment block to inquire about Osama Awadallah, and were told by a woman that she had seen Osama bin Laden himself sharing an apartment with the 21-year-old student who was later acquitted. [6] [7]

In October 2001, a woman, sounding "very well-meaning and serious about her concern", told emergency dispatchers that she had encountered bin Laden at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Pleasant View, Utah. [8]

On December 17, 2001, a man in Colorado Springs, Colorado informed authorities that he had seen bin Laden attending a Rotary Club event earlier in the day. [9]

In May 2002, a caller phoned police in San Mateo, California, to report that they had just seen Osama bin Laden hanging around the Caltrain station. [10]

Several dozen people had reported seeing bin Laden in Utah; driving a Volkswagen Beetle on I-80, in the mall, at McDonald's, or in a Provo 7-Eleven purchasing a Big Gulp by January 2002. [2] [11] Predominantly a Mormon state, this urban legend relies on the tenuous permittance of plural marriage in Utah, and its generally arid climate, to justify why the leader of al-Qaeda would choose it as his hiding place. [12] In response to the claims, Utah authorities told media that Bin Laden's face had been one of those loaded into a facial recognition program for surveillance cameras at the E Center arena, expected to host the Olympic hockey tournament in 2002. [2]

In June 2007, the unemployed Thomas Potter of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, wrote to the Department of Defense, as well as the media, requesting the $25 million reward for finding bin Laden, noting that WhitePages.com had three listings for the shadowy leader; one that suggested he worked at Fox News, another suggesting he worked at Bethesda Interactive Solutions, and a third suggesting he lived in Hermitage, Tennessee. [13]

In February 2008, a woman reported to police that she had seen Osama bin Laden at the library in Bellingham, Washington. [14]

Parodies

In December 2001, The New Yorker magazine carried a satirical list of leads that the FBI had followed up since the attacks, noting "#6: Lady in Denver claims she saw Osama bin Laden driving off the fifth tee at her country club." [15]

When a remote Alaskan fishing village, with a total population of only 2,400 residents, received more than $200,000 in federal Homeland Security funds to install surveillance cameras in 2005, it led to jokes about Osama bin Laden hiding in the village. [16]

In August 2005, a frustrated resident of York, Pennsylvania, told the local newspaper that he had seen bin Laden disappear in the tall weeds around Willis Run, and suggested tongue-in-cheek that perhaps the Department of Homeland Security should finally come take care of the county's weed problem. [17]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Bergen, Peter, "The Osama bin Laden I Know', 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 Quad-Cities Times, Bin Laden seen in Utah; Elvis still at large, January 3, 2002
  3. ↑ Daily Nation, Osama remains as lethal as ever Archived 2012-09-19 at the Wayback Machine , September 20, 2009
  4. ↑ "Osama bin Laden in Utah". 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  5. ↑ Cooper, Helene (May 1, 2011). "Obama Announces Killing of Osama bin Laden". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 2, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  6. ↑ New York Post, Woman, Osama in my neighbor Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine , February 16, 2002
  7. ↑ Transcript Archived June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Standard Examiner, Bin Laden spotted in Pleasant View, October 18, 2001
  9. ↑ Colorado Springs Gazette, The Buzz: No. 1 fugitive may be lost in Antlers garage Archived 2022-05-17 at the Wayback Machine , December 29, 2001
  10. ↑ San Mateo Daily Journal , Police briefs Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine , May 24, 2002
  11. ↑ Lakeland Ledger , "If you're looking for Osama, he's in Salt Lake City", January 18, 2002
  12. ↑ Harding, Nick. "Urban Legends", 2005. p. 112
  13. ↑ ABC News, Internet absurdity: Bin Laden listed at FOX Headquarters Archived 2011-04-27 at the Wayback Machine , June 7, 2007
  14. ↑ Bellingham Herald , Osama bin Laden sighting? , February 20, 200
  15. ↑ The New Yorker , "Shouts and Murmers", December 17, 2001
  16. ↑ Gordon, Larry. Los Angeles Times, Pondering the costs of terror protection Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine , July 10, 2006
  17. ↑ York Daily Record, Letters to the Editor, August 10, 2205 Archived June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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