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Subject: Snopes Updated: RE: [Monty]FW: stay out of the Malls on 10/31
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Thread-Topic: [Monty]FW: stay out of the Malls on 10/31
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From: "Richard Stevenson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>, "Follett, Jim" <[log in to unmask]>,
        "Mom" <[log in to unmask]>, "BP" <[log in to unmask]>
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Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 13:47:32 -0400


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Claim: Girl receives letter from her disappeared Afghan boyfriend saying
terrorists are going to strike at U.S. malls on Halloween.=20
Status: False.=20
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001]=20
 Hi All - I think you all know that I don't send out hoaxes and don't do
the reactionary thing and send out anything that crosses my path. This
one, however, is a friend of a friend and I've given it enough
credibility in my mind that I'm writing it up and sending it out to all
of you.  My friend's friend was dating a guy from Afghanistan up until a
month ago. She had a date with him around 9/6 and was stood up. She was
understandably upset and went to his home to find it completely emptied.
On 9/10, she received a letter from her boyfriend explaining that he
wished he could tell her why he had left and that he was sorry it had to
be like that. The part worth mentioning is that he BEGGED her not to get
on any commercial airlines on 9/11 and to not to go any malls on
Halloween. As soon as everything happened on the 11th, she called the
FBI and has since turned over the letter.  This is not an email that
I've received and decided to pass on. This came from a phone
conversation with a long-time friend of mine last night.  I may be
wrong, and I hope I am. However, with one of his warnings being correct
and devastating, I'm not willing to take the chance on the second and
wanted to make sure that people I cared about had the same information
that I did.    =20
Origins: The above-quoted e-mail began circulating on October 5, 2001.
Its author, a young lady whose signature block is included in a number
of the forwards, has told us she got this story from a friend, who in
turn heard it from the warned girl.=20
Whatever the gal who wrote the e-mail believes about the truthfulness of
her friend, this particular story is false. A public information officer
at the FBI's National Press Office told us that they've fielded many
phone calls about this message, they've checked it out, and they have
received no letter of warning from a girl with an Afghan boyfriend.=20
This story fits neatly into the genre of a number of similar rumors
about helped terrorists or compassionate Arabs who are moved to offer
specific warnings about upcoming attacks, and thus should most likely be
dismissed as just more of the same. ("Helped terrorists <warning.htm>"
of lore offer such heads up by way of thanks for a kindness done them.
"Compassionate Arabs" of rumor offer such intelligence to favored
neighbors, usually just before they themselves pack up and leave in the
middle of the night. Dozens, if not hundreds, of versions of such tales
abound, each told by someone who swears he heard it from someone who
knows the person who had the encounter.) Such snippets of lore swing on
the belief that those who have foreknowledge of destruction to come
would jeopardize the outcome of those events by warning others.
Terrorists may very well form friendships among the folk they've
temporarily taken on the coloration of, but friendship stops at the line
where it might interfere with operations. To think otherwise is to
surrender to a form of na=EFvet=E9 that can only be characterized as
appallingly wishful thinking.=20
As for the specifics of this particular e-mailed story, you have to ask
why the boyfriend would warn the girl against taking any flights on the
11th of September. Wouldn't he have known if she were planning a trip,
especially one only a week away? If the story is purely an expression of
lore, this literary device is necessary to further the plot because the
caution against air travel on the 11th works to provide credibility to
the further warning about more mayhem to come on Halloween. One event
validates the other; a device used in other "warning" legends.=20
For instance, this device of one realized event bestowing credibility on
a prediction made about a second event yet to occur appears in a rumor
from World War II:=20
 In the wake of the anxiety rumors that swept the nation immediately
after Pearl Harbor came a pipe-dream rumor which was undoubtedly the
most popular of all: the weird tale of the man who picked up a strange
woman in his car. Arriving at her destination, his passenger allegedly
offered to pay the man for the gas he had used. But the man refused to
accept the money, so the woman offered to tell his fortune. And, as the
rumor went, mysteriously she told him, "There will be a dead body in
your car before you get home, and Hitler will be dead in six months."
Supposedly, then, on the way home the man had seen a serious automobile
wreck and had taken one of the victims into his car to rush him to the
hospital. But the injured person died en route, which left the hopeful
implication that Hitler would therefore be dead within the following six
months.  Although this pipe dream sounds foolish, it nevertheless spread
throughout the country rapidly. It appeared in widely circulated gossip
columns, and a lot of Americans took it seriously. Yet this same rumor,
in the setting of the period, to be sure, had appeared in every military
conflict since the Napoleonic Wars. And it has been said that the rumor
probably goes back into the Middle Ages.   =20
Another version of the "Mall-o-ween" rumor surfaced shortly after the
first.=20
 My friend Colleen arrived for a facial when FBI agents were leaving
Murad on Sunday, October 7, 2001. They were there to interrogate a girl
who worked there to find out if she knew anything. The reason for their
lead was she was best-friends with a girl who was dating an Arab man,
who disappeared and was involved in the terrorist attacks on the WTC. He
disappeared this summer and left her a note, saying the following in the
effect of:  "I have to go away and will not be able to see you again.
Please do me a favor and do not fly in any planes on September 11, 2001
nor shop at any shopping malls on October 31, 2001 ......... "  Don't
know about you but I live across the street from a shopping mall, and my
in-laws do too. Given my daughter is usually at their house on a
Wednesday afternoon, right near the mall, am thinking of where else to
go.  Halloween may not be so Happy.  Please send this to anyone that you
know. Let's hope this isn't for real, but since it was actually left in
a letter to a loved one from one of the people involved in the attacks
of September 11, 2001, I am not taking it too lightly. =20
The case against this rumor about terrorist attacks on malls is a fairly
solid one -- the theme is both well known in the realm of folklore, and
terrorists do not tip plans to outsiders. Moreover, the FBI says it
hasn't received such a letter as the e-mail describes the warned girl as
turning over to them. They've been investigating the story and finding
nothing to it.=20
Yet the author of the first e-mail (whom we contacted) believes the
story her friend told her. She does not personally know the friend of
her friend (the gal who supposedly received the letter), but does trust
that her friend's account is accurate.=20
Will she through further conversations with her friend discover that
she's not as close to the source of the rumor as she thought? Will her
friend's friend turn out to be someone much farther removed from the
"warning" than the usual two links in the "friend of a friend" (FOAF)
chain of contemporary lore? That is for the future to reveal.=20
That one person believes a rumor does not make the rumor true, of
course. But that we can trace this rumor to the person who started the
e-mail does make this case more intriguing.=20
Barbara "international intrigue" Mikkelson=20
Last updated: 10 October 2001=20


-----Original Message-----
From: Stevenson, Pam [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2001 1:36 PM
To: 'Monty'; 'Follett, Jim'; 'Mom'; 'BP'
Subject: [Monty]FW: stay out of the Malls on 10/31


From CobbleHouse [ Monty ]

Bruce -

I tried snopes.com (is that the right name?) to see if this was listed
there, but can't get to the server.  Have you heard of this?

- Pam



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<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><B><FONT COLOR=3D"#0000FF" FACE=3D"Arial">Claim:</FO=
NT></B><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman"> Girl receives letter from her disappe=
ared Afghan boyfriend saying terrorists are going to strike at U.S. malls on=
 Halloween. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><B><FONT COLOR=3D"#0000FF" FACE=3D"Arial">Status:</F=
ONT></B><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman"></FONT><B><I></I></B><B><I> <FONT COL=
OR=3D"#FF0000" FACE=3D"Arial">False.</FONT></I></B><I></I><FONT FACE=3D"Time=
s New Roman"> </FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><B><FONT COLOR=3D"#0000FF" FACE=3D"Arial">Example:<=
/FONT></B><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman"></FONT><I></I><I> <FONT COLOR=3D"#0=
000FF" FACE=3D"Arial">[Collected on the Internet, 2001]</FONT></I><FONT FACE=
=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D"Times New Roman">&n=
bsp;Hi All - I think you all know that I don't send out hoaxes and don't do=20=
the reactionary thing and send out anything that crosses my path. This one,=20=
however, is a friend of a friend and I've given it enough credibility in my=20=
mind that I'm writing it up and sending it out to all of you.&nbsp; My frien=
d's friend was dating a guy from Afghanistan up until a month ago. She had a=
 date with him around 9/6 and was stood up. She was understandably upset and=
 went to his home to find it completely emptied. On 9/10, she received a let=
ter from her boyfriend explaining that he wished he could tell her why he ha=
d left and that he was sorry it had to be like that. The part worth mentioni=
ng is that he BEGGED her not to get on any commercial airlines on 9/11 and t=
o not to go any malls on Halloween. As soon as everything happened on the 11=
th, she called the FBI and has since turned over the letter.&nbsp; This is n=
ot an email that I've received and decided to pass on. This came from a phon=
e conversation with a long-time friend of mine last night.&nbsp; I may be wr=
ong, and I hope I am. However, with one of his warnings being correct and de=
vastating, I'm not willing to take the chance on the second and wanted to ma=
ke sure that people I cared about had the same information that I did. &nbsp=
;&nbsp;<BR>
</FONT><B></B><B><FONT COLOR=3D"#0000FF" FACE=3D"Arial">Origins:</FONT></B><=
FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman"> The above-quoted e-mail began circulating on=20=
October 5, 2001. Its author, a young lady whose signature block is included=20=
in a number of the forwards, has told us she got this story from a friend, w=
ho in turn heard it from the warned girl. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">Whatever the gal who=20=
wrote the e-mail believes about the truthfulness of her friend, this particu=
lar story is false. A public information officer at the FBI's National Press=
 Office told us that they've fielded many phone calls about this message, th=
ey've checked it out, and they have received no letter of warning from a gir=
l with an Afghan boyfriend. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">This story fits neatl=
y into the genre of a number of similar rumors about helped terrorists or co=
mpassionate Arabs who are moved to offer specific warnings about upcoming at=
tacks, and thus should most likely be dismissed as just more of the same. (&=
quot;<U></U></FONT><U><FONT COLOR=3D"#0000FF" FACE=3D"Times New Roman">Helpe=
d terrorists &lt;warning.htm&gt;</FONT></U><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">&q=
uot; of lore offer such heads up by way of thanks for a kindness done them.=20=
&quot;Compassionate Arabs&quot; of rumor offer such intelligence to favored=20=
neighbors, usually just before they themselves pack up and leave in the midd=
le of the night.</FONT><U> <FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">Dozens, if not hun=
dreds, of versions of such tales abound, each told by someone who swears he=20=
heard it from someone who knows the person who had the encounter</FONT></U><=
FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">.) Such snippets of lore swing on the belief t=
hat those who have foreknowledge of destruction to come would jeopardize the=
 outcome of those events by warning others. Terrorists may very well form fr=
iendships among the folk they've temporarily taken on the coloration of, but=
 friendship stops at the line where it might interfere with operations. To t=
hink otherwise is to surrender to a form of na=EFvet=E9 that can only be cha=
racterized as appallingly wishful thinking. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">As for the specifics=20=
of this particular e-mailed story, you have to ask why the boyfriend would w=
arn the girl against taking any flights on the 11th of September. Wouldn't h=
e have known if she were planning a trip, especially one only a week away? I=
f the story is purely an expression of lore, this literary device is necessa=
ry to further the plot because the caution against air travel on the 11th wo=
rks to provide credibility to the further warning about more mayhem to come=20=
on Halloween. One event validates the other; a device used in other &quot;wa=
rning&quot; legends. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">For instance, this de=
vice of one realized event bestowing credibility on a prediction made about=20=
a second event yet to occur appears in a rumor from World War II: </FONT></S=
PAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D"Arial">&nbsp;In the=20=
wake of the anxiety rumors that swept the nation immediately after Pearl Har=
bor came a pipe-dream rumor which was undoubtedly the most popular of all: t=
he weird tale of the man who picked up a strange woman in his car. Arriving=20=
at her destination, his passenger allegedly offered to pay the man for the g=
as he had used. But the man refused to accept the money, so the woman offere=
d to tell his fortune. And, as the rumor went, mysteriously she told him, &q=
uot;There will be a dead body in your car before you get home, and Hitler wi=
ll be dead in six months.&quot; Supposedly, then, on the way home the man ha=
d seen a serious automobile wreck and had taken one of the victims into his=20=
car to rush him to the hospital. But the injured person died en route, which=
 left the hopeful implication that Hitler would therefore be dead within the=
 following six months.&nbsp; Although this pipe dream sounds foolish, it nev=
ertheless spread throughout the country rapidly. It appeared in widely circu=
lated gossip columns, and a lot of Americans took it seriously. Yet this sam=
e rumor, in the setting of the period, to be sure, had appeared in every mil=
itary conflict since the Napoleonic Wars. And it has been said that the rumo=
r probably goes back into the Middle Ages. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<BR>
</FONT><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">Another version of the &quot;Mall-o-we=
en&quot; rumor surfaced shortly after the first. </FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D"Times New Roman">&n=
bsp;My friend Colleen arrived for a facial when FBI agents were leaving Mura=
d on Sunday, October 7, 2001. They were there to interrogate a girl who work=
ed there to find out if she knew anything. The reason for their lead was she=
 was best-friends with a girl who was dating an Arab man, who disappeared an=
d was involved in the terrorist attacks on the WTC. He disappeared this summ=
er and left her a note, saying the following in the effect of:&nbsp; &quot;I=
 have to go away and will not be able to see you again. Please do me a favor=
 and do not fly in any planes on September 11, 2001 nor shop at any shopping=
 malls on October 31, 2001 ......... &quot;&nbsp; Don't know about you but I=
 live across the street from a shopping mall, and my in-laws do too. Given m=
y daughter is usually at their house on a Wednesday afternoon, right near th=
e mall, am thinking of where else to go.&nbsp; Halloween may not be so Happy=
.&nbsp; Please send this to anyone that you know. Let's hope this isn't for=20=
real, but since it was actually left in a letter to a loved one from one of=20=
the people involved in the attacks of September 11, 2001, I am not taking it=
 too lightly. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<BR>
</FONT><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">The case against this rumor about terr=
orist attacks on malls is a fairly solid one -- the theme is both well known=
 in the realm of folklore, and terrorists do not tip plans to outsiders. Mor=
eover, the FBI says it hasn't received such a letter as the e-mail describes=
 the warned girl as turning over to them. They've been investigating the sto=
ry and finding nothing to it. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">Yet the author of the=
 first e-mail (whom we contacted) believes the story her friend told her. Sh=
e does not personally know the friend of her friend (the gal who supposedly=20=
received the letter), but does trust that her friend's account is accurate.=20=
</FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">Will she through furt=
her conversations with her friend discover that she's not as close to the so=
urce of the rumor as she thought? Will her friend's friend turn out to be so=
meone much farther removed from the &quot;warning&quot; than the usual two l=
inks in the &quot;friend of a friend&quot; (FOAF) chain of contemporary lore=
? That is for the future to reveal. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">That one person belie=
ves a rumor does not make the rumor true, of course. But that we can trace t=
his rumor to the person who started the e-mail does make this case more intr=
iguing. </FONT></SPAN></P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman">Barbara &quot;interna=
tional intrigue&quot; Mikkelson </FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><B><FONT COLOR=3D"#0000FF" FACE=3D"Arial">Last upda=
ted:</FONT></B><FONT FACE=3D"Times New Roman"> 10 October 2001 </FONT></SPAN=
>
</P>
<BR>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">-----Original Message-=
----</FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">From: Stevenson, Pam=20=
[<A HREF=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">mailto:[log in to unmask]
ox.com</A>]</FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Sent: Thursday, Octob=
er 11, 2001 1:36 PM</FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">To: 'Monty'; 'Follett=
, Jim'; 'Mom'; 'BP'</FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Subject: [Monty]FW: s=
tay out of the Malls on 10/31</FONT></SPAN>
</P>
<BR>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">From CobbleHouse [ Mon=
ty ]</FONT></SPAN>
</P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Bruce -</FONT></SPAN>
</P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">I tried snopes.com (is=
 that the right name?) to see if this was listed</FONT></SPAN>

<BR><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">there, but can't get=20=
to the server.&nbsp; Have you heard of this?</FONT></SPAN>
</P>

<P><SPAN LANG=3D"en-us"><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">- Pam</FONT></SPAN>
</P>
<BR>

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