Annie Jacobsen

Annie Jacobsen is an American journalist who writes about business, finance and terrorism for a variety of national and international magazines and webzines and, in particular the Los Angeles Times Magazine.[1]

In 2004, Jacobsen wrote an article about suspicious-looking passengers she saw on a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles that summer.[2] In May 2007, the Department of Homeland Security released a report about the flight, which, according to The Washington Times, concluded that twelve Syrians, traveling as a musical group, and one Lebanese, their promoter, were on the flight.[3] The men were reported to have been traveling on expired visas, and eight had "'positive hits' for past criminal records or suspicious behavior."[3]

Jacobsen's account of the incident was subsequently criticized by blogger and former airline pilot Patrick Smith as being "a story about nothing."[4] Contradicting the governmental report, the website Snopes labeled Jacobsen's account as "false".[5]

Her 2011 book, Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, about the secret U.S. military base, addresses the Roswell UFO incident.[6][7] The book was sharply criticized for extensive errors in an essay by a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists and a senior fellow at the National Security Archive.[8]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2011/01/backstory-out-of-iran.html
  2. ^ Harshaw, Tobin (May 30, 2007). "It’s Not Paranoia If They’re Really Out to Get You". The New York Times. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/its-not-paranoia-if-theyre-really-out-to-get-you/. Retrieved June 5, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b "Security flaws confirmed on Flight 327". Washington Times. May 29, 2007. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/may/29/20070529-040125-8213r/?page=all#pagebreak. Retrieved June 5, 2011. 
  4. ^ Smith, Partick (July 21, 2004). "The hysterical skies". Salon. http://www.salon.com/technology/ask_the_pilot/2004/07/21/askthepilot95. Retrieved May 30, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Terror in the Skies". Snopes.com. May 28, 2007. http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/skyterror.asp. Retrieved May 30, 2011. 
  6. ^ Harding, Thomas (May 13, 2011). "Roswell 'was Soviet plot to create US panic'". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/8512408/Roswell-was-Soviet-plot-to-create-US-panic.html. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
  7. ^ Maslin, Janet (May 15, 2011). "A Military Post's Secrets: Espionage, Not Aliens". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/books/area-51-by-annie-jacobsen-review.html. Retrieved 2011-05-18. 
  8. ^ Norris, Robert S.; Richelson, Jeffrey T. (July 11, 2011). "Dreamland Fantasies". Washington Decoded. http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2011/07/area51.html. Retrieved September 26, 2011. 

External links