Official: O'Brien's Report is "Laughable"

The blather emitted from CNN's Miles O'Brien earlier today was laughed off by Civil Air Patrol Nevada Maj. Cynthia Ryan. O'Brien's claim was that Fossett might have wandered into restricted air space in "nearby" Area 51 or Nellis Air Force Base -- both 300+ miles away from where he went missing.

He based this on Ryan's utterance of the phrase"electronic evidence" during the press conference that he, like me, followed via TV. But what Ryan meant by that was not that some super-secret federal agency data but the fact that, somewhere in Oakland, there might be some radar blips representing Fossett's plane. Turns out, there aren't anyway.

Ryan told me O'Brien's comments are "laughable." I asked Ryan whether there's "restricted air space" in the region.

Ryan: It’s everywhere in this region and every experienced pilot knows that. Nevada is one huge training ground for the navy and the air force.

Friess: So if Fossett wandered into that, then you'd definitely know where he was.

Ryan: Yes, that's right.

So what O'Brien is positing is true, except that if Fossett had wandered into restricted air space, then there would be no need to figure out where he was. They'd know. Of course.

CNN's Nutty O'Brien: Fossett Conspiracy!

I'm covering the disappearance of Steve Fossett for the New York Times right now from Vegas. He's missing in remote western Nevada around 90 miles south of Reno.

Since I'm stuck following this case by phone calls and by watching the TV coverage, I'm sitting here amazed by the misinformation and awful speculation coming from CNN's Space & Technology Correspondent Miles O'Brien, who is phoning in his "expertise" from an undisclosed location.

First, he gets uppity about a question that reporters on the ground in Minden, Nev., didn't ask about a beacon the plane might have had that might be accessed via satellite. The reporters did ask whether that had yielded any info but the officials didn't know. "Shame on them," he barked at the reporters for not knowing the make and model of that transmitter.

Then, about an hour later, he's on the air with totally off-the-wall conspiracy theory that is based entirely on O'BRIEN'S LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF NEVADA GEOGRAPHY. He refers to something in the press conference about "electronic evidence" and then says:

"It is possible that Fossett flew into some restricted air space in that area. Nellis Air Force base is nearby, that's the home of the Thunderbirds. Not far also from Area 51 which everyone knows a little something about. It is possible that there was some sort of electronic radar information which the military might have had associated with that restricted air space."

Hey O'Brien! Nellis Air Force Base is more than 350 miles from where Fossett was flying. Area 51 is more than 300 miles.

Sheesh. Shame on YOU.