I'm not sure if this is in the right place or not, but it seemed that Federal air marshals are supposed to blend in with passengers on planes, but an alleged run-in with a Twitter-happy celebrity is highlighting how technology could blow their cover in an instant.
It started when reality television star Kim Kardashian was on a flight to Los Angeles, California, earlier this week and became intrigued by her neighbor.
So she logged on to Twitter while in the air to share her impressions.
"I'm on the airplane...love wifi! I am sitting next to an Air Marshall [sic]! Jim the air marshall [sic] makes me feel safe!" Kardashian wrote.
"If you see something suspicious, just hop into my lap and I'll protect you, ma'am. Even if it means locking myself in the lavatory with you until the threat has abated."
The message went out to the more than 3 million people who follow her on Twitter.
Great. Now we have to contact all three million of them and make sure they know how to spell "marshal" properly. Perhaps we can give that job to Obama's press secretary when he has a similar following. Let's give him a couple of weeks and see how he's doing in that department. Better yet, Obama should just hire Kim as his press secretary.
About an hour later -- faced with questions from her followers about how she knew his identity -- Kardashian explained that she figured out who the man was because she was curious and simply inquired.
Click on the pic to see how Kim inquired as to whether or not he had a weapon.
"Air Marshall's [sic] are supposed to keep their identity concealed. He did! I am just a private eye & assumed, so I asked him & he was honest!" Kardashian later wrote, adding "OK I hope I don't get in trouble."
"Jim, I'll let this one slide given the
The incident has many people wondering whether air marshals would tell a passenger who they are when simply asked.
They apparently will if the inquiress has a booty score of 9 or better.
A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration called the situation "pretty interesting" but declined to say whether air marshals would reveal their identity when approached by a curious seat mate.
"There are thousands of flights every day and thousands of air marshals covering those flights every day, and each situation is unique," said Nelson Minerly, adding that the TSA does not discuss how federal air marshals operate on an aircraft.
Or how they are not supposed to.
Minerly declined to say whether the man sitting next to Kardashian was an air marshal, and he said he did not know whether the TSA was looking into the incident. He said he could not speak to whether the agency was concerned about someone tweeting about sitting next to an air marshal while in flight.
I'm sure Napolitano thinks the system is working. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Phone calls to Kardashian's publicist seeking comment about the incident were not returned.
But there was giggling in the background.
Last month, President Obama said he ordered more air marshals on flights after a botched Christmas Day airline terrorist attack in which a man tried to blow up a plane preparing to land in Detroit, Michigan.
"Eek! that's scary"
"To the lavatory, and be quick about it. I'll be right behind you!"
The number of air marshals is classified.
The program was set up in 1970, after a rash of airline hijackings, and it was expanded significantly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
"Jim, are you sure this is how you abate a threat?"
"Oh yeah, I can feel it working!"
"Well I hope it doesn't take much longer. My arm's getting tired."