"I was no longer thinking of Reagan. I was thinking of 9/11. As soon as I got outside, the police started to guide us. Then some actually started running with us. Women were throwing their shoes in the grass. I took mine off, heard
an officer yell at me to keep going, and I felt the first rock dig into my foot. The moment of true terror for me was seeing a police officer turn around and look toward the sky over the Capitol. Then I ran faster than my legs could
carry me." - Business Week
Could this be the reason for creating the fright?- to put the fear of another 911 into Congress?

Just for fun- assorted quotes from police officers shouting to the fleeing crowd:
"You don't have time to look back!''
"Incoming plane!''
"You have one minute to impact!''
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's move like our lives depend on it. I mean it!"

Did someone tell these cops that the plane was a threat? Or are they naturally this way? hehe

The media has reported two very different versions of the plane scare at the Reagan memorial, which prove the FAA knew about the plane, did not tell the ground security, then lied about it.

Version 1- the Guardian UK:
Daniel Groves, the governor's chief of staff, said at a news conference Thursday that the plane's transponder, which transmits the plane's identifying signal to controllers, had quit working shortly after takeoff from Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. At that point, the pilots went by the book and maintained contact with air-traffic controllers for the rest of the flight, Groves said.

Both he and Doug Hogan, the governor's communications director, said controllers apparently didn't pass the word on to security agencies that the plane had permission to be in restricted air space.

``They (pilots) followed directions from air traffic controllers explicitly,'' Hogan said. ``They did not wander off course. They did not inadvertently enter the air space. They had permission to be there.

``It would appear the air traffic controllers did not notify any of the other agencies about the situation,'' Hogan said.

Version 2 Kentucky Courier-Journal:
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, said in a statement that two F-15 fighters on routine patrol were diverted to engage Fletcher's plane after the FAA reported "a potential violation" of flight restrictions in Washington.

Version 2.1 Washington Post:
Officials at the FAA command center in Herndon feared that the transponder could have been turned off by a pilot being hijacked, as a distress signal to ground controllers -- or by terrorists trying to disguise the aircraft's identity.When the plane was about 15 miles southwest of the airport, controllers sounded an alert, FAA spokesman Greg Martin said.

To connect the dots: The plane's transponder went out shortly after takeoff, from that point on air traffic controllers were in contact with the pilots the entire flight. The controllers gave the pilot explicit directions to land at the Reagan memorial,  but supposedly 'forgot' to notify the security on the ground. But then the FAA spokesman contradicts the story by saying the transponder went out 13 miles before DC, and that the air traffic controllers were not in contact with the plane at all.

Who is not telling the truth, Gov. Fletcher's spokesman, or the FAA? Who is covering their tracks? Was this a manufactured scare- perhaps to influence an upcoming vote?
Like this expansion of the Patriot Act Scheduled for next week! (purely coincidental timing eh?)

Next Wednesday, June 16th,  the House Intelligence Committee is expected to consider expanding the USA PATRIOT Act by slipping portions of the
Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003, HR 3179, into the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005. HR 3179 includes the following provisions from the leaked Justice Department draft of the Homeland Security Enhancement Act, AKA "Patriot II":

* A "lone wolf" provision that applies the Patriot Act's surveillance and investigation provisions to persons acting alone. (The Senate has already passed this as a stand-alone bill.)
nyc.indymedia.org

History: The anthrax disruption of Congress allowed the US PATRIOT act to pass without it even being read!
"It's my understanding the bill wasn't printed before the vote - at least I couldn't get it. They played all kinds of games, kept the House in session all night, and it was a very complicated bill. Maybe a handful of staffers actually read it, but the bill definitely was not available to members before the vote."
http://911review.org/Wiki/AnthraxAttacks.shtml

Was the terror at the Reagan Memorial, just a week before this big 'Patriot' Act II vote just a coincidence?  If you believe that, I'll bet you are a devout bush-believer, no?

The real question is- how much proof does Congress need before they hold someone accountable?