Ray St. Louis
12/15/07
BETWEEN THE LINES
Breaking news:
Three men of Middle Eastern descent were removed from a plane and detained earlier today after several
passengers complained about their strange attire as well as their suspicious demeanor.
Under questioning by authorities, the men refused to specify a final destination; neither could they give the name
or names of the individuals they intended to visit.
One of the three, a man identified simply as Caspar, speaking through an interpreter said the group was
“following a star.”
Police are trying to determine whether “star” is a code word with hidden meaning, perhaps intended to trigger
some sort of terrorist action.
Mr. Caspar also stated that their intention was to deliver gifts to a child, although he could neither give the child’s
name nor any further information about the child or the child’s family.
When questioned as to how the three would know when they had found the child, another of the detained men
who gave his name as Melchior, also speaking through the interpreter, said, “The star will show us.”
“We have traversed field and fountain, moor and mountain following yonder star,” Mr. Melchior said; “most of the
way by camel.”
Police found it suspicious the men could not account for the whereabouts of their camels, other than to claim
they sold the animals in order to purchase plane tickets.
Nor could the men name a specific country of origin except to say they were “from the East.”
In the three men’s possession police found a small bag of gold, a bottle of a rare perfume believed to be
frankincense, and an unidentified oily substance.
A bomb squad was called in which safely removed the substance to a remote location where it was deliberately
exploded.
“It was just myrrh,” the third suspect, a Mr. Balthasar, said through the interpreter.
None of the three men carried any form of identification, and all three gave their occupations simply as “wise
men,” authorities said.
“We’ve got three really shady individuals that we’re having trouble identifying,” said police spokesperson Sarah
Burnwell.
When asked if the three were suspected as terrorists, Burnwell replied, “Well, they fit the profile. But to tell the
truth, we don’t know if they’re terrorists, drug dealers, illegal immigrants, child molesters or none of the above.
We’re not ruling anything out.”
Police said the FBI had been contacted and were expected to arrive soon along with agents of the CIA as well as
representatives of the Department of Homeland Security.
“We’re trying to err on the side of caution,” Burnwell said. “If this is some al Qaeda sleeper cell we’ve stumbled
upon, well, those CIA guys have very effective methods of dealing with them.”
Police were unwilling to specify what those methods might be. But shortly before this report was to go to press,
agents believed to be with the CIA were seen ushering the men into a black van and whisking the three off to an
undisclosed location.
Update:
New information has come to light with regards to three terror suspects who have since become known as the
Wise-men 3. The men have been identified as priests from an obscure religious sect known as Zoroastrianism.
Zoroastrian priests are known to be fervent astrologers, which explains why the three were following a star.
The child the three are seeking they believe to be a new king spoken of in ancient prophecies.
It remains unclear what connection, if any, the Zoroastrian sect has with al Qaeda.
A government informant said all this new information came to light after enhanced interrogation techniques were
applied to the three suspects. The informant refused to comment when asked whether those enhanced
interrogation techniques included waterboarding.
Police did say that at this time no charges are pending, but that the three were being handed over to the
Immigration and Naturalization Service where they would face immediate deportation.