Maybe this explains the super tight airport security we experienced in Hawaii.
I've been reading other blogs and news sources that say the threat was never credible. Having been in Hawaii at the time, I can tell you airport security was the highest I have ever experienced, and that includes flying from Boston to Japan about a week after Sept. 11, 2001. Immigration and Customs at Honolulu were tough on the way in. We were kept at INS for an hour while they ragged on my husband for having a green card and told us the main reason he has a green card is "to support the US government with his tax revenue". Funny but I always thought he had a green card so he could live in the US with his family.
We flew from Oahu to Maui on Feb 25 and security for the inter island 30 minute flight was as tough as it has ever been for me to fly international. They went through all the bags and seemed very concerned about some homemade amulets my mother-in-law gives us whenever we travel that contain ash and azuki beans wrapped up in foil (don't ask me what that's about because after a dozen years I still don't really get it). The day before we left Maui they broadcasted on the radio that air travelers should report to the airport an extra half hour early due to car checks that would be conducted "at random" in and around airports. The car wasn't checked, but there were 3 check points between the check in counter and the gate, all requiring boarding passes and ids. Governor Lingle may have said Hawaii security was at code blue, but it sure felt orange to me. Even guys in military uniforms were being searched and questioned. Things were being very tightly controlled at the airports in Hawaii.
It was a funny contrast arriving back in Japan where we cleared immigration and customs in about 2 minutes. At immigration the lady looked at my passport for 10 seconds and never even spoke to me. The customs guy just asked if we lived in Hawaii or Japan. I saw them waving Japanese tourists right through customs and telling them not to even stop.
The weirdest thing about the flight back to Japan was when Rachel pointed out another plane flying parallel to us while we were out over the middle of the Pacific. It was white with red markings, but I forgot to look for the airline logo. When I looked again there were too many clouds to see it. It wasn't really close, maybe a mile or so off, but it was close enough to see it clearly. I would guess it was a JAL or Air Canada flight, but it sort of freaked me out.