Odd. If they wanted more breathing room, why were they choosing to sit together again in crammed quarters, given all the open rows? Why did they move at all? And if they remained together because they needed to visit, why didn't they exchange a single word? I watched them as they just sat, staring straight ahead. And the plane also just sat by the gate, for a good 15 minutes.

And then the hatch flew open and a half-dozen DHS/FBI agents rushed in, surrounded these two men and, flashing badges, ordered them off the plane.

Now stop for a minute. Imagine you were one of these two, and you were innocent. What would be your reaction if suddenly confronted by a small army of heat-packing federal agents demanding your removal? You might literally jump out of your seat in surprise. What? Me? Huh?! Why? What's going on?! What'd I do? What's the meaning of this? And the like. And that's when it really got creepy.

I watched as the two men stood up and, without a word, without a shred of emotion on their faces, calmly accompanied the agents off the plane. How else to explain this? They were expecting their detention.

The pilot would take to the intercom a few minutes later to explain what he could. Homeland Security had been running background checks on these two, and while nothing had registered on the computers, the flight crew was "just uncomfortable" -- as they had every reason to be.

Something is happening out there. And it's not good.