Screen shot 2011-05-02 at 8.36.47 AMA Pakistani man inadvertently described in real time the attack that killed Osama bin Laden on Twitter, The Wall Street Journal writes.
Sohaib Athar, whose Twitter handle is ReallyVirtual, describes himself as "an IT consultant taking a break from the rat-race by hiding in the mountains with his laptops." On Monday in Pakistan, when the operation occurred, he first wrote that he heard a helicopter hovering over the town of Abbottabad, a rare event in the small village.
"A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S" he then wrote. Over the next few hours, he speculated with other users on Twitter about whether the helicopter was Pakistani or not. After President Obama's address on the death of Osama Bin Laden, he put two and two together, referencing someone else's statement that "the helicopter crash in Abbottabad, Pakistan and the President Obama breaking news address are connected."
Thousands of Twitter users found his stream and added him and Athar wrote that he was receiving dozens of requests for interviews from reporters.
"Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it," he wrote.
His last tweet, written two hours ago, sounded a note of desperation.
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(Screenshot via Twitter)