As you’ve probably read, parts of New York City and New Jersey were covered by a mysterious odor yesterday. The Gulf News picking up on Reuters reported: Mysterious gas odour causes minor ailments for 19 people

New York: A powerful, mysterious smell of gas wafted through much of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday.

It forced building evacuations and a temporary suspension of commuter train service before dissipating by mid-afternoon.

Officials were quick to stress that the odour was not dangerous, but at least 19 people went to the hospital with minor ailments and its wide extent provoked jitters in a city that constantly reminded of the September 11 attacks…

Besides the humor in today’s news – people saying the the odor emanated from New Jersey, I’m thinking three possibilities:

• An accidental release from an industrial site or landfill
• An intentional release of gas to ascertain the how a gas or other airborne attack would spread. People’s panicked response gave the perpetrators all the data they needed. They can use the 911 database and GIS to map it all out. It could be the government performing such a test, but you never know.
• An intentional release of gas in preparation for a “Maine” type attack as a pretext for a wider war.

I’m hoping its the first choice, thinking its the second, and praying it’s not the third.