[Misfire]

[ QUOTE ]
OTOH, I really don't think there was any reason to lie about it if they did shoot down the plane.

[/ QUOTE ]

The same reason they felt compelled to lie about Jessica Lynch. These stories need heroes. Who stirs up more pride, a fighter pilot coolly following orders, or a rag-tag group of ordinary Am'rican citizens banding together in their last moments to heroically save thousands of lives from the fiery devastation of an international terror plot?