A few hours after President Barack Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan, I saw this tweet from Mediagazer’s Megan McCarthy (@megan): “So looks like at least one Twitter user (@ReallyVirtual) live-tweeted the Osama raid yesterday without knowing what it was.” I have not confirmed that report, but here is a text version of @ReallyVirtual’s Twitter stream in chronological order (in Pakistan time).
@ReallyVirtual: Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event). May 1, 12:58 am
@ReallyVirtual: Go away helicopter – before I take out my giant swatter :-/ May 1, 1:05 am
@ReallyVirtual: A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S May 1, 1:09 am
@ReallyVirtual: @m0hcin all silent after the blast, but a friend heard it 6 km away too… the helicopter is gone too. May 1, 1:44 am
@ReallyVirtual: @m0hcin http://bit.ly/ljB6p6 seems like my giant swatter worked ! May 1, 1:46 am
@ReallyVirtual: @m0hcin the few people online at this time of the night are saying one of the copters was not Pakistani… May 1, 1:48 am
@ReallyVirtual: @raihak I try, man, I try May 1, 1:57 am
@ReallyVirtual: @raihak Funny, moving to Abbottabad was part of the ‘being safe’ strategy May 1, 1:57 am
@ReallyVirtual: Since taliban (probably) don’t have helicpoters, and since they’re saying it was not “ours”, so must be a complicated situation #abbottabad May 1, 2:02 am
@ReallyVirtual: @raihak yep, the mad power cuts have reached abbottabad – 14 hours daily – luckily I have a generator AND a UPS at the coffee shop May 1, 2:03 am
@ReallyVirtual: @tahirakram yea. *hides his giant swatter* May 1, 2:03 am
@ReallyVirtual: @kashaziz technically, it is unidentified until identified, and it is a flying object, so year, why the hell not, we have seen weirder stuff May 1, 2:04 am
@ReallyVirtual: @tahirakram they’re not saying anything May 1, 2:05 am
@ReallyVirtual: The abbottabad helicopter/UFO was shot down near the Bilal Town area, and there’s report of a flash. People saying it could be a drone. May 1, 2:10 am
@ReallyVirtual: @wqs figures, if they have the right to shoot planes flying over the president house, the must have the same instructions for PMA May 1, 2:14 am
@ReallyVirtual: @smedica people are saying it was not a technical fault and it was shot down. I heard it CIRCLE 3-4 times above, sounded purposeful. May 1, 2:15 am
@ReallyVirtual: @tahirakram very likely – but it was too noisy to be a spy craft, or, a very poor spy craft it was. May 1, 2:16 am
@ReallyVirtual: @smedica It must have been more, I started noticing the helicpoter when the noise got irritating – which part of Abbottabd are you in? May 1, 2:20 am
@ReallyVirtual: @smedica I live near Jalal Baba Auditorium May 1, 2:23 am
@ReallyVirtual: @smedica ‘safer’ is a relative term that has lost its meaning in Pakistan May 1, 2:26 am
@ReallyVirtual: Here’s the location of the Abbottabad crash according to some people >>> http://on.fb.me/khjf34 May 1, 2:34 am
@ReallyVirtual: Two helicpoters, one down, could actually be the training accident scenario they’re saying it was >> http://bit.ly/ioGE6O May 1, 2:43 am
@ReallyVirtual: and now I feel I must apologize to the pilot about the swatter tweets :-/ May 1, 3:05 am
@ReallyVirtual: And now, a plane flying over Abbottabad… May 1, 3:39 am
@ReallyVirtual: @raihak The day there is uninterrupted electricity in Lahore for a whole month, I will start packing my bags, until then, Abbottabad is home May 1, 4:14 am
@ReallyVirtual: Interesting rumors in the otherwise uneventful Abbottabad air today May 1, 8:00 am
@ReallyVirtual: Report from a taxi driver: The army has cordoned off the crash area and is conducting door-to-door search in the surrounding May 1, 8:02 am
@ReallyVirtual: @kursed What really happened doesn’t matter if there is an official story behind it that 99.999% of the world would believe May 1, 8:08 am
@ReallyVirtual: @kursed Another rumor: two copters that followed the crashed one were foreign Cobras – and got away May 1, 8:10 am
@ReallyVirtual: @ahmedbilal @kursed Sadly. We should start learning how to spread believable stories and recreate a reality that suits us. May 1, 8:12 am
@ReallyVirtual: @kursed True, but stranger things have happened. I just hope they don’t find my giant helicopter swatter. Must hide it :-/ May 1, 8:15 am
@ReallyVirtual: Report from a sweeper: A family also died in the crash, and one of the helicopter riders got away and is now being searched for. May 1, 8:21 am
@ReallyVirtual: @kursed Well, there were at least two copters last night, I heard one but a friend heard two, for 15-20 minutes. May 1, 8:24 am
@ReallyVirtual: @kursed I think I should take out my big blower to blow the fog of war away and see the clearer picture. May 1, 8:24 am
@ReallyVirtual: I guess Abbottabad is going to get as crowded as the Lahore that I left behind for some peace and quiet. *sigh* May 1, 8:27 am
@ReallyVirtual: Wondering what would be the right music to play in the coffee shop today… May 1, 8:35 am
@ReallyVirtual: @kursed so, not that hard anymore I guess? May 1, 8:35 am
@ReallyVirtual: I guess I should unsubscribe from the #abbottabad search on twitter before it kills my machine. Leave Abbottabad alone, Osama and Obama… May 1, 8:41 am
@ReallyVirtual: @harisn we are both right outside Islamabad :-) May 1, 8:47 am
@ReallyVirtual: I need to sleep, but Osama had to pick this day to die :-/ May 1, 9:03 am
@ReallyVirtual: Uh oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it. May 1, 9:41 am
@ReallyVirtual: and here come the mails from the mainstream media… *sigh* May 1, 9:42 am
Hadn't seen these in one place together. Nice work