The first reports flashed around the world Wednesday after three alleged terrorists were arrested in Germany said emphatically that the Ramstein Air Base, along with Frankfurt airport, were the suspects' targets. I wanted to find out who exactly had said that. It turned out to be an interesting, if fruitless, search.

I went first, naturally, to Stars and Stripes. In the middle of a straightforward article by John Vandiver and Matt Millham was this paragraph:

"U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, however, said it had received no information that Ramstein or any other installation was specifically targeted. German authorities also did not name specific installations...."

It did pick up a sentence from The Associated Press that said that in Washington, "a senior U.S. State Department official" had said German investigators had determined that the base and the airport were "primary targets," even though other sites may also have been considered by the arrested men.

Mmm. That's second-hand information from a single source who would not let himself or herself be quoted.

Next I turned to other news outlets. The Washington Post story Thursday said it was "unclear whether [the suspects] had settled on a target." Bloomberg News said there was "no confirmation Ramstein was targeted." The New York Times story said U.S. and German authorities had determined that a Ramstein attack was "under consideration." (Again, no individual was quoted as saying that.) The BBC could cite only "media reports" as indicating Ramstein was a target.

I pressed onward. In the Los Angeles Times account, I found this paragraph:

"Because of the hurried denouement, questions and ambiquity persist about the exact targets and details of the plot. Some German and U.S. officials said Ramstein Air Base and Frankfurt International Airport were specific targets, while other officials said the objectives were more likely soft targets such as nearby bars and nightclubs."

Then I came upon a "corrective" issued by The AP. It said the wire service had reported erroneously that German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung specifically mentioned Ramstein and the airport as targets. It also said: "In a news alert on the same story, the AP erroneously reported that German federal prosecutor Monika Harms said the targets were Ramstein and Frankfurt airport. She said U.S. facilities were targeted but did not specify which ones."

It may well turn out that the alleged evildoers were plotting an attack on the air base. And bombings at other, "softer," targets would be just as horrendous. But the incident points to a moral that residents of Ramstein probably already have arrived at:  Don't believe everything you hear, at least not as soon as you hear it.

Oh, one other thing. If you call up the AP story on the Web Thursday, twinned with it you'll find a photograph from the Getty Images photo agency showing a suspect being led by police. The caption reads in part: "Three suspects, arrested in various locations around Germany, planned massive attacks against the U.S. base in Ramstein and Frankfurt airport."

At that point, I gave up.