U.S. Feared Spectacular Terror Attack at Obama's Inauguration

A report in The New York Times, to coincide with the first anniversary of Obama's inauguration, says that for 72 hours before the new president was sworn in intelligence agencies worked around the clock trying to figure out whether the threat was real and what, if anything, should be done if a terrorist struck while millions watched on the Mall and tens of millions more saw the ceremony on television.

According to intelligence officials, a group of Somalis was believed to be crossing from Canada to detonate a bomb as Obama took the oath.

(...) "All the data points suggested there was a real threat evolving quickly that had an overseas component," Juan Carlos Zarate, President George W. Bush's deputy national security adviser for terrorism, was quoted as saying.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the only Cabinet member who had been sworn in by Jan. 20, was spirited off to a secret location during the inauguration in case the worst happened.

In the end, the report turned out to be false: No terrorists traveled here to attack the inauguration. The story was little more than a rumor, fueled by a false report from a rival organization.