Has the technology-hating, mail-bombing murderer known as Unabomber (or Unabomb) got so talkative that he may give himself away? That was one tantalizing question raised last week by a bizarre blizzard of communications from the nation's most wanted serial killer, which made him almost as visible as if he had publicly emerged from his presumed home in Northern California.
Unabomber is the self-styled anarchist who since 1978 has planted or mailed 16 package bombs that have killed three and wounded 23. Many of the victims were associated with universities or airlines, whence his name. Last week's first missive was an unsigned typewritten letter that arrived at the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday. Its contents were terse, unambiguous and bloodcurdling. "WARNING: the terrorist group F.C., called Unabomber by the FBI, is planning to blow up an airliner out of Los Angeles International Airport sometime during the next six days." To establish his credentials, the letter's author cited the first two numbers -- 55 -- of a nine-digit code Unabomber had earlier given to editors of the New York Times so that they would know they were in touch with the real killer and not a wannabe.
The day after the Chronicle received its threat, an anonymous letter to the Times seemed to call the whole thing off. "Since the public has such a short memory," this message read, "we decided to play one last prank to remind them who we are. But no, we haven't tried to plant a bomb on an airline (recently)."
Prank or not, authorities took no chances. The Federal Aviation Authority imposed strict security measures at California's major airports. At Los Angeles International Airport, for example, outbound passengers were required to show identification at every stage of the departure process, from curbside baggage check-in to final boarding. The Postal Service announced that it would not accept any first-class mail in California that weighed more than three-fourths of a pound. Jitters were everywhere. A lawyer on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco was briefly interrogated by the fbi because he bore a passing resemblance to a composite sketch of Unabomber and had been "acting suspicious," which appeared to mean wearing sunglasses throughout the flight.
The Unabomber's epistolary masterwork was almost literally a blockbuster. The New York Times, Washington Post and Penthouse magazine all received copies of a single-spaced, typewritten manuscript, 56 pages and 35,000 words long, titled Industrial Society and Its Future. This rambling manifesto, whose authenticity was quickly certified by the FBI, was essentially an indictment of a corrupt technocracy that, Unabomber charged, was crushing human freedom at the behest of a mysterious corporate and governmental alite. In April, Unabomber said he would end his killing spree if TIME, Newsweek or the New York Times would publish a lengthy article telling his story. (So far, neither newsmagazine has received one.) In letters accompanying the manuscripts last week, Unabomber said the bombing would stop if the Times or Post would print the manifesto and three follow-up documents.