What Top 10 stories surrounding Northwest flight #253 are being under-reported by the U.S. news media? In my opinion, here are the top two: If the airplane had exploded over Detroit as planned, we would never have learned from fellow passenger and lawyer Kurt Haskell that the bomber from Nigeria, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, may have traveled to the U.S. without a passport.

In an online response to a story by Veterans Today senior editor Gordon Duff, Haskell comments that he and his wife, Lori, saw a well-dressed man help Abdullmutallab board the flight without a passport under the guise he was a Sudanese refugee. The military police have already said Abdulmutallab did not go through passport control at Schiphol (Amsterdam) when he arrived from Lagos.

“This,” says Veterans Today senior editor Gordon Duff, “is virtually impossible. It is impossible to enter the EU without a passport.”

What are some of the other under-reported stories? According to Duff, the following two are key: The bomber’s father was more than just a banker. Duff calls banking a cover. “Dad, back in Nigeria, ran the national arms industry (DICON) in partnership with Israel, in particular, the Mossad. He was in daily contact with them.” However, in reporting his concerns about his son, he was truly a worried father.

Duff then highlights a report from the BBC which the Israeli Foreign Ministry calls “totally ridiculous.” The BBC states: “The government of Yemen says that the Al Qaeda terrorists, led by those released by Bush, are really Israeli agents though they have organized attacks against U.S. targets.”

Here’s another piece of the puzzle. The hero of this story, Jasper Schuringa, told the press that the bomber “seemed in a trance.” Was he brainwashed á la; “Bourne Ultimatum” character Matt Damon? Drugged? If so, by whom? By the CIA? The Israel Massad? Al Queda? At the center, are they one and the same?

Things are falling apart, Duff concludes, as he affirms the importance of stories and insights about NW Flight #253 now being aggregated by citizen journalists from around the globe.

While we may never know the complete truth here, it’s important to underscore the role of investigative journalists like Gordon Duff, who are helping to make the world more transparent for the rest of us.

Transparency in government is important if we are to shift priorities from funding the industry of war to meeting human needs. And while we may never completely overcome so-called evil, we may become bolder in seeking the truth.

Why? Truth telling dominates fear. In seeking the truth behind dark stories we come to learn that the world is not simply dark or light, but both.

In telling our stories, in fanning the flame of hope that Good Will Prevail, we can help overcome the darkness and unravel the riddles that hide the truth.

Kudos to Gordon Duff and Veterans Today for this bit of unraveling.

(This article also appeared in Alexia Parks’ blog on Huffington Post.)