There was a lot of talk at the time of a streak of light that went from the beaches in Jersey to where the plane was climbing at the moment of the explosion. The media dropped the whole SAM incident question VERY quickly.I Remember seeing live interviews that night (within minutes of the crash) from people on boats that saw the strak(s) going UP to the plane.
It seems like for some unusual reason there were a lot of people out on boats that night.
Beautiful, clear, dead calm evening during bluefish season....nothing unusual at all. Those LI boaters where the FIRST on the scene.