"The article also refer to TRACON radar sweeps. I think this is more than PASSUR system."
The article (written by Jack Cashill) says this..."The unidentified target appears for 12 to 13 sweeps of the FAA LAX TRACON radar rotating at a 4.7-second sweep rate." The problem with taking anything from WND or Jack Cashill is that they don't really have any idea what they are talking about. They have one objective, and that is to make money. The fact of the matter is, there is no "FAA LAX TRACON" radar. The TRACON for the LAX area is in Southern California (San Diego) and is known as SoCal. If Jack somehow got a copy of radar data from somewhere other than the PASSUR system, he sure isn't sharing his info. Neither is anyone else, as there is no mention of such radar data in any source I've seen.
"Is it routine for the FBI to give a statement in lieu of the pilots?"
The FBI conducted the investigation. Who else should release a statement regarding their investigation? Incidentally, American Airlines also released information on the incident. They reported the following...
- Flight #612 was at 13,000 feet altitude - 7-10 miles offshore.
- Cloud ceiling was at 4-5,000 feet (someone on the ground or on a boat wouldn't have been able to see the aircraft)
- Captain saw straight vertical rocket contrail up to about 6,000 feet
- Rocket was approximately 3-4 miles away from flight #612
- That equals a horizontal separation of about 4 miles and a vertical separation of well over a mile.
- The captain never used the word "missile" and never believed the aircraft was a target of the rocket.
"My point is we have have enough of a real world threat to civilian jet transports from MANPAD to not just dismiss speculation as tin foil kookery."
I agree, but it becomes tin foil kookery when people start making stuff up (literally) and attribute "damning evidence" to information that reveals nothing of the sort.