whats the deal with hair dryers?
We don't know. We have theorized that they had some sort of heat control or other chip that could control a spark. I don't know the brand or if they were hand-held, battery-operated ones. I do know it was a specific brand and the ME men specified they needed 15 of them before they "returned to Michigan."
Besides the cynical sorts we see posting on FR, the people who work in the stores involved were afraid to report if they had to identify themselves becasue they feared some sort of bad reaction from their employer. After being brought up to speed on the previously published reports of large phone buys, they realized this was something that might be important.
If you have ever spoken to an FBI agent, you know they just say "Thank you". Even in person, they give nothing away.
Maybe one of our FReepers would have some idea on the hair dryers. You cannot believe how much I wanted to ask someone over on the Terror Matrix thread, but I just felt this should not be publicized immediately.