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It does make some sense. What kind of judgment was he using when he suddenly deplanes. This is post-911. This is high alert. The flight attendant had to be extra careful. Especially since he was an Arab looking man (I'm assuming.) I'm sure the new security procedures required her to look at his seat to see whether he left any suspicious parcels behind. She finds a history of the Arab world. Red flags are raised in her mind. She immediately notifies the Captain. He decides to doublecheck the guy's paperwork. Had the Agent not deplaned, probably the paperwork wouldn't have been scrutinized. I'll just add one last thing. Don't you think that this same agent and all of our President's agents do racial profiling while scanning crowds every day?

I was replying to your speculative explanation, concerning the agent possibly having been a nervous flyer that had too much to drink as a reason for his attitude, nothing more. USSS agents should remain sober when in the public eye. Anything else would reflect poorly on them.

She finds a history of the Arab world. Red flags are raised in her mind. She immediately notifies the Captain. He decides to doublecheck the guy's paperwork. Had the Agent not deplaned, probably the paperwork wouldn't have been scrutinized

Perhaps the flight attendent should be fired. She told the Captain that the book was written in arabic. It was written in English. It was a college level textbook on the history of the Arab world, something that would not be unsuual reading for a Secret Service agent who had just spent three months working with the FBI Counter-Terrorism Unit. The fact that he was of Arab descent doesnt mean he had much, if any knowledge of ARab culture. I'm of Swedish descent but all I know about Swedish culture has to do with the Vikings.

She also says it was suspicious that the Agent left the plane, said he would be back and asked that she not remove his items. Well, according to the Agent, he left the plane because he was ordered to so by the Captain while the Captain checked his identity. If the Captain is accepting the flight attendants suspicon as the rationale for his suspicion that the agent might not be who he said he was, then something is wrong, since he knew he had ordered the Agent off the plane.