[balk]

My thoughts exactly and France would have had a definite interest in clearing the area.

[TNdandelion]

Since all they know is that is was a NATO sub, publicly, they have to include the possibility of it being a US sub unless they want to go out on a limb and point fingers at a specific country...say France.

And more on the conspiracy theory side, I wouldn't be suprised if a planned cooperative "war game" practice is reported to the public as a mysterious intruder. I especially like how they reported a quick response time.