I was living in NYC and I remember all sorts of reports of something flying up from about Jones Beach towards the aircraft (although nobody realized where it was headed until the explosion, obviously).
Another thing that is rarely or never mentioned is that this plane was not the one intended to go out in that slot. The flight that should have been there was an El Al flight to Tel Aviv, which lost its place in the line because of a late arriving passenger (IIRC). So what they were probably aiming for was the El Al flight, and this one just happened to have taken its place.
Yup.
Remember Clinton wanted his legacy to be mid east peace.