Endless Thread - 'Turn Bluetooth off, or we're turning around.'

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

The 190 passengers of a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey to Palma de Mallorca, Spain had settled into their seats for their overnight flight when the captain gave an announcement: everyone had to turn off their Bluetooth devices — or he was going to turn around the plane. This confounded passengers, because Bluetooth is safe for airplanes. It stays enabled when devices are on airplane mode. United even encourages using Bluetooth headphones to connect to in-flight entertainment. What was going on? The flight crew couldn't say. So the passengers took to...where else? Reddit. Show notes: UA flight - 'turn bluetooth off or we're turning around' (Reddit) This episode was reported and produced by Grace Tatter, and co-hosted by Grace Tatter, Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Dave Shaw. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski and Paul Vaitkus.

Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion.

Inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to Westjetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. WBUR Podcasts, Boston. Recently, producer Grace Tatter joined Amory and I in the studios of WBUR to tell us about a real trip. Okay, Ben and Amory, I feel like we're ready. We're in the travel mindset.

We're ready to go on a trip. Ben's always ready. He's always prepared. I'm always ready. If by that, I mean, there's nothing that I do to get ready except do what I'm told to get into the plane chair. Okay, so we're getting in a plane chair. It's a red eye. Okay.

How are we preparing for a red eye? I've got my neck pillow. You got my eye mask. I've got stretchy pants. I've got comfy socks. And I've got a book to help me fall asleep. And I'm going to use almost none of these things because I'm just going to stay up and watch movies. Fair enough.

Okay. So on this plane that we are boarding, there are 190 passengers. Many of them are probably like you, you know, hoping for the best, hoping that they're going to get a good night's sleep because they're flying from Newark Airport in New Jersey to Palma and Mallorca, Spain. So the flight took off around 6 p.m. It had been already delayed for mechanical reasons. So people are already feeling like kind of antsy. Ryan Jones and his wife had woken up at 4 a.m. in Colorado. And they have two kids, ages 6 and 8. So they had already shepherded. these kids through a very long day of travel. My wife and I are both in the travel business. We work together.

Part of our business is focused on the island of Majorca, not coincidentally. So naturally, we were coming here to spend time both sort of enjoying ourselves as a family and also working. So they've already been in the air. They're well into this flight. When there started to be these strange announcements telling everyone to turn off their Bluetooth devices, and they escalate to the point where the captain's like, Turn off your Bluetooth devices or we're turning this plane around. Whoa.

So that was sort of my first reaction is, well, that doesn't make sense. What could it then be? And I didn't have the answer to that. Where do you turn to when you have a question about why something is happening? The internet. The internet. More specifically, Reddit.com. There we go.

So Ryan goes to Reddit. to find out what's going on. Eventually, at least nine other passengers, some of whom we will hear from, joined him on Reddit, as well as thousands of people around the world who ended up watching this flight in real time as the passengers on this plane, including Ryan, tried to figure out what the heck is going on.

So the thread made it to the front page of Reddit, and as you might recall, a listener actually posted it on our subreddit because they thought that we might enjoy it, And they were correct. We, as well as all of these other people who saw this thread were hooked. It was as if the Reddit thread Ryan started was the latest HBO prestige drama or a play. Oh, ho. We're going to the theater.

I'm Grace Tatter. I'm Ben Burek Johnson. I'm Amory Sieverts. And you're listening to Endless Threat. Coming to you from WBUR, Boston's NPR Red Eye. And today's episode, yep, we're going to the theater. We've turned this into a play. UA Flight, turn Bluetooth off, or we're turning around.

Starring our colleagues on the WBOR podcast team as various Reditors. Okay. As well as Ryan, aka username Ryan underscore Room Service, as himself. And Jack, username Skyjacker, as himself. Cross check and standby for all call. Currently on a flight, Newark to Palma, about an hour into the flight, the flight attendant announces on the loudspeaker that all passengers must turn off Bluetooth immediately or will have to turn the plane around in Newark. They said it was an order from Chicago headquarters. They repeated the instruction multiple times, eventually giving a final one-minute warning.

They most recently said there are still two active Bluetooth devices and they are in communication with Chicago to understand next steps. Anyone ever heard of this or any clue why? This seems fake, since most of their... aircraft now allow Bluetooth connections to in-flight entertainment, and it is not disabled by airplane mode. Literally, they're being super rude and tight-lipped too. Many people getting up to check their bags and overhead to make sure Bluetooth is off and getting scolded for violating the seatbelt sign.

Normally, it's because someone is air dropping inappropriate things to other passengers. I don't think they would declare an emergency or turn back due to that, would they? This flight just announced a 7,700 emergency on flight. radar 24. What happened? Skull emoji. Just a wild guess here, but I suspect that there is a big security threat on board, such as somebody who is on the no-fly list, and the FAs can't tip them off that they are getting arrested and are the reason for the diversion. So they make up this whole Bluetooth is a major problem we need to turn around story as a cover, so it's not to provoke a response on board from the bad guy. At least that's what I do.

do. I mean, think about it. How can Bluetooth present any sort of major threat to an airplane? Hint, it can't. Wow, I would hope OP posts a new update. Unless they also turned off Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is back. We have turned around, and there's little clarity on what's going on. Flight attendants either don't know or won't say the one announcement where they informed us we were turning around, indicated an individual, has done something with Bluetooth. that is threatening to the safety of the flight. Lots of comments like, this little joke is ruining it for everyone, odd.

I think they said 10 agents will be awaiting us when we land to figure out whose device. No more info. It's due to fly over my house soon, and it's at 20,000. I'm going to take a picture of it. I will post it. I'm sure it's not going to have, like, a flat tire or a bumper hanging off, ha, ha. But I just want to take a pick.

Anybody have a life here? Not me. Not at 9.30 p.m. ESD. I absolutely do not. In this economy? I am monitoring the situation like a space mission. OMG, what's going on? O.B., don't leave us hanging.

Have landed, and you all have far more information than we do. We are on tarmac and emergency vehicles approaching. This feels like watching American Idol or whatever we all used to do as a collective, except Loki better. Just told the deplane and leave all devices and belongings on the plane, so see you later. Also on this flight, from what I can glean, it appears the person had their Bluetooth on their phone turned off, but not their smartwatch. They had the Bluetooth device titled Bomb, causing the initial concern enforcing the turnaround, currently on a bus waiting to be let out. I should have prefaced by saying that it appears to be a complete accident, no imminent bomb threat.

We have been let out of the buses and are preparing to reboard. Update, we've been issued a $15 meal credit. All is good again. United has returned back to being United. For the record, we have no less than three Redditors on this flight in this thread. Possibly more. At least six. Ten Redditors posting from this flight. One heck of a meet cute.

I'm wondering if they can arrange for a group photo for us. This feels like the premise for a soon-to-be Netflix show. Y'all should all hang out in Palma. Last edit. We are boarded now and will be departing at 2.30. Thanks for the laughs and concern and pray we all get some sleep on this flight. L-O-L-W. Update, the eagle has landed in Palma. More details after an apparel spritz in a nap. Okay, can I get a round of applause for thespians?

Yeah, please. Incredible. Well, after a brief intermission, we are going to get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this drama and what actually happened on this flight to Palma. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar-raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the

fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement, and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV. in Canada for 2025. Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19 speaker AKG surround audio system. This city demands agility

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You want to talk about poetry? Yeah, we do, Henry Winkler. I'm journalist Fates. Sayley. I'm poet Maggie Smith, and we are the co-hosts of You Could Make This Beautiful, where we talk to actors. Oh my God, poetry emergency. Comedians. We met on poetrydates.com. And teachers about poetry in all its forms. It's just one of those poems where you're like, if I read this to someone on a day, we're going to get the check. You know what I mean? You could make this beautiful,

wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, Ben and Amory, we're back. How is the show? What do you still want to know about this flight? Something that jumped out to me is that, I guess if I were the flight deck crew, which I am not and never will be, I don't understand why they didn't just literally go down the aisles

and say, pull out your device, I want to watch you turn off Bluetooth. Like, turning the plane around is a big, that's like a big decision. Very fair. Yeah, it's a huge thing to turn around a plane. Think about how much fuel that is. Yeah. Think about how costly that is. They're already an hour and a half in. Yeah, what are you thinking, Emery? Just how quickly things escalated. I mean, when you first said to turn off Bluetooth or we're turning this plane around, I don't think the seriousness of that hit me until the comments are escalating. And you're like, oh, oh, no, they're really turning the plane around. And I just think about how annoyed and difficult people are when there's a 10-minute delay on the tarmac.

And for turning a whole plane around, at least what the play gets across, because it's a combination of Redditors who are kind of, you know, quelling together and then people on the ground who are concerned about them, the tone feels much more chill and good-spirited than I think it probably actually felt on that plane. Dad never makes an empty threat. I'll say that. So if dad says I'm turning this plane around, you better get ready. Okay, so after a listener shared this thread on our subreddit, I started sending some DMs to the passengers on board to try to get some answers, including O.P. Ryan, who we already heard from, but also Jordan. She's a nurse practitioner from Little Rock, and she was flying to Palma with her best friend.

Jordan is settling in when there is a commotion. Our wheels were not even off the ground yet, Grace. There's a couple sitting across the aisle from Jordan, and the woman is clearly alarmed. She's like rocking back and forth, like at her husband. She's like tapping him. She's going, I'm freaking out. I'm freaking out. You have to tell them.

Okay. So if you're Jordan, you hear a fellow passenger acting like this. What's your response? That would make me start freaking out. How about you, Amory? Oh, yeah. No, I'm not. I want zero surprises.

on an airplane. Well, here's how Jordan felt. I look at my friend and I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. We're going to Spain. Somebody get this girl a glass of wine, maybe a Xanax, perhaps. Like, we're not doing this. So it sounds like Jordan has a different reaction. Yeah, Jordan's like, she's committed.

Yes. Yeah. Okay, so, you know, boarding, complete, preparing for takeoff, you know the drill, seatbelt sign on, phone on airplane mode. This is all going on. when the man and the couple unbuckles his seatbelt and starts running down the aisle to get a flight attendant. And the flight attendant's going, sir, sit down. You're breaking FAA regulations. Like, you have to sit down, sit down right now. And the girl's going, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. Like, there's a Bluetooth network.

And the flight attendant kind of cuts them off. And she's like, I don't care about a Bluetooth network. Like, we are taking this plane off and you just, like, broke a huge safety protocol. But the woman is insistent. She is not backing. down. She's like, no, there is a Bluetooth network. It is titled Bomb, Capital B-O-M-B. Like, you have to land this plane. We cannot be on here. And the flight attendant again just reiterates, like, I'm not worked up over a Bluetooth network. Like, we have a flight to take care of. You need to, like, stop. So at this point, the woman is not reassured by the flight attendant. She starts showing the other passengers her phone screen with the network on it, so including Jordan. So how do you feel? Someone's like, look, there's a Bluetooth network on here that says bomb.

It's such a tough call. Like, on the one hand, I'm like, lady, can you not? Like, make everybody else freak out. Like, can you chill? But the other part of me is like, well, maybe it's an issue. I don't think I know enough about Bluetooth networks to know if this is a big deal. And also, some of my dear friends, their Wi-Fi network has been named Virus Download for the last, like, 15 years to try to dissuade people from joining their Wi-Toole. Wi-Fi for free. So I would sort of maybe assume that this was the same sort of thing going on.

Well, Jordan, I don't think you'll be a surprise to learn. Jordan remains totally unfaced. I took a little screenshot of it on my phone. I was like, this is weird, but also, again, if there's a bomb on the flight, they're not going to label it bomb. Like, this is somebody being stupid. So Jordan. That's good logic. Yeah. Yeah. It's like virus download. Right, yeah, why would you point a red arrow at what you're doing? But Jordan sees the woman get more flight attendance involved. And at this point, they're more than an hour into the flight. And that's when the captain first makes an announcement telling people to turn off their Bluetooth devices. There ends up being only two remaining, and one of them was the bomb network.

And then the other one was this sweet little old man. He said, well, I turned my phone on airplane mode, so I sure thought. that meant my Bluetooth was off. And so they get his network turned off, and the only one remaining is the bomb network. People sitting near Jordan know why the captain's making this announcement. But on other parts of the plane, they're confused because you don't necessarily have the Bluetooth range that far.

So they can't see what Jordan can see. Yep. Our OP, Ryan, has been on Wi-Fi doing work. And so after the second announcement telling everyone to turn off Bluetooth, he turns to chat GPT. And it wasn't coming back with any good response. It sort of worked through the logic of the potential of interference with the Bluetooth signal, but also concluded that doesn't really make sense.

So this is when Ryan turns to Reddit. The travel company he and his wife friend together is called Room Service, thus his username, Ryan at Room Service. I thought I was just asking a question that would get hopefully a trickle of responses from a few aviation geeks. I know the Redditor type because I've been on it, I guess in some sense I am one myself. But Ryan quickly realizes that this thread

is reaching far more people than the niche aviation geek community. Someone said something to the tune of plane just squawked 7,700, which, of course, was foreign to me at the time, with a little skull emoji next to it. Dot, dot, dot, dot, what is happening? and that's when I was like, what is happening? What does that mean? Now I'm a little bit nervous.

What's the 4-1-1 on 7,700? I was about to ask if you know what that means. It's like a thread on the flight. It means emergency. Oh, no. So, yeah, so that's unsettling. So meanwhile, on another part of the plane, Jack, username Skyjacker, which he picked at random, not ever knowing that he would be participating.

Shockingly relevant. Right. He hasn't got, he hasn't thought to get on ready yet. So he has no idea what's going on. I thought it was strange, but, you know, but I was also, this is my first, you know, transatlantic like going to Europe flight. So I didn't know if that was par for the course or not. Then the captain gets on the intercom again.

He says something to the tune of, I hate to do this. And then very long pause, everybody's just like on the edge of their seat. What is coming after that statement? But I'm taking the plane down. Yeah, exactly. We're going to land on the water. Nosedive. Yeah.

Yeah, my heart would be in my stomach. Ryan actually started to record this announcement that Jack is talking about, so we have some of the audio. It's going to be returning back to the door at this time. Unfortunately, because of one person but doesn't want to comply with the instructions and because of the foolishness of this one person that wants to make a joke and it's not funny and it's compromising integrity to the safety of not only its crew but all the other passengers. It's such teacher vibes. It's such strong teacher vibes.

Yeah. One person thinks it's funny. It's not funny. You know, like it just reminds me of. school for some reason. 1,000%. Okay, so finally the plane lands and it is surrounded by law

enforcement. They like land a little bit away from the rest of the terminal. There are pictures on Reddit. You can just see like all these cop cars surrounding the plane. I would be kissing the ground as soon as I got off that plane. Yeah, as soon as you got off and far away from it because there could be a B-O-M-B

on board. Right, and they don't get off immediately. So they're sitting on the plane. Jack takes his phone off of airplane mode and Googles to see if there are any articles about what's going on, what's happening. And there were no national like news articles or anything, but there was a Reddit thread. So that's when Jack gets on Reddit. The passengers are told to keep all of their belongings on the plane except for their phones

and passports. And then they're finally let off the plane and they're loaded onto shuttle buses. We were sort of detained on shuttle buses for a long time. And another individual on Reddit that was on the airplane, sent me a private or direct message and asked me what bus I was on. And we realized we're on the same buses, made eye contact and just sort of exchanged some conversation. But then only thereafter did I start to see others pop up in the Reddit thread who were like, hey, I'm on that plane too. So Ryan's on one bus with another Redditor. Jack is on a different shuttle bus, and he can see a law enforcement agent going from bus.

to bus. Eventually, he gets onto my bus. And this U.S. Marshall goes, all right, nobody's going to be in trouble or anything, but does anybody have a Bluetooth device named bomb? And that's where I was like, oh, you got to be kidding me. Because I was like, oh, this is what all this is about. If I, by the way, if my Reddit handle was Flight Jacker, Skyjacker, I mean, sorry, Skyjacker, I would be very concerned about the ensuing investigation, especially if there's only information on Reddit. I would be like erasing my history. Yeah, you would maybe not be posting on Reddit. Yeah, exactly.

And I forgot up to this point that we knew that information, but a lot of people on the flight didn't know that this is all about a Bluetooth network called Bomb. Right. They still at this point had no idea, unless you were like sitting on that part of the plane. So what do you do if you're on a bus with a bunch of other passengers who have been hugely delayed and rerouted, already up in the air, rerouted, hours off of their trip. Some sort of law enforcement officer comes on and asks us, anybody has a Bluetooth device named Bomb?

And all of a sudden, you remember that, oops, you do. Oh, man. Oh, man. I, I, what would I do? Furiously, like, take that off of my phone as fast as possible. Really? You wouldn't just own up to it? I would own up to it. I would own up to it. But I would be so nervous. I would be like, oh, my God, it was me. That would be terrifying. I'd be afraid of, you know, crowd justice, I think. You just immediately get swallowed by it.

Yeah, exactly. Pig pie. No, yeah. I guess if I was going to own up to it, I'd be like, how can I let folks know in the most subtle way possible that it was me? Like, should I wait until I get off the bus? so I can run if I need to run away from the crowd. Well, this is what happened. This, like, 16-year-old kid, like, raised his hand and was like, yeah, my smart watch is titled Bomb, and it was like a joke, and I forgot about it and all that stuff. Thank goodness he's a kid. That's all I'm saying, because otherwise, otherwise there would be a pile on. Oh, yeah.

Or maybe there was still. I don't know, but, like, 16 is pretty old. 16 is pretty old. I'm stupid. I'm stupid. I'm a kid. I'm stupid. Yeah. Right. And Jack isn't short. He was like, he looked really young. He also seemed to be traveling alone. So it's possible that he was older, but he did look young. I do wear a smart watch. And I'll admit, I have forgotten to put it on airplane mode before because, like, I just don't think about it. Like, I usually just use it to like check the time. So I forget. Is your Bluetooth titled Missile? I think it's called Grace's Apple Watch.

Grace's Apple Watch. I think it's called Grace's Apple Watch. So, yeah, pretty obvious. But Jack said that everyone on his bus was actually pretty civil. is no booing the kid. And for the people on that bus, at least, the mystery is solved. But other people like Ryan are still getting their information from Reddit. And now they're hearing some things that, like, some of the aviation geek redditors have heard tuning into air traffic control, which is something that you can do. There's just, like, always a live feed of air traffic control. Who knew? So he at this point is, like, kind of piecing some things together from Reddit.

But the airline itself never officially told the passengers what happened. There was never any sort of like, ever sort of any reflection on like, okay, here's what happened. Here's why it happened. Here's why we responded this way. We did reach out to United and they gave us a pretty basic comment. They gave us a $15 meal coupon. Alas, endless said, we did not get a $15 voucher like these passengers. Extra pretzels.

Any extra pretzels? They just said that the plane safe. returned to Newark after addressing a potential security concern. I also reached out to law enforcement who gave me like a very similar statement. So eventually all of the other passengers, minus as far as we know, the kid with the bomb smart watch, are allowed back on the plane. They take off around 2.30 a.m. in Newark with a new crew. They're in their same seat. So Jordan sees the couple who alerted flight attendants about the bomb network. And if you're Jordan, like, do you say anything to this couple now that you know that everything was fine.

Oh, man, I don't know. Better safe than sorry. That's what I say. It's true. If you want us to keep saying something when we see something, we have to, it is annoying. It is unfortunate that, well, it is very fortunate that this was not a real threat, but I think you just have to chalk this up to we're all just doing the best we can. Well, Jordan is just not dealing, as you can.

imagine with the other couple. No hard feelings, no bad blood, but I was just like, I'm over it. I got on the plane, put my eye mask on, went to sleep. I didn't even wake up until there was like an hour left in the flight. And then finally, like nine hours after they were supposed to land, they arrive in Spain. Okay, remember how a lot of people wanted the Redditors to like find each other once they landed and become best friends forever. I feel like, Ben, you would have actually made that happen. Yes, I definitely wouldn't make that happen. Well, Ryan...

The bomb squad? Oh, my God. Definitely would have started the bomb squad. That would have been such a good name for a group chat. Ryan heard the people have read its wishes, and he wanted to make it happen. But I was like, I just don't have this in me right now. I think they wanted us all to get together in my work and have, like, a party on the beach, and become best friends for life.

And the TV version. That can happen. Yes. Yeah. We'll leave that for the TV drama. So sad. So sad. Well, all is well that ends well because at least the three Redditors who we talk to, Jordan, Jack, and Ryan had a wonderful time in Europe.

And Ryan, who remember works in the travel industry, has a new pro tip for all of you travelers out there. If people do fit, hit bizarre travel delays, do you. recommend that they post the airline subreddits? Yeah, it's a very responsive crowd. There you go. Yeah, it is kind of amazing how the aviation subreddits are very active. And so, like, it's always fascinating to me to see the wisdom of a crowd in certain niches, and it's cool that that was on offer here.

Endless Threat is a production of WBUR in Boston. This episode was produced by the Enimimms. Remitable Grace Tatter, and hosted by Grace, me, Ben Brought Johnson. And me, Amory Siebertson. It was edited by Dave Shaw, whose Bluetooth headphones connect as Justice and Temperance. I just wanted you to know that. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski and our production manager, Paul Vikis.

The rest of our team is Dean, Russell, Frannie Monaghan, and our senior managing producer, Summata, Josie. And special thanks to Dean, Summata, Paul, Emily, and our colleagues, Kalyani Saxana and Christopher Gopoulos for lending their acting. talents to this short theatrical production. Endless Thread is a podcast about the blurred lines between online communities and real life vacation friends. If you have an untold history, an unsolved mystery, or some other wild story from the internet that you want us to talk about, hit us up.

Endless Thread at WBUR.org. Safe travels, everyone. I need you guys to check my laptop. I don't even know if the Bluetooth... I truly... I don't know if the... Bluetooth is on on my laptop or off. Like, I could have been the person on this plane that caused us to turn the plane around because

I don't even turn my laptop off when I fly. But you wouldn't be so scampy as to call it bomb. I think you would have called it. Like Grace, you would have been like, Emory's Bluetooth computer or something. I have no idea if my Bluetooth is on right now. That's all I'm saying. I could be the problem on a future flight. And if that happens, I'm so sorry in advance.

Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a way. world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca.