This Urban Legend Site covers this one and is another good source for critical analysis.

Wired mag did an analysis on the roots of the JATO story a couple of years back, based on kids who had done similar stunts, etc.

It is a wonderful thing to have identified the myth-making machinery in action, and to be able to feel superior to anyone who forwards any foolish, dumb-ass superstitions around, such as the Swifties, or those who promoted the rationales (any or all) for going to war in Iraq, the justifications for the Patriot act, Condolezza's mushroom cloud, and so on. But let us not forget that we all have our blind spots, and any day one of these fatuous fat-headed falsities could slip right past us!

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