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On the Web: Condolence and conspiracy

And while an overwhelming number of messages express sympathy to the Kennedys and the Bessettes, hundreds seek to find sinister mysteries behind the plane crash.

The AOL Web site for George magazine, JFK Jnr's own publication, is even running two message boards - one for tributes and a second devoted to conspiracy theories.

Rather than a sign of disrespect, George readers suggest that "John Kennedy Jnr would be "laughing right now if he were reading this" - testament perhaps to the light-hearted nature of his magazine.

More than 1,000 contributors have left their thoughts.

Shared grief

With message tags from "life does suck" to "RIP John!" and "A Passing Of A Legend In The Making", George readers speak of a man taken away "in his prime", and a "sadness that has overcome America".

"He is and will remain, just as his father has, forever young, " says Brenda Keene on the George message board.

Several contributors quote the "Pilot's Prayer" by John Gillespie Magee:

"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings"

While George readers are divided over whether to sympathise or discuss the circumstances of John F Kennedy Jnr's death, they all want the magazine to go on despite the loss.

"I was hooked on George since the first spy issue with Elizabeth Hurley on the cover and since then I have bought every magazine. We should all join together and make a petition to keep George alive," says one anonymous writer.

Mysterious rumours

The more suspicious George correspondents insist they have all the answers.

One suggests that "some people in the CIA (perhaps freelancers)" decided to kill JFK Jnr "in case he ever became president, and investigated CIA involvement [in his father's murder]".

George readers cite rumours that people at Martha's Vineyard "heard an explosion about the time his plane was due there".

According to a B. Evans, "something is very fishy", as "this type of plane he flies does not nose dive. They do NOT nose dive. They glide, at worst. Gliding planes don't lose their tires ... or explode".

"They can't find a plane ... yet a suitcase washes up right on sure complete with a visible business card," B. Evans adds.

Sites spring up

In a matter of days, as many as 10 memorial and condolence Web sites devoted to the tragedy have appeared on the Internet.

Email tributes coming in from Bangkok to Amman emphasise that the loss is being felt all over the world.

Writers from the US describe how Americans grew up with the saga of the Kennedy family, and compare the loss to that of a family member.

Some use the Camelot analogy, others put the family on an even more mythical footing. One writer at a Website called 'Thoughts and Prayers for the Kennedys', said John Kennedy Jnr was "like a Roman God to us Americans".

Relevant Stories

Radar reveals JFK plunge (20 Jul 99 | Americas)
End of the Kennedy hype? (18 Jul 99 | Americas)
Picture gallery: America stunned (18 Jul 99 | Americas)
The Kennedys: A family cursed (17 Jul 99 | Americas)

Internet Links

Niki Cheong's 'Thoughts and Prayers for the Kennedys'
JFK Jnr Condolence pages
JFK Jnr - In Memoriam
We hardly knew ye
George magazine

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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