Mr. Idema's unconfirmed accounts of his time in Afghanistan were a major feature of a best-selling book, "The Hunt for Bin Laden."

There are several other unconfirmed accounts of European discovery and exploration.

But analysts said the report appeared to back up hitherto unconfirmed accounts.

Bereket Simon, an Ethiopian government spokesman, said the US planes had not used landing strips in Ethiopia, but analysts and diplomats said the newspaper report appeared to back up hitherto unconfirmed accounts.

According to these unconfirmed accounts, the lone survivor was taken to a local hospital.

However, after less than three weeks on the job, reports surfaced of his possible dismissal with unconfirmed accounts that Superintendent Levy had given an ultimatum that Rice resign or face possible dismissal.

A unconfirmed account claims that Love was not told until immediately before the broadcast that MTV2 did not have the rights to air those movies.

According to an unconfirmed account by an Amariya resident who was reached by telephone, insurgent bands roaming the district after the battle claimed to have captured weapons from the detention center's armory.

In addition to these, there have been several unconfirmed accounts of Lost Cosmonauts whose deaths were allegedly covered up by the Soviet Union.

According to some unconfirmed accounts, Lord Buddha is also said to have lived in this cave in one of his previous births.