7:20 PM: A White House official tells TPM that the US believes this was “an attempted act of terrorism.”

7:26 PM: For those just checking in, the latest information suggests an incident very similar to the Richard Reid “shoe bomber” incident in December 2001. In this case, a 23 year old Nigerian national attempt to detonate an explosive device shortly before the jet was flying on landed in Detroit. However, the device failed to detonate and he was quickly subdued by other passengers.

7:47 PM: Latest report from the Associated Press.

9:03 PM: Rep. Peter King (R-NY) says that the alleged bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was known in US counter-terrorism files and may have been banned from flying into the US.

9:07 PM: In advance of being briefed, Rep. Hoekstra (R-MI) uses the Detroit incident to attack President Obama and tie it to the Fort Hood shooting.

10:28 PM: A few more late details collected by the Washington Post. Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23 year old suspect, who is a Nigerian national, reportedly attends University College London where he studies — or probably better to say — studied engineering. He has also reportedly told investigators that he went to Yemen to pick up the device he used on the plane. The Post reports: “Officials described the device as incendiary rather than explosive, pending tests by forensics experts at the FBI. Incendiary devices generally deliver less of an impact than explosive devices.” I’m curious what the precise distinction is since, presumably, the device would have to have some substantial explosive impact to have any hope of bringing down the plane. Needless to say, I have no expertise in these matters. But this part of the story struck me as curious. No doubt we’ll hear more about this soon.

10:40 PM: New statement released by DHS.

Details are still sketchy. But it seems the incident in Detroit, first reported as a man lighting fireworks on a plane, was an attempted terrorist attack. According to the latest report, the man is a 23 year old Nigerian national now claiming ties to al Qaeda.

As noted earlier, authorities first believed the man had lit “fireworks” on the plane but discovered he had tried but failed to detonate an explosive device.

The US as now raised the terrorist alert status to US air flights to “orange”.

6:54 PM: Rep. Peter King (R-NY), never one to keep a tight lid on breaking intel, says the man’s name is Abdul Mudallad Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and that the flight originated in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam.

From the initial reports, it’s difficult to get a precise read on what happened. But a passenger on a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit tried to light some sort of explosive just before the flight landed. CNN says it was “fireworks”. But the AP refers to an “explosive device” that failed to detonate.

“Fireworks” is obviously an imprecise term. But on their face the two reports suggest two very different kinds of incidents.

The AP report suggests that authorities initially thought it was fireworks but later realized it was a bomb of some sort that fizzled or failed to detonate.

(ed.note: Please send in late press reports as you see them.)

I’m not a Christmas celebrator. But I’m appreciating this little Xmas Eve gift. Remember how those two Alaska journalists got booted from the Wasilla, Alaska Palin book tour event on Tuesday after they were placed on special Palin “banned list”? Well, we got to the bottom of it. It turns out the list was authored by none other than Todd Palin, Palin’s husband-cum-enemies list enforcer.