sniper's white van

[voguevixen]

*Originally posted by Sofa King *
**

A long time ago, someone here at the SDMB–I think in General Questions–noted a logical fallacy which s/he described as “the van is on the corner” syndrome. The idea was that people tend to notice the things for which they are looking, and tend to ascribe a false causation to it. **

Actually, it pre-dates the boards and is from the columns/books. (I remember because it was a favorite of mine!)

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_047.html