Hmm. Student from Egypt, in the country illegally, found with a pilot’s uniform, a chart of Memphis International Airport and a DVD titled “How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act:” Student Arrested After Pilot Uniform Found. (Hat tip: Jheka.)

I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation.

The FBI is investigating whether Mahmoud Maawad, 29, had any connection to terrorists. He is awaiting trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number.

Maawad, who is in the United States illegally, told the judge during a hearing Thursday that he is studying science and economics at the University of Memphis. “My school is everything. I stay in this country for seven years; I stay for the school,” he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Parker said Thursday that the airport-related items were found during a Sept. 9 search. “The specific facts and circumstances are scary,” Parker said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Thomas Anderson ruled that Maawad be held without bond. “It is hard for the court to understand why he has a large concentration of those (aviation) items, and nothing else to indicate Mr. Maawad plans to stay in the community,” Anderson said.

Maawad had ordered $3,000 in aviation materials, including DVDs titled “Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings,” “Airplane Talk,” “Mental Math for Pilots” and “Mastering GPS Flying,” FBI agent Thad Gulczynski testified.