The Central Intelligence Agency is regarding recent reports of giant, voracious catfish roaming the Atlantic Coast as serious and many fear that it is the next step in Al Qaeda's war on America.

In recent weeks commercial shipping merchants have reported being trailed and at times attacked by what appears to be unnaturally large and aggressive catfish off the coasts of South Carolina, Florida and Lousiana. "I couldn't believe it at first," Captain Bill Wallace said to a Miami newspaper. "I thought it was a small whale at first, then I saw the whiskers and the teeth. I tell you, we put the throttle down after that!"

Initial reports were treated with skepticism by authorities. However, after video footage of a twenty foot catfish attacking the rudder of a container ship was presented as evidence by fearful sailors, the claims were treated with greater seriousness.

It is believed, but unconfirmed, that the CIA has sent out a ship to catch one of these monsters in order to study it closely. "We believe the stories of the sailors," CIA spokesperson Maxwell Pareka said to Brainsnap. "They're telling the truth. We've just got to find out where these things are coming from."

However, a former CIA agent has claimed that the catfish are the work of Al Qaeda. Harold Potinci told Brainsnap that friends of his, still in the CIA, have revealed to him that they believe the giant catfish are a new and terrifying weapon created by terrorist to wreak havoc on American coastal shipping.

"They've been working on it since before September 11," he said. "Mixing catfish DNA with shark and killer whale DNA until they created a monster. Now they've unleashed the monster. God help us all!"

However, the CIA was quick to deny Potinci's claims. "We are at this point unsure of the fish's origins," Pareka said. "It would be unwise to jump too quickly to conclusions. We'll just have to wait and see."

As yet there have been no reported fatalities attributed to the giant catfish. However it could be only a matter of time if Harold Potinci is to be believed. "They're going to breed them bigger and bigger, now they know the secret. And one day, wham!"