It seems that Verizon and HTC are trying to build up excitement for the new Thunderbolt to ‘stratospheric’ levels. This is a pretty clever marketing strategy for Verizon. The Thunderbolt is really just an improved version of the HTC EVO, but that’s actually a pretty impressive thing regardless, as that phone practically single-handedly put Sprint back in the smartphone race.
There is a rumor that February 21 had popped up as a possibility for the HTC Thunderbolt to hit stores and then this screenshot from a Best Buy system appeared up over at Android Forums adding to that idea.