untruths relating to 11 September 2001
E-tales and Net-tales Spread In Wake Of Terrorist Disaster
Fact or fiction?
Some of the most widely circulated internet, e-mail and other stories since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks:
Nostradamus Prophecy - Text that vaguely seems to predict the terrorist attacks on New York was actually from a college student's essay about the 16th-century French astronomer's writings.
The Good Neighbor - Canadian TV commentator Gordon Sinclair's tribute to America is authentic, but not "recent" as claimed. Sinclair wrote the piece in 1973; he died in 1984.
Candlelight Vigil to be photographed from space - The U.S. government has announced no such plan. Not that it would be visible in the first place.
Satan's face in the smoke- The Associated Press stands by its photograph, and CNN stands by its video, both of which appear to show the image of a face in a cloud of smoke billowing from the World Trade Center.
Verify other "Attack On America" e-mail and web stories at these Web sites:
(you won't believe how many they are!)
Urbanlegends Search results for -
Sept 11 |
WTC | and
World Trade Center .
Truth or Fiction -Learn the truth about more then fifty of the 11 September 2001 related stories.
Snopes You won't believe what some people are saying!
hoaxinfo Found a small handful under
WTC and World Trade Center
NEW YORK - Did you hear about the police officer who miraculously "surfed" debris down a collapsing World Trade Center tower? How about Satan's face revealed in smoke billowing from the doomed buildings?
"I think that people fall for this stuff because people are trying to make sense of these disasters, the idea that there's some idea or plan to these wrenching events," said Kevin Christopher of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal near Buffalo.
Some tales that have circulated are the instant bits of folklore sometimes referred to as urban legends.
One story describes a Port Authority officer caught high up in a World Trade Center tower as it collapsed, surviving by riding the debris all the way down. In one version of the story, he was on the 82nd floor and broke both legs.
Frank Pita, a spokesman for the Port Authority, said Tuesday the report is unconfirmed and the agency suspects it is not true.
E-mails about Nostradamus, the 16th-century French astronomer credited by some with predicting Adolf Hitler's ascent and the French Revolution, now credit him with foreseeing the Manhattan attack.
A version of one cited quatrain reads in part, "The third big war will begin when the big city is burning." And another reads, "In the City of York there will be a great collapse."
Critics say Nostradamus wrote his predictions so vaguely that it is easy to retrofit facts to the prediction after an event.
As for the quoted quatrains, Barbara Mikkelson, who with her husband runs the Urban Legends Reference Pages on the Internet, said Nostradamus didn't write either one.
Another e-mail circulating sees the number 11 as significant. It notes that the attack occurred on Sept. 11. The first plane to strike the towers was Flight 11. Sept. 11 is the 254th day of the year, and 2+5+4=11. Also, the towers resembled a big 11 before they were felled.
Then there's the face in the smoke.
Some have claimed a profile can be made out in dark smoke above the World Trade Center in an Associated Press photograph taken last week. This has been called "the face of Satan" on some Internet postings.
Skeptics say the face is no different from someone seeing images in clouds; they are seeing patterns where there is randomness.
Vin Alabiso, an AP Vice President and the news cooperative's executive photo editor, has said the photograph was untouched and that AP has a strict policy that prohibits altering the content of a photograph in any way.
These are just a few of the 'tales' I've been emailed, sometimes a dozen times or more from any number of my friends. There are a lot more on the above websites. Okay, I was bored the other day so I wasted my time surfing the web, came across an Urban Legend Site and started reading. Next thing I know, I'm on my laptop adding to my website!
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