This page indexed a collection of links to pages discussing the various rumors to come out of the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States of America. Each entry is followed by a date indicating the last time the corresponding page was updated. To find entries added to this site since your last visit, please see our Recent Additions page.
The claims indexed on this page are preceded by colored bullets:
identifies true statements.
identifies false statements.
identifies statements of undetermined or ambiguous veracity.
identifies legends of indeterminate origin.
Select this link for an expanded definition of our rating system.
Rumors of future terrorist attacks:
Girl receives letter from her disappeared Afghan boyfriend saying terrorists are going to strike at U.S. malls on Halloween. (10 October)
Thirty Ryder, Verizon, and U-Haul trucks have been stolen recently, presumably by terrorists who will use them in the ongoing attack on America. (11 October)
Kindness performed for a stranger nets warning about upcoming terrorist attack. (12 October)
Fear of exposure to Anthrax delivered by mail is running high. (12 October)
A further wave of terrorist attacks was due on September 22. (22 September)
Advance warnings of the September 11 attacks:
A Nostradamus prophecy about the fall of "two brothers" (meaning the World Trade Towers) predicts the imminent start of World War III. (17 September)
Four thousand Jews employed by companies housed in the World Trade Center stayed home from work on September 11, warned in advance of the impending attack on the World Trade Center. (21 September)
A Dallas schoolboy predicted the start of World War III one day before the terrorist attacks on America. (12 October)
Several domain names related to the September 11 terrorist attack on America were registered before the attack. (1 October)
In the days just prior to the terrorist attacks, the stocks of United and American Airlines were shorted by parties unknown. (3 October)
Actor James Woods observed and reported four hijackers making a trial run on an airline flight before the September 11 terrorist attacks on America. (11 October)
Images of September 11:
The planned cover for a hip-hop album due to be released in November depicted an exploding World Trade Center. (20 September)
Images of the World Trade Center fire reveal the face of Satan! (21 September)
Picture shows graphic message sent by terrorists via cell phone to communicate success of attack on New York City. (23 September)
A bound pair of hands was found atop one of the buildings near the former World Trade Center towers. (19 September)
MSNBC's web site displayed unfortunate ad placement after the September 11 terrorist attacks. (3 October)
The winner of the FOX reality TV show "Murder in Small Town X," a New York city firefighter, was killed during rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. (4 October)
Items of moral outrage:
CNN used old footage to fake images of 'Palestinians dancing in the street' after the terrorist attack on the USA. (23 September)
Television evangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said that liberal civil liberties groups, feminists, homosexuals, pagans, and abortion rights supporters bear partial responsibility for the terrorist attacks on the USA because their actions have turned God's anger against America. (17 September)
A U.S. company banned its employees from displaying American flags. (20 September)
Clear Channel Communications has issued a list of songs officially banned from airplay to their American radio stations. (18 September)
ABC anchorman Peter Jennings proclaimed during a September 11 newscast that President Bush should "quit hiding behind the Secret Service, come out and face the nation, and explain his failure to protect the country from these terrorist attacks." (25 September)
Starbucks charged ambulance workers $130 for three cases of water intended for the injured during the search and rescue at the World Trade Center. (29 September)
Dunkin' Donuts employees of Arab extraction celebrated as news of the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon was aired. (25 September)
On-line bookseller Amazon.com is partnered with the web site Intifada.com. (25 September)
On NBC's Today program, Billy Graham's daughter said to Bryant Gumbel that "We need to make up our mind -- do we want God or do we not want Him . . . We cannot just ask Him in when disaster strikes." (3 October)
A Canadian policeman was suspended for travelling to New York to help search for survivors of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. (4 October)
ABC News has asked their staffers not to wear American flag lapel pins or red, white, and blue ribbons. (8 October)
The Reuters news agency has proscribed the use of the word 'terrorists' to describe those who pulled off the September 11 terrorist attacks on America. (9 October)
Schools and other municipal agencies have been ordered to remove banners displaying the phrase 'God Bless America.' (12 October)
Budweiser employee who saw Arabs at a convenience store celebrating the terrorist attacks pulled all Budweiser product from that store. (12 October)
Hoaxes:
A photograph captured an unlucky tourist posing on the observation deck of a World Trade Center tower seconds before a hijacked airliner smashed into the building. (27 September)
You can aid the search for Osama Bin Laden by donating money to a band of hackers. (16 September)
Light a candle tonight for a satellite photo. (1 October)
Blue envelopes from the Klingerman Foundation containing sponges saturated with a deadly virus are being anonymously mailed to random Americans.* (28 September)
Several people falsely claimed to have lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks. (2 October)
Editorials:
A writer named Tamim Ansary penned an essay from the perspective of an Afghan-American. (20 September)
Dr. Tony Kern, a former USAF Lieutenant Colonel, authored a letter about what America can expect in a war against terrorists. (25 September)
In 1941, newsman Edward R. Murrow penned a piece about the need for restraint in the American response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (29 September)
The September 11 terrorist attacks on America were a failure from a statistical standpoint. (2 October)
A Romanian newspaper ran a stirring pro-American editorial. (12 October)
Miracles:
Man trapped high in the collapsing World Trade Tower rides the falling debris to safety. (2 October)
An unburned Bible was found amidst the charred wreckage of the Pentagon after the September 11 terrorist attack. (27 September)
Actor Jackie Chan was scheduled to begin filming a movie at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11 but changed his plans because the screenwriter failed to deliver the script for the planned scene on time. (7 October)
Construction workers at the World Trade Center found two metal beams in the shape of a cross a few days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. (9 October)
Unusual phenomena:
An impressive array of 11s can be shaken out of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. (18 September)
Typing particular letter combinations into Microsoft Word using Wingdings and Webdings fonts produces some eerie results. (23 September)
Petitions:
Sending a petition to the United Nations Information Centre will help prevent World War III. (25 September)
Humor:
Women: Take off your clothes and scare terrorists! (5 October)
Horrific events put paid to a cheating husband's alibi. (5 October)
Osama bin Laden:
Osama bin Laden owns extensive gum arabic holdings. (19 September)
The slighting comment of an American girl on the size of his penis gave rise to Osama bin Laden's hatred of the USA. (5 October)
Bert, the Sesame Street muppet, appears on posters carried by supporters of Osama bin Laden. (12 October)
President George W. Bush:
President Bush declared, "I'm not gonna fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt." (20 September)
President George W. Bush has been nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. (12 October)
Expressions of support and gratitude:
Canadian broadcaster Gordon Sinclair delivered an impassioned defense of the U.S. in 1973. (17 September)
The German destroyer FGS Lutjens saluted the American destroyer USS Winston Churchill with a "manning the rails" ceremony and the display of a banner reading "We Stand By You." (30 September)
The town of Gander in Newfoundland played host to thousands of airline passengers stranded there when American airspace was closed after the September 11 terrorist attacks. (4 October)
Driving with your headlights on during daylight hours on October 11 will demonstrate national solidarity and respect for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. (4 October)
Miscellany:
A United Airlines pilot delivered a pre-flight speech in which he instructed passengers how to overpower any hijackers that might be aboard. (30 September)
A "Voter Virus" is being disseminated via e-mail. (30 September)
Being an only child (or an only son) automatically exempts you from military service.* (8 October)
* Entries marked with an asterisk will appear in a separate browser window
Legend: Typing particular letter combinations into Microsoft Word using Wingdings and Webdings fonts produces some eerie results.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001]
1. open MS word
2. type "NYC" in uppercase letters
3. change the font size to 72
4. change the font to webdings
5. change the font to wingdings
Apparently "q33ny" - supposed to be the flight number of one of the crashed planes - gives an aeroplane, two buildings, a skull and crossbones and the star of david. Again, no comment, although whether this is in fact the number of one of the planes seems unlikely.
I've heard a few people suggesting that this is a sign that Microsoft were involved in the terrorist attack.
Origins: The first set of instructions is a gimmick which has been known for years: Typing the letters NYC using the Webdings font in Microsoft Word (or similar application) produces, as shown below, an image of an eye, a heart, and a city skyline, which some people read as "I love New York" (although the last image could really be any big city skyline). Switching to the WingDings font produces an image of a skull and crossbones, a Star of David, and a thumbs-up symbol, read by some conspiracy-minded folks as a symbolic approval of the killing of Jews.
