"THE MYSTERIOUS TOWERS"
Some See 'Ghost' of Towers at Night
September 23, 2001
For many New Yorkers, the Twin Towers are legendary. But for some, there is now talk about the buildings, the kind that sometimes spurs urban legends. Some residents of the Lower East Side, who for decades have had an unobstructed view of the majestic 110-story towers simply by glancing down East Broadway or Madison Street, say they see the outlines of the two destroyed buildings.
"It was amazing," said Mike Atta, who works at a grocery store at Rutgers and Madison streets. "It was a light, a straight light going up into the sky. It actually looked like the Twin Towers."
Atta said many people have stood outside his store on evenings to admire the "ghost" and have spoken to him about it. "Some people say it's just a light," Atta said. "Some people say it's an amazing thing."
Whether it's a light that rescue workers are using to illuminate Ground Zero as they dig for survivors or an inexplicable phenomenon, people say they do not fear what they see.
"I wasn't spooked," said Angela Wu, a volunteer with the nonprofit, community-based Lower Manhattan Residents Relief Coalition, which is helping Lower East Side residents through the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack. "It was sort of a heavy experience."
B.J. Crown, a Red Cross disaster mental health expert, said many things could account for what people see. It could be a light rescue workers are using. But it could also be an image in people's minds that offers them a way to deal with the grief associated with the attacks. "These things are normal reactions to abnormal situations," Crown said. "I would think it would be sort of comforting for them."
Crown explained that if it is an image in people's minds, it is not unlike what victims of lost limbs deal with, initially believing that they can still feel their lost arm or leg. She cautions that if it is an image and people keep seeing it for months to come, they should talk to a mental health expert.
The towers "were the most beautiful thing you could see from here," said Carlos Torres, 28, a lifelong resident of the Lower East Side.
Torres said he also saw the faint image of the towers one recent night when his boss pointed it out to him. "Scared? Why?" Torres asked. "It's a thing of God."
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Virgin Mary statue 'started crying days before terror attacks'
Worshippers at an Ecuadorian church claim their statue of the Virgin Mary has started crying tears of blood. According to the Extra newspaper, the wooden statue started crying days before the US terror attacks.Local priest Alfredo Viera says the timing of the phenomenon is important. Church authorities are keeping an open mind. The priest says the tears show Mary's distress at mankind's sinful nature. The phenomenon apparently happened first during a wedding at the church in Cotogchoa. The bride, María Jaramillo, says she noticed red tears running down the statue's cheeks which are painted white. The church has now become a site of pilgrimage for hundreds of residents of Pichincha province. Scientists suggest the 'tears' are a result of a seasonal change in temperature, making the wooden statue exude sap. Parishioners claim the statue is too old to contain sap. Scientists are also unable to explain why the tears are red rather than white. Story Filed: Monday 24th September 2001
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(Rap Group CD Cover Censored For Bad Coincidence)
Monday, September 24, 2001
Comic depicted attack; some details match Trade Center tragedy
Workers at a Sparta, Ill., firm that distributes comic books to retailers were startled when they realized that "Shadow Reavers," a new comic released last month, depicted a fiery attack on the World Trade Center. The 25-page comic book, released Aug. 22, features a lurid depiction of an attack on Manhattan under the warning, "New York City will be the first to fall." While the headline above the scene gave a date of "Aug. 22, 2004," other details matched the actual attack on Sept. 11. On another page, a reproduction of an FBI "10 Most Wanted" poster showed Osama bin Laden. In some editions of the comic published by Wizard Entertainment Group in New York City, a photograph of a world globe turned to Afghanistan and Pakistan was also presented. This combination of coincidences was enough, said one worker at Diamond Comics, to warrant an e-mail to the FBI. However, it is improbable that the story line called "The End Starts Here" could be related to the terrorist attack. It was written two years ago. Pat McCallum, who wrote the story line, said he was aghast a few days after two airliners brought down the twin towers to realize that he had unwittingly produced a work of fiction based in real terror. McCallum said he will offer his services free of charge for a planned comic book that will concentrate "on real heroes like New York City firemen and police." Brian Hillier, owner of Twilight Comics in Belleville, Ill., said that even Superman, or more correctly, "The Adventures of Superman," can be linked to the tragedy in New York City. Hillier said that a recent Superman story line — "Our World At War" — beginning in June featured the destruction of Trade Center tower lookalikes, the twin "Lex Corp." buildings in "Metropolis." "But this kind of stuff is not the mainstream in comics," Hillier said, "My customers want the traditional Batman, Superman stuff. For every Shadow Reavers I sell, I'll sell a hundred or so of these."
The cover of "Shadow Reavers," released Aug. 22, luridly depicts an attack on New York City.
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