Peter Guzli climbed to the top of the World Trade Center on November 28, 1997 and had his picture taken. Then, four years later, after the horrific attacks, he decided to doctor the photo into one of the most infamous hoaxes in history.
The picture appears to show a man standing on the observation deck moments before United Flight 175 strikes the tower. A viral email sent along with the picture claimed it had been found on a camera pulled from the wreckage.
Guzli added the plane from a stock image and changed the date stamp on the picture (did I mention he’s a computer technician?). He then sent an email to friends, but created a new email address to make it appear the message had originated from a local police chief. From there, it was posted to the Internet and went viral.
“It was a private matter – I assumed my friends would recognize me and call me to see if I was alright, but they didn’t, they posted it on to other friends and suddenly it was all over the world. I am ashamed that even now the police still get calls about it, I never did it for money and I never intended to cause any harm to the real victims or their families,” he said.
The image became a full-scale meme with the wool capped man appearing in dozens of doctored other historical moments. There is a full site dedicated to the hoax.
For many of us, life before September 11, 2001 is hard to remember. Yet, the front pages of September 10 detail the ordinary news around the country. The first hurricane of the season, Erin, was making waves along the East Coast as she moved far out to sea. New York Jets coach Herman Edwards was under scrutiny after his team lost by 21 points in the season opener. All across America, the normal joys and disappointments of life occurred. These pictures capture some of those moments. One day later, our world changed forever.
1. An Australian man named David Officer was visiting New York with his family. They got to the top of the Empire State Building and took this picture of the World Trade Center on Sept. 10. They planned to visit the World Trade Center the following morning, but were delayed when David decided to go for a run. (ABC News)
2. Taken by a hiker on a trip, this image from Mohonk, New York was taken on the evening of Sept. 10. (Flatbush Gardener)
3. Impressed with the lovely night sky, a man decided to snap this picture from the window of his DC office building. You can see the Capitol Building in the background. (Boston Bill)
4. Over in the United Kingdom, a man stopped and photographed a train. (rowanC82)
5. This picture comes from inside an airplane that was making the transatlantic flight from London to San Francisco. (steve_l)
6. In Pittsburgh, this shot shows a business luncheon occurring on Sept. 10. (mml.stanford)
7. A beautiful lookout into the peaceful tranquility of nature. Taken near Leecher Lookout in Washington. (firephoto39)
8. Coming back from lunch, this San Francisco worker snapped a picture of the flower below. (GordReece)
9. Artist Monika Bravo was at work on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Center until midnight on September 10, 2001. She took a video of the thunderstorm that hit New York that evening and created a 5 minute video from it. You can see the complete video here.
10. President Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard shake hands before a meeting on Sept. 10. Prime Minister Howard would be in Washington the following day, as the attacks began to unfold.
11. This image could make your blood freeze. Hijackers Mohamed Atta (rear) and Abdulaziz al-Omari (front) were photographed by this ATM in Portland, Maine at 8:41 p.m. the night before the attacks.
Video: This was taken on September 3, 2001 by someone in town for a wedding. It’s chilling and shows what the complex was like just days before the attack.
A 21 foot, 2,370 pound crocodile was captured after a three week hunt by villagers in the Philippines. The one-ton beast is considered by most to be the world’s largest crocodile.
Villagers believe the crocodile killed a water buffalo and attacked a fisherman during the last month. As it is against the law in the Philippines to kill crocodiles, the beast will star in an exhibit at an ecotourism park.
The crocodile is named Lolong and locals believe their is an even larger one lurking in the nearby waters.
Check out this incredible video of Lolong that was posted on YouTube.
Yes, Sarah Palin is running. Actually, it doesn’t appear she ever stopped. The former governor of Alaska and perennial potential presidential candidate made a rare unannounced stop when she ran in the “Jump Right in and Run” half marathon in Storm Lake, Iowa.
Palin finished second best in her age group with a time of 1:46:10 in the race, which was organized by the Storm Lake Running Club. She ran under her maiden name of Heath and listed her hometown as Des Moines, Iowa.
Greta Van Susteren was the first person to post a picture of Palin running. The Storm Lake Running Club later confirmed that Palin ran in the event and Palin thanked Storm Lake in a tweet.
It is still quite the achievement in the music world to have a song hit number 1 on the charts, and that’s exactly what Maroon 5 did last week with their latest single “Moves Like Jagger” ft. Christina Aguilera.
The accomplishment is notable for a variety of odd reasons. Let’s go through them one by one.
1. For Maroon 5: The rock band has not had a number 1 since 2007’s “Makes Me Wonder.” This puts them back on top again.
2. For Christina Aguilera: The singer has not had a number 1 for ten years since 2001’s “Lady Marmalade” with Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk. It is her fifth number one hit overall.
3. For Adam Levine: The Maroon 5 frontman becomes the first artist to have a number one hit with a band and place another song in the top 10 as a soloist in the same week. He contributed vocals to the Gym Class Heroes‘ “Stereo Hearts.”
4. For Mick Jagger: The Rolling Stones frontman becomes the first musician ever to have had a number 1 hit and to have their name mentioned in a number one hit. The Rolling Stones had 8 number one hits in the 1960s and 1970s. This achievement doesn’t apply to “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” by the Temptations since it didn’t refer to Jagger’s band specifically.
Overall, Jagger becomes the fourth musician to have his name appear in a number one hit. The others:
Tone-Loc (1989): “Funky Cold Medina” (Cold coolin’ at a bar, and I’m lookin’ for some action / But, like Mick Jagger said, I can’t get no satisfaction)
The only other celebrity to have their new appear in a number one hit that I can find is Bette Davis whose name appeared in Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes.”
The picture appears to show a man standing on the observation deck moments before United Flight 175 strikes the tower. A viral email sent along with the picture claimed it had been found on a camera pulled from the wreckage.
Not Intent on Arriving 
