The Falling Man. Do you remember this photograph? (The man who jumped from World Trade Towers)

esquire ^ | September 2003, Volume 140, | By Tom Junod

[AppyPappy]

Uhhh....chief. That was the day after. That was speculation. If I remember correctly, they turned out to be working for a moving company, not terrorists. We know who the terrorists are. The Muslims and Palis

[Question_Assumptions]

I was sadly pleased that one of the documentaries I was watching these past few days, perhaps the PBS American Experience one, did show the horror of the falling people but did so in a way that would have made it very difficult to identify them as individuals. They not only showed some of the falling people but also distant shots of some of the carnage below. I've got really mixed feelings about this but think the best approach is the distant or blurred shots but don't hide that so many people feel or jumped.

I live in New Jersey and was warned to avoid going up to work in North Jersey that day by my wife, who was already in the office. I watched the local coverage and before they knew how bad it would be, they were showing close ups of people clinging to the outside of the building waving their jackets and such for help, and trying to climb out of the windows. That stopped, I think, when they realized that there was no hope for those people. It was pretty terrible, though maybe not as terrible as the realization that the first tower had collapsed as I saw CitiCorp tower peeking through the debris when it should have been obscured by the South Tower. It is so clean to everyone now what happened but at the time, given the news camera angles and the disbelief over a total collapse, it was not so clear until I saw no building where a building should have been.

A friend who works only two blocks away who has an office that overlooked the WTC saw the first plane hit out of the corner of his eye. He once mentioned looking at the burning tower with binoculars and regretting it. He didn't mention any details about what he saw and I didn't push for them based on the sound of his voice on the phone.

[Finny]

I majored in journalism at college, got my BA in it. One of my teachers had been a long-time reporter for the New York Times. He was old and seasoned and cynical. He posed a scenario (which actually happened during this teacher's tenure at the paper) and question to the class one day:

One of the paper's photographers is walking down the street when he happens to see a jumper suicide from a skyscraper, and gets a very dramatic photo of the falling man. He races back to the paper, and it is decided that the photograph is so good that it will run on the front page ... UNTIL they learn that the jumper was actually an employee of the New York Times. The moral question posed to the class: Should the paper run the photo?

I raised my hand and said, NO it should not run, regardless of who the guy was or where he worked. It served no newsworthy purpose, and injured the dignity of the jumper and his family.

Most of my classmates, however, disagreed with me and got the answer "correct," in the opinion of the teacher: YES, the picture should run (which it did), and the paper should not "censor" it solely on the grounds that its subject was an employee of the paper.

Disgusting. Ironically, I have ALWAYS believed, and still do, that in the case of 9-11, the news media has a MORAL OBLIGATION to show those people jumping, because it DID and DOES serve a newsworthy purpose, on national and international levels, and reinforces the dignity, humanity, and worth of those souls who fell to their deaths.

God bless the victims and families of 9-11. God bless us all.

[MEG33]

I googled and found they were deported for visa violation,and no work permits.They were at the wrong place at the wrong time.You are not posting the later articles.Why you want to interject this into this thread is a puzzle.They were with a moving company.Maps and knives were a part of their job.Their behavior may have seen as inappropriate.The Feds called it puzzling.

[Last Visible Dog]

This article pisses me off beyond words. They're talking about the artistic value of the photo, the composition, the alignment with the buildings. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, IT'S A PICTURE OF A MANS DEATH!!!!!! NOT AN ART SHOT!!!!!

I think you people have completely missed the point of this article. It is philosophical commentary. I think it has gone completely over your heads. Try reading it again. This is one of the most insightful and revealing articles I have read on 9-11 – it is well written.

Equating the “Falling Man” to the unknown soldier of wars is a masterful analogy.

[Concentrate]

Sources close to the investigation said the men said they were Israeli tourists, but police had not been able to confirm their identities. Authorities would not release their names.

Now, if you were Muslim terrorist accomplices who got caught celebrating the demise of so many, what would you tell the clueless police?

[Question_Assumptions]

I remember John Fund coming on a news program via the telephone from the Wall Street Journal offices downtown (it was probably Fox News I was watching at that moment) and he was the first I heard describe the horror of people falling out of the tower.

[End Times Sentinel]

In lieu of a koran, is burning magazine and newspaper photos of Beelzebubba and Hitlery an acceptable alternative?

 

I'm confused, what do you mena Beelzebubba AND Hitlery?  I believe you mean B.Bubb/Hitlery.

 

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[HitmanLV]

Any doctors or scientists on this thread? I have heard that in situations like this you die before you hit the ground, blacking out from the fall, and possibly that your neck is broken from the fall, so that when you hit the ground, you are already dead.

Any truth to this, or is it a 6th grader's science project? I was wondering that on 9-11, and also hope to never actually find out.

[End Times Sentinel]

At 8:46 tomorrow, I will be standing under an American Flag, burning a koran.

Darn, that's a good idea. Maybe I better make a trip to Barnes and Nobles after work.

See if you can't find one used.  You don't want to encourage more to be printed.

 

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[Alouette]

What are we supposed to get from this? Are we supposed to all celebrate your ignorance?

I was referring to the author's praise of the stupid so-called "artwork" of a naked woman that was displayed in Rockfeller Center as being somehow "definitive" of 9-11. Many New Yorkers felt the same way. I was not referring to the photograph of the falling man. Now if you claim that you actually read the entire article, your level of reading comprehension is way down.

[oceanview]

well, if that were true, wouldn't all skydivers die in the descent? i think you would likely go into shock on the way down.

[Concentrate]

So were they Jews or Muslims? They could have been Israeli Muslims. Why is this information missing from your post? Does it mean that they were indeed Israeli tourists watching on and celebrating the attack on the WTC? Or not?

[LizardQueen]

I have not missed the point of the article. Falling Man as equivalent to the Tomb of the Unknowns is a fine point.
Chasing his family around the funeral trying to find out who he was is NOT OK, especially after they already refused to talk to him!

LQ

[Skooz]

Maybe I'll just have to print out a few pages from the internet. I doubt if I'll have the time to scrounge up a used one before tomorrow morning.

[HitmanLV]

I agree, that's why I'm asking. It never made any sense to me, but I have heard it a lot.

[El Gato]

Do you have any photos of them to post?

Do you? Or even a link to a legitimate news story on their arrest?

[Bon mots]

But I also can't stop thinking about of the four Israelis who were arrested on the Jersey shoreline while videotaping and celebrating the mass murder of Americans on that day.

Prove it. Even if true, it's unmatched by the millions of joyous Muslimes on that awful day.

Are you sure you're on the right site? Maybe this is the one you were looking for...

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

BTTT

[Cogadh na Sith]

I have heard that in situations like this you die before you hit the ground, blacking out from the fall, and possibly that your neck is broken from the fall, so that when you hit the ground, you are already dead.

Old Urban legend. Military High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jumpers will jump from 25-30K feet and open below 2k feet. (sometimes lower, even).

Terminal velocity for a head-down parachutist is probably around 150 mph. Terminal velocity means that your wind resistance finally evens out your acceleration and you continue at the same velocity--no faster. Motorcycle racers routinely go that fast.

Terminal velocity for a parachutist in the usual 'relaxed frog' position is somewere around 100mph.

In short, it's not the fall, it's the really short stop at the end...