They Never Saw The Plane, Testimony From Two NY Photographers Options

[Factfinder Gener...]

About twelve weeks after the world changing events of September 11 2001, veteran interviewer and journalist, Charlie Rose had a special segment on his PBS show with four of the world's top photographers entitled: A conversation with photographers who captured 9/11 and its effects (10/31/2001)

You can watch the segment at:

Charlie Rose's Site.

or you can watch the whole program as aired on 10/31/01 on PBS at:

YouTube.

The segment is the second segment beginning at ten minutes and thirty seconds.

The segment in question was a panel discussion with the four photographers who had chronicled the attack on the World Trade Center and its subsequent devastation on the surrounding community. The four featured photographers were all well established professionals, obviously having been deeply affected by witnessing and documenting the events of that day. They were: Pulitzer prize winner Richard Drew of the Associated Press, New York Daily News Photographer: David Handschuh, Jay Maisel, who had been photographing the Twin Towers for 35 years, and finally international veteran, Thomas Hoepker, photographer for Magnum Photos.

Two of those photographers were on hand to photograph the events at the World Trade Center not long after the first Impact on WTC1 and thus witnessed the second impact on WTC2, the other two got to ground zero after this second impact. The two photographers who witnessed the second impact were,

Jay Maisel:
(IMG:http://www.awdpc.com/images/bio_jaymaisel.jpg)

Jay Maisel is a photographer. His name has become synonymous with vibrant color photography that uses light and gesture to create countless unforgettable images for advertising, editorial and corporate communications. In addition, his pictures appear in books and art collections. Included among his many awards for excellence are the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, American Society of Media Photographers' Photographer of the Year Award and the International Center of Photography's Infinity Award. Bio from Charlie Rose's Site

and David Handschuh:
(IMG:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42029000/gif/_42029186_davidhandschuh203.gif)

Handschuh is one of the most respected photo-journalists in the business: "David Handschuh, the past president of the National Press Photographers Association, and a staff photographer for the New York Daily News is one of the most street-wise photographers in New York. He commonly arrives on the scene of a fire or crime with the first wave of police. Article from Digital Journalist

Here, in their own words is their fresh recollection of witnessing the second impact as they recount the day for Charlie Rose's program:

What I first saw was of a "hologram" flower that formed from the plane coming through from the south and I was looking to the south and I couldn't see the plane.  I just suddenly saw this great big obscene flower.  (Jay Maisel was watching the World Trade Center Towers from the roof of his six story studio, approximately six thousand feet away.)

Note: "I COULDN'T SEE THE PLANE" (Maisel)

I was less than  a hundred yards away from the building I was standing on West Street and we heard this noise, and remember, I presumed cessna, never thought large aircraft, after the first one we didn't know attack, we didn't know terrorism, we just thought horrible accident.  I mean people go up and down the Hudson Corridor all the time learning to fly a commercial aircraft and then heard this noise that seemed to come from everywhere but didn't - I had no idea what it was and then the south tower just exploded, it just, it just, it just blew up, and somebody said "that was a plane", it's like: I was underneath it, I was looking at the tower, I had my camera in my hand, I heard the noise, I never saw the airplane and didn't realize that I had that picture 'til a neighbor brought the Daily News over the next day and it had my byline underneath: "Oh my God, look at that!

Note: "I NEVER SAW THE AIRPLANE" (Handschuh)

Here's a map for reference of the two photographer's viewing locations:

(IMG:http://www.aaccessmaps.com/images/maps/us/ny/manhattan/manhattan.gif)

Maisel was on the roof of his studio, at the corner of Spring Street, and Bowery: NExE of the WTC (55 degrees of North) looking SWxW towards the Towers

Handschuh was situated on the corner of Liberty Street and the West Side Highway: right under the Towers to their West and looking upwards at them in an Easterly direction.

They both had a clear view of the alleged plane's approach towards WTC2 and the subsequent impact. By there own accounts, as professional photographers , i.e. highly skilled observers, and both in the process of documenting the event, they were focussed on the Towers. They both saw the explosion; they neither of them saw the plane.

To give you an idea of what they should have seen according to many allegedly authentic witnesses, let's take a look at two allegedly authentic videos taken from similar vantage points as the two photographers:

Miasel's viewing angle is approximately the same as the video commonly called the
Fant'Dev 2nd Hit

Handschuh's viewing angle isn't too dissimilar from the one from the video known as the
Luc Courchesne 2nd Hit

This Fanta'Dev video closely matches Jay Maisel's viewing angle. It was taken from the roof of a five story building just North of Rivington Street and Bowery. The six years that have passed since 9/11 have seen many changes regarding the rapidly upscaling skyline of the Bowery district, such as a the construction of a 16 story Condominium complex at 195 Bowery which would have obscured much of the shot, had it stood back then.

The buildings that are visible in the shot are (1) the back of the building near the South East corner of Rivington and Bowery with the Fant'Dev graffiti on it from which the clip gets its name, (2) Jay Maisel's studio/home/offiice, the Beaux Arts-style Germania Bank Building, 190 Bowery, at the corner of Spring Street, then positioned in front of the WTC Towers, is (3) the 41 story International Style Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building, at 26 Federal Plaza and finally, beyond that there is (4) the distinctive Neo-Gothic Spire of the Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway.

Jay Maisel's camera tripod is visible on the near corner of the roof of the Germania Bank Building (Maisel is not, but he would have been operating his tripod mounted camera with a remote). Note also that the Germania Bank Building with its six monumental stories, stands taller than the five story Fanta'Vid location, thus affording Jay a slightly better view of the approach of the alleged plane than the Fanta'Dev videographer would have had.

Here's Jay Maisel's studio, the Germania Bank Building, on 190 Bowery:

(IMG:http://gammablog.com/gammablablog/images/12-04/12-26/old-bank.jpg)

Here's a couple of still frames from the Fanta'Dev video.

(IMG:http://911hoax.com/CamPlan_ST_0776.jpg)

(IMG:http://911hoax.com/CamPlan_ST_0853.jpg)

Jay Maisel's photographs of the Towers that he took on 9/11 are not publicly available on the internet but an example of one of them is displayed during the Charlie Rose segment at thirty nine minutes and fifteen seconds into the YouTube video.

It is more or less taken from the same viewing angle as the Fanta'Dev Video, in fact there is only a couple of degrees difference between the two angles with Jay Maisel's position being just slightly to the left.

Here below is an article for further reference about Jay Maisel and his thirty five year history photographing the World Trade Center Towers. The second cityscape photo down is taken from Maisel's roof and shows the similarity of viewing angle to the Fanta'Dev Video relative to the towers:

Jay Maisel - Proof Positive

The materials presented here clearly demonstrate that Jay Maisel unquestionably had a good view of the alleged plane's approach towards WCT2 and should have seen it. He did not. The Fanta'Dev video is thus, in all likelihood, fraudulent.

Now, as for a comparison between the Luc Courchesne Video and what David Handschuh should have seen if it is to be deemed authentic:

Here's Handschuh's photograph of the blow-back from the impact, i.e. Handschuh's camera was trained on the impacted South face of the Tower:

(IMG:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/art/news/nation_world/terroristwithin/sept11.jpg)

And here's a still frame from the Luc Courchesne video for comparison:

(IMG:http://www.olats.org/projetpart/artmedia/2002/img/courchesne1.jpg)

David Handschuh was standing underneath the impacted face of the tower, on the corner of West Street (alongside the West-side Highway) and Liberty Street, looking up at the Towers in an Easterly direction.

Luc Courchesne was standing about 900 feet the South West of David Handschuh at Rectory Place, looking up at the towers in a North Easterly direction.

David Handschuh, as much as anyone, and in fact even more so than Luc Courchesne, had a ring side seat for the 2nd Hit. He should've seen the plane. He did not. The Luc Courchesne video is, in all likelihood, fraudulent.

Reviewing the YouTube Video at twenty six minutes and forty seconds in: David Handschuh can be heard speaking a revealing piece of offscreen dialogue, as he talks under fellow photographer, Richard Drew. Richard Drew, who didn't witness the second impact, is discussing a photo he took of the WTC2 damage:

Richard Drew: You can see the profile of the airplane the wings coming out of the two sides and like the smoke going and I said this is just amazing

David Handschuh: (Talking Under) but was this a large aircraft for you, or for you maybe it was a small one?

Richard Drew: All, all I saw was a hole...

Twelve weeks after the event, David Handschuh is obviously trying hard to reconcile his lack of having seen a large plane with the contrary evidence to hand.

The discrepancy between what Handschuh knows he witnessed and what was reported is apparent from other interviews and articles:

'Handschuh was standing on the corner of Liberty and West when he heard a noise that "seemed to come from everywhere." He thought that perhaps a large natural gas main in the building let go. "But all of the sudden the second tower explodes into flame. And I'm standing underneath it. And I think, OK. This is a second bomb. This is not an accident."   Handschuh instinctively raised the camera to his eye. "I have the fireball coming out of the West Street side".  David Handschuh's Personal Account

"Then out of nowhere came this noise. This loud, high-pitched roar that seemed to come from all over, but from nowhere in particular. And the second tower just exploded. It became amazingly obvious to anyone there that what we all had hoped was a terrible accident was actually an overt act of hostility. I didn't see the plane hit, although I was looking at the tower at the time."  I Was There

"Then this noise filled the air that sounded like a high-pressure gas line had been ruptured. It seemed to come from all over, not one direction. Everyone was looking around thinking, "What was that?" And the second tower explodes."  Capturing Heroism and History

A large passenger plane, traveling at under 1,000 feet is unmistakable by visual and aural identifiers and impossible to miss by size and decibel level. If there had been a Boeing 767 that morning, approaching the Towers in Handschuh's and Maisel's clear view, they would have seen it, unless they were blind and deaf, which is not in any way feasible for photo-journalists. They didn't see or hear any plane.

Maisel talks of the surreal image of the explosion just appearing, using the metaphor of the emergence of an obscene hologram flower. David Handschuh documents hearing a noise that filled the air and sounded like a high-pressured gas line had been ruptured. This confusing noise couldn't be attributed to any visible object and seemed to be coming from all over but nowhere in particular. He was not alone in his confusion. According to him everyone was looking around wondering what the sound was and then came the second tower explosion. His instinct was that it was from a bomb.

A twenty foot long penetrator missile at approximately 1,000 feet is going to be very hard to spot.

A Tomahawk Penetrator does, however, emit a high-pitched sound that could well be described as similar to that of a ruptured high pressured gas line.

Incoming Missile Fly-By

Now if you imagine the sound of that missile as above, overlaid on the following video by 911review (who "scrubbed" the plane from the Courchesne footage to show how easy it is to fake videos)

Luc Courchesne 2nd Hit - "Plane" Removed

then we are probably getting close to a reenactment of what David Handschuh and Jay Maisel actually witnessed: a twenty foot long penetrator missile, too high up to clearly see, screaming down towards the south tower out of a clear blue sky!

This being the case I want to round off this post by referencing a video that otherwise might merely be dismissed as an anomaly. In light of the above evidence, however, it takes on high significance as it begins to look like one of the few surviving examples of an authentic and credible record of what actually took place that fateful day: September 11 2001 - Attack On America.

"They're F#cking Bombing It"

Unknown Woman: But that wasn't a plane!?
Unknown Man: It was like a rocket or something.

Lastly, I feel that the "Final Word" on this issue should belong to Jay Maisel.

(IMG:http://lucieawards.com/press/04photos/images/Jay_headshot.jpg)

"I don't think any of those fire fighters obviously had any idea of what was going to happen or they wouldn't have done it but the fact that they go in when other people come out, you know, I mean it, it... it breaks your heart."

(IMG:http://www.prisonplanet.com/images/march2007/260307fireman2.jpg)

This post has been edited by Factfinder General: Nov 7 2007, 09:24 AM

[Factfinder Gener...]

I hear him say: "horrible flower"

Are you suggesting a transcript correction, here, behind? If so, if you could be more specific, i.e. give me the time or something to let me know exactly what you are referring to, and I will double check.

Thanks.

P.S. If that wasn't what you meant by your post and I missed your point, then... (IMG:http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/dunno.gif)