The September 11th attack
Wire service photo not altered
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Several newspapers that printed an Associated Press photo of fire consuming a World Trade Center tower received calls from readers Wednesday saying they saw a strange shape in the smoke.
Associated Press
Some readers said they could identify eyes, a nose, a mouth and horns in the black and gray clouds — and they wondered if the photo had been manipulated to include a satanic face.
Many viewers of this photo saw a face in the smoke clouds surrounding the World Trade Center and wondered if it carried an evil portent.
Vin Alabiso, an AP vice president and the executive photo editor, said the original photo had not been retouched. Readers were reacting to natural indentations in the smoke clouds, he said.
"AP has a very strict written policy which prohibits the alteration of the content of a photo in any way," he said. "The smoke in this photo combined with light and shadow has created an image which readers have seen in different ways."
I.J. Kranats, president of the International Association of Arson investigators based in Bridgeton, Mo., said it was not unusual for people to see unusual images in smoke clouds.
As a fire generates heat, it draws in cold air, while unburned debris swirls through the smoke, causing the clouds to look thinner in some areas and thicker in others, he said. The natural wind currents can contribute to the effect, he said.
