"LOL SUPERMAN" (lost World Trade Center Plaza footage from the September 11th attacks; existence unconfirmed; 2001)

This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its disturbing subject matter and graphic imagery.

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Single frame image thought to have been from the video, later debunked.

Status: Lost

On September 11th, 2001, a series of four coodinated terrorist attacks occurred across the United States. Orchestrated by the extremist Islamic terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda, nineteen individuals committed four hijackings against domestic airliners; two of these hijacked airliners were then crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, another crashed into the Pentagon, whilst another crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, respectively. In total, 2,977 people were killed in the attacks.

Background

The infamous Falling Man image, capturing a man falling from the North Tower.

As a result of the two attacks on the World Trade Center, only one staircase remained passable past the 78th floor in the South Tower and no staircases were passable past floor 91 in the North Tower, respectively. As a result, hundreds who survived the initial impact of the planes became trapped above in the higher floors of the towers. As time passed, many of those trapped (either by accident or in making an impossible decision to avoid the fires engulfing the floors) began to fall from the higher floors onto the ground below. All together, it is estimated that up to 200 of these 'jumpers' fell from both towers.

Due to the enormity of the catastrophe, many individuals and groups captured footage of the attacks during and after they had occurred. As such, many were able to capture images and videos of jumpers falling from towers. The vast majority of these videos do not show the jumpers impacting with the ground, leaving any footage that does indeed capture impact extremely rare or near impossible to find.

"LOL SUPERMAN" video

In or around 2006, a video purportedly began to surface on video-sharing websites showing footage taken from the ground around the towers. Entitled "LOL SUPERMAN" (or something along the lines of such), the video in question reportedly captured footage of jumpers impacting the ground at high speeds, as well as showing the aftermath of said collisions. The video served the purpose of a "shock video" (imagery or videos which had the intention to shock or disturb any that came across it) and thus was allegedly reposted around the internet. Since then, likely due to takedowns, the video has eluded those who have attempted to find it.

In 2015, an anonymous poster recounted their experience with the video to the x/ (Paranormal) board on 4chan. They alleged that the video was hosted "back in the early days" of YouTube and featured graphic imagery of jumpers as stated above. The channel involved was allegedly "disabled not long after" and the comment section of the video received overwhelmingly negative feedback from those who watched it. The poster also stated that they had tried to find the video but to no avail.

Renewed attention

On July 30, 2022, Reddit user u/Thesketchydude made a post on the r/lostmedia subreddit looking for more information on the video. As such, the video and its search received increased attention. Unlike the 4chan thread, the Reddit post was widely viewed and upvoted. Due to the uptick in attention, the potential for leads skyrocketed. Many other redditors came forward with their experiences with the video itself and have provided details in their own words as to its contents.

Details

Footage captured rumoured to show the original cameramen involved.

It is speculated (from the Reddit post) that the video is no longer than two minutes at most and is comprised of shaky cam footage. The exact time of the video itself is unknown, but is absolutely certain to have taken place somewhere between the first impact in the North Tower (8:46 a.m) and the collapse of the South Tower (9:59 a.m). It is unknown as to who actually recorded the footage, but scouring footage captured from a WABC-TV cameraman nearby purportedly captures two individuals making their way up a flight of stairs towards the WTC plaza, and by discerning their likely path after ascending the stairs, their path seems to match with the single frame that is left from the video, making these two unidentified people possible recorders of the "LOL SUPERMAN" video.

As for the video itself, it is believed (as an account from the original poster) that the video begins as the two cameramen are making their way up the stairs towards the plaza and then quickly running to one of the sides of the North Tower. It is then alleged that, like the aforementioned 4chan thread, graphic imagery of a single body or bodies falling onto the pavement, as well as close up shots of the corpses that have landed, are shown, before the camera man/men make their way out of the plaza.

Witness accounts

Original 4chan poster claiming that bodies hit cars in the video.

Because of the highly speculatory nature of the video, many claims made by those who have claimed to have witnessed the video vary. Most claims agree that the video indeed shows close-ups of people impacting the ground and their bodies, but with differing details.

A common claim is that the video depicts bodies falling from the towers and impacting on nearby cars. Although the original poster on Reddit discredits this as highly unlikely, prominent posters and commenters, such as the original poster on 4chan, claim to have some sort of recollection of bodies hitting cars. This only adds confusion to the equation, as there aren't any verified victims (apart from one) that actually had any impact with cars whatsoever, while also considering there wouldn't have been any cars in the vicinity of the plaza supposedly when the video was recorded.

Although the original post on 4chan claims it was found on YouTube, many on Reddit and across the internet have also stated that they had viewed it on a variety of different websites and media. User u/koopacookies claims to have "watched it on Ogrish" and contained "traditional Iraqi music/chants as background music", whereas another user claimed to have watched the video on a "website ending in 666.com"; others have claimed to have seen it in a feature from the notorious Faces of Death movie series (mondo horror films containing real-life gore and death imagery) Either way, these claims cannot be confirmed and it is entirely speculatory.

Accessibility

Due to the gruesome and horrific nature of the footage, the video sharing websites that may have once hosted the video no longer show it, as it was likely mass flagged and taken down throughout the internet, making the video essentially lost to time.

On October 22, 2022, redditor u/executermax posted their findings in regards to contacting the 9/11 museum in New York inquiring about them potentially possessing the video. In the email message they received, the memorial does not deny that they possess footage that may be LOL SUPERMAN, but that they "do not have the right to share or license the footage [they're] looking to obtain" Whilst not conclusively proving that the museum might be in possession of the footage, the likelihood of them releasing the footage is next to impossible.

On November 26, 2022, a redditor by the name of u/Cool-Big1520 was alleged to have sent a FOIA request to the FBI in order to obtain the video but that they had declined to share the footage due it being used as evidence in an ongoing criminal case (likely that of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed), seemingly confirming that the FBI did indeed hold footage that may be or contain the "LOL SUPERMAN" video in question. As such, it remains unlikely that the video will resurface from the end of any government organisation or department.

On December 13, 2022, redditor u/CantStandIdoits made a connection to a video hosted on a now-defunct website hosted by Scott Bingham that had linked video footage taken from FOIA requests in regards to the FBI's PENTTBOM (Pentagon/Twin Towers Bombing Investigation). The video in question, hosted and linked to by Bingham, is titled "NE521" and contains the same video resolution, camera quality and distortion line shown in the rumoured single frame for the video. At the time, only "Part 1" of the NE521 footage was known to be available online via YouTube, the second part of the video is referenced in both the Bingham website's description of the video and the YouTube video's description itself as showing a "close-up of someone falling" and "graphic scenes", respectively. Thus, it was speculated that the second part of the footage may have been the "LOL SUPERMAN" video. However, it was later discovered that the entirety of the NE521 footage itself had recently become accessible online, and that the "graphic scenes" described was actually footage showing the impact of the second plane hitting the South Tower, debunking the theory that NE521 contains the LOL SUPERMAN footage. However, it is still entirely possible that the video was captured from other PENTTBOM footage that has not seen a release.

As of today, no footage of LOL SUPERMAN is known to exist on the internet outside of the alleged single image thumbnail linked to the video, but may exist in the FBI's archives as part of their criminal investigations, making it extremely unlikely to be shown any time soon.

Gallery

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  Probable path of cameramen as seen before from WABC-TV footage

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  Path likely taken after ascending staircase; single frame image highly likely taken in this vicinity

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  Possible path taken after initial frame, probable location of body impacts