The Ghosts of 9/11
A True Ghost Story
by Bobette Bryan, 2016
This week we honored the victims of the 9/11 attack, the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. It was a series of four coordinated attacks by the Islamic terrorist group, Al-Qaeda, on the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people and injured over 6,000 others and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage.
The nightmare began when four airliners operated by two major U.S. passenger air carriers, United Airlines and American Airlines, which were bound for California, departed from airports in the Northeastern United States. Not long into the journey, the planes were hijacked by 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists. The terrorists crashed two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. An hour and 42 minutes later, the structural damaged resulting from raging fires caused both 110-story towers to collapse, killing and wounding thousands. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, leading to a partial collapse of the building’s western side. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, which terrorists commandeered and steered toward Washington, D.C., crashed into a field in a Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its heroic passengers overcame the hijackers.
Supernatural activity was reported straight away. As the Twin Towers raged with fire, supposedly faces of Satan or demonic presences appeared in the bellowing smoke. Photos and videos of the scene does reveal numerous horrific faces, however, these faces could be a mere perception, because the human brain is programmed to see faces. The psychological phenomena is called pareidolia.
But take a look at the photos and decide for yourself. These photos can be found on many internet sites, and here’s the link to a video on Youtube.
Some of the other oddities can’t be so easily explained away. Since that fateful day in September, many have reported ghost sightings, especially in the area where the Twin Towers once stood.
As crews tackled the debris Ground Zero, spectral semi-transparent images were often seen floating amid the rubble. One of these ghosts was a large, white presence who would rise up from behind the rubble, then float softly away.
Some have even captured photos of the ghosts of Ground Zero, and there’s a video of them on Youtube. The video showing this 9/11 ghost is particularly interesting and poignant.
It took crew nine months to clear the World Trade Center site of 1.8 million tons of rubble. It was moved by the truck load to Fresh Kills, a Staten Island landfill. A group of volunteers there, known as “The Sifters,” meticulously dug through the rubble looking for human remains in order to identify those who’d perished. They also searched for the victims’ personal items, including cell phones, rings, driver licenses, etc.
An officer of the NYPD, Sergeant Frank Marra, who was assigned to Fresh Kills, reported that he saw the ghost of an African American woman who was dressed in the white uniform of a WWII Red Cross worker. At first, he’d thought the woman who carried a tray of sandwiches was a volunteer but then he noticed that she disappeared when approached. He saw the ghost several times while he was on duty there and detailed the sightings in his book, Hallowed Ground.
Marra didn’t talk about this sighting until another detective told him he’d also encountered the spirit. He also learned that the detective and other workers on the site had seen shadow people and large black masses thought to be the spirits of the 9/11 victims floating amid the debris. The Red Cross worker is thought to be a “soul collector,” a spirit who’s there to help earthbound spirits make their way to the afterlife, something of an angel who’s there to guide the lost souls.
Joe Lani, a NYPD officer for 20 years, was also a witness to many inexplicable happenings following 9/11. A first responder, he was on the World Trade Center scene from the outset, worked at Ground Zero, and then at Fresh Kills. Working a grueling twelve hour shift from 4 PM to 4 AM, he was driving in a Hummer at Fresh Kills, when he saw a man walking around the debris field in the middle of the night. He pulled up to investigate, but the specter vanished before his eyes. Joe said: “I knew what I was looking at. It was a victim of 9/11, and it was a spirit of a male.”
He believes some of these spirits followed him.
After working at Fresh Kills for five months, Joe suffered a massive heart attack and was forced to retire. Shortly thereafter, the spirits started making appearances in his home. One night, he was watching TV when a shadow man stalked across the room. He said the whole room went dark. The spirits would often awaken him at night, touching him. He’d awaken to a feeling that the room was dead, damp, and cold. And no matter what time he got up in the morning, his clock would always say it was 8:46 AM, the time that the first plane struck Tower one.
Joe has a music room in his home, which he calls the “drum room.” He said the room became rife with paranormal activity. He’d walk in and there would be cold spots, the smell of cigarette smoke and perfume, and his cellphone battery would drain. Lights would flicker. So he began taking photos and, to his shock, the photos revealed apparitions in the form of foggy streaks of light also known as ectoplasm. The ectoplasm even spelled out his name.
Another time, a spectral crucifix appeared on his kitchen cabinets. The next time, the Twin Towers appeared in the same spot. He caught both on film.
He believes that some of the spirits from Fresh Kills attached to him like a magnet. It scares him, but he’s trying to come to terms with the spectral residents as he believes he will have to deal with them for the rest of his life.
Joe isn’t alone. Many others have had odd paranormal experiences associated with the 9/11 tragedy.
Back where the Twin Towers once stood, a sparkling new tower was built called the “Freedom Tower” or officially, the One World Trade Center. The Freedom Tower, which is the tallest building in the United States, opened on November 3, 2014. The September 11 Museum, and two fountain pool memorials with engravings of the victims’names were erected in the World Trade Center Complex to honor the victims. Ever since, people have reported hearing a mysterious hum or moan come from the area as if thousands of souls are calling. In fact, you can hear the haunting cry on Youtube.
Whether there’s a physical reason for the heart-wrenching sound or if spirits are reaching out, no one knows. No scientific explanation exists.
Perhaps it hails from the Freedom Tower whom some swear is haunted. If you’re on floors 93 to 99 between midnight and 3 AM, beware as many have experienced the horrific apparition of a ghost plane crashing into the building.
Before the Freedom Tower was built, the Millennium Hilton Hotel overlooked the ground zero site. Many hotel visitors reported ghostly activity. One visitor swore that he felt like a crowd of people were in his room, and he couldn’t sleep there. Other guests complained to the staff that they had nightmares of 9/11 victims pressing against the windows. Due to all of the complaints, the staff avoided renting rooms that had a view of Ground Zero.
In the September 11 Museum, a 30 foot girder from the original tower is on display. The centerpiece has been bent and deformed from the Flight 11 aircraft. On this metal, a face appeared to construction workers. Thereafter, many of the workers were too frightened to go near the display. They dubbed this item the “Angel of 911” as it seems to look down in anguish and horror for what has come to pass.
While we’re on the subject of strange and inexplicable happenings, some believe that it would have been impossible for the airplane passengers to have called from their cellphones, and yet many did. The planes were flying at 29,000 and 31,000 feet. According to Bill Rojas of IDCAR, cellphone reception is lost at about 10,000 feet. Could this have been a miracle to provide us with a warning of the terrorist plot? You decide.
As for the ghosts of 9/11 at the World Trade Center, I asked psychic Marie St. Claire what she thought. Here’s what she said.
“I connected to the scene at the World Trade Center. I immediately saw myself looking into the cabin of an airliner. The passengers who faced me were drenched in an odd white light. Everything seemed white. Expressionless, they stared at me as if stunned. Next various scenes of chaos filled my vision in rapid succession as if the entire tragedy was being played before my eyes in mere seconds. I saw the towers, smoke, fire, people running, rescuers and police moving to and fro, and then scenes of people jumping from the towers. The vision was unbearable. Overwhelming. Intense horror and despair filled me. I couldn’t look any more so I snapped out it. My answer is yes…I had a strong sense that there are many spirits that aren’t at rest where the Twin Towers once stood, which isn’t surprising. In places where there has been excruciating anguish and trauma, there’s always a great deal of paranormal activity. We can only pray that these many souls come to terms with the tragedy and eventually find their way home.
As for the ex-cop, Joe, those spirits sense that he’s a sensitive and caring soul. They want him to pray for them, which will help them cross over. He should, however, avoid having any conversation with the spirits as this might open doors and cause the activity to escalate.”
–THE END–