Angel Or Devil? Viewers See Images In Smoke

Shadows In Smoke Create Haunting Satanic Images, Viewers Say

Images of Tuesday's terrorist attacks have been captured in thousands of photographs. Some of the pictures are horrific, some poignant, and some gut-wrenching, but viewers have written in to newspapers and television stations, saying that that they see an even more haunting image in the smoke billowing from the World Trade Center.

Viewers said that in two specific instances, in a photo taken by an Associated Press photographer, and in a video by CNN, they can clearly identify the eyes, nose, mouth and horns of a devil in the black and gray smoke.

They questioned whether the photographers manipulated the photo to include a satanic face.

Vin Alabiso, an AP vice president and executive photo editor, said that the AP photo (pictured, above) was untouched. Readers were reacting to natural indentations in the smoke cloud, he said.

"AP has a very strict written policy which prohibits the alteration of the content of a photo in any way," Albiso said. "The smoke in this photo combined with light and shadow has created an image which readers have seen in different ways."

The Saginaw (Mich.) News received about 50 calls Wednesday after enlarging the AP photo to cover almost half the front page in Tuesday's editions, according to reporter Bryce Hoffman.

"A lot of them asked if we doctored the photo," Hoffman told the Poynter Institute. "Some asked if we superimposed a human face on it. We've had some people ask if it was God. We've had some people ask if it was Satan. We've had requests for reprints."

CNN has not made any comments about its picture (pictured, above left). Although the image has been removed from their Web site, the video where the image came from can still be viewed.

I.J. Karnats, president of the International Association of Arson Investigators, based in Bridgeton, Mo., said that 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, Karnats said. Natural wind currents can contribute to the effect, he said.

Case in point: Another viewer wrote in to affilate Web site TheDenverChannel.com and said that in a different picture, she saw an image of an angel (pictured, below) in our slideshow.

She said that despite seeing the other devilish images, this image gave her hope and left her with a feeling of peace about the tragedy.

That image, captured by WABC, has also been untouched.

Gerald L. Peterson, co-founder of the Tri-City Skeptics in Michigan, a group that searches for scientific explanations for apparently paranormal events, told the Saginaw News that the image in the AP photo likely is "a trick of the brain" similar to the way people can spot pleasant pictures in clouds.

"The human brain tends to seek some kind of pattern," he said. "It tends to look for figures in random or ambiguous stimuli."

Peterson told the paper that people's minds tend to search for cosmic symbols of good and evil in the aftermath of the attacks.

"It's a social phenomenon," he said. "It's not uncommon."

Copyright 2001 by ClickOnDetroit.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.