'Net of misconception

The advent of the Internet and e-mail has made life incredibly convenient, but it has also been used by many to perpetuate myths and rumors. In wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, those rumors and myths have increased tremendously.

In a not-so-scientific poll, four of 10 Valley people called Friday morning said they have received some sort of e-mail regarding a story or myth about the Sept. 11 attack.

Two of the people said they received an e-mail warning them to stay out of shopping malls on Halloween, in what has become the Internet's biggest rumor in recent days.

"The e-mail I got was from a friend who was forwarded it," said Ganina Trebley of Wasilla. "It was about a guy who told a woman he was dating not to get on planes on Sept. 11, or go to malls on Halloween. I don't know. It sounds like somebody trying to scare people, but who would have believed somebody would crash two planes into the World Trade Center? You just don't know what to believe anymore."

After much research, the FBI concluded the rumor is false. On Monday, the bureau issued the following press release: "An anonymous Internet electronic-mail message has been widely circulated pertaining to an Arab male who warned his wife not to fly on Sept. 11, 2001 and not to go into any shopping malls on Oct. 31, 2001. The e-mail further states that the Arab male disappeared prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. The FBI has conducted an inquiry into the source of this e-mail and determined that the alleged threat is not credible."

A local rumor generated in response to this national rumor is also just that -- a rumor. The Cottonwood Creek Mall is not hosting an annual Halloween trick-or-treating night this year, but it has nothing to do with the e-mail rumor.

"In light of what is going on in the world, we just didn't think it was appropriate to have a big to-do this year," said Nancy Cameron of the mall. "We don't want to play into the panic at all."

The Halloween rumor is just one of many going around.

Another phony thing making the rounds is a picture of a man at the top of the World Trade Center, smiling for a tourist photo, while a jet bears down on the building.

"I knew it was fake as soon as I saw it," said Evan Townsend of Big Lake. "I've got it six or seven times on my e-mail already from different people. I don't think it is too funny, either. It's a sick joke somebody thought up. People should be prosecuted for using the Internet like that. It's wrong."

There are a number of reasons why the photo is a fraud. The biggest reason is that based on the Manhattan skyline in the background, the photographer was facing north. One plane did hit from that direction, but the tower it hit did not have an observation deck, as the photo shows. Plus, the observation deck on the second tower was not open for business prior to the plane hitting the building.

Those are the factual reasons the photo is fake. Other questions raised include how the camera survived the fall, and why the man is dressed in winter clothing when it was a warm September morning. It all adds up to one person with two photos, a computer program and too much free time.

A heartwarming story reported by the national media in the hours following the attacks has also proven to be nothing more than an incredible story with no factual basis. It was reported a fireman or policeman, depending on the story, "surfed" down 83 stories when the tower collapsed.

Newsweek and other national media organizations did lengthy research, and actually reported that Sgt. John McLoughlin, a New York City Port Authority police officer, was the person who did it. In the weeks following, however, it was proven false. McLoughlin is a true person, and he is a police officer, and he did sustain injuries in the collapse. But he was on the ground floor, his brother and other witnesses said, not on the 83rd floor, when the tower collapsed.

Another popular rumor may have some validity, although not much, according to the U.S. State Department. Messages going around the world have asked people not to drink soft drinks or use cosmetics because they contain the ingredient gum arabic, of which Osama bin Laden controls the world's supply, thus profiting tremendously and funding terrorist activities.

In a Baltimore Sun article from 1998, a State Department source said, "Bin Laden and his cronies tried to take over all the gum arabic crop in the early 1990s, but failed in their attempt."

In the weeks following the attack, in response to the Internet hoax going around, the State Department issued a statement soothing people's fears that they are funding bin Laden's terrorism by drinking popular colas and putting on cosmetics. The statement said there is no evidence to believe bin Laden is involved in the gum arabic business. The Gum Arabic Company of Sudan Ltd., which controls all gum arabic exports from Sudan, the world's largest supplier, said bin Laden has not been involved in the industry since 1969.

Other rumors have proven to be false as well. It is not true that 4,000 Jews did not show up for work at the World Trade Centers on Sept. 11, a claim that was being spread around via the Internet.

Two messages people have received are true, however.

People have said they noticed the face of Satan in the smoke in a particular photo of the World Trade Center, before the tower gave way and crumbled. While saying the smoke patterns look like a face is a bit of a stretch, the Associated Press has confirmed the photo is real, and has not been digitally altered.

A funny quote from President George W. Bush is also being spread through e-mails, and unlike most Internet myths, this one is actually true.

Two days after the attacks, while talking to senators in the Oval Office, the president did say, "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive." Newsweek's Howard Fineman confirmed the quote.