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for duplication and re-distribution, so long as no alterations are made
to the contents herein, including the author's byline, all images, and
cited URLs.
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- Less than 2 weeks ago, I posted a video on YouTube entitled,
"911 'Coincidences' or Synchronicities?" (Link at the bottom
of this piece). This presentation enumerated around a dozen prescient pop
culture connections to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. I don't
believe that any of these connections can reasonably be described as a
"stretch" or "wishful thinking" (although of course
not everyone will agree on their ultimate significance.) A brief overview
now might be helpful:
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- In the 1999 film The Matrix, the expiration date of the
passport of Keanu Reeve's character Neo is September 11, 2001.
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- In the 1998 film Enemy of the State, Jon Voight's character
-- a malicious NSA official intent on pushing legislation that will make
it easier to spy on Americans -- was born on September 11th.
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- In the 2001 pilot of the TV program The Lone Gunmen,
the story centers on a Pentagon plot to fly a plane into the WTC for the
purpose of triggering a war.
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- In the opening sequence of the 1998 film The Big Lebowski,
Jeff Bridges' character writes a check dated September 11. We then hear
George Bush Sr.'s voice discussing the ensuing (1991) invasion of Iraq,
and his famous line of "This aggression will not stand" -- a
recurring line in the film.
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- In the opening scene of the 2000 film Traffic, a drug
truck is apprehended, and on close inspection we see that all of the drug
boxes are stamped with the number 911. Next to each number is the symbol
of a scorpion. This particular symbol has always struck me as curious,
and in a moment I shall try to explore its significance further.
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- In 2001, the rap group The Coup created an album cover
featuring its members detonating the World Trade Center south towers. They
later released their album with a different cover.
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- In the 1982 Richard Bachman (Stephen King) book The Running
Man, the story concluded with the protagonist hijacking a plane and flying
it into the tallest building in downtown NY.
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- And beyond the popular culture, on the first anniversary
of September 11th, the winning numbers in the evening NY lotto were 911
(5,632 people chose the winning sequence, and each won a paltry $500).
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- These are only a few of the more striking 9/11 pop culture
"coincidences" that predated September 11, 2001. I've not come
close to including all the instances that have been documented on countless
dozens of websites. These also include the 2000 film The Patriot -- Mel
Gibson's character weighs a chair he's constructed, and announces "Nine
pounds, eleven ounces. That's perfect." He then sits on the chair,
and it collapses under his weight.
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- A Google search of the words - 9/11 coincidences in comics
(unquoted) - reveals over 76,000 hits. A video presentation on some of
these connections (link at bottom of paragraph) features some interesting
items, including an image from the Marvel Two in One #100 from June 1983.
(Note: I have not seen this before, and do not personally own any comics,
so I cannot verify its authenticity. I'm presenting it here as an item
of potential interest). According to descriptions of this issue, the Thing
is captured by the Red Skull, who has set up headquarters in a bombed out
WTC. Notice the chilling images and captions below:
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- Video: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ASuwLWUzeR4&watch_response
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- Let's look a bit closer now at the aforementioned "coincidences"
in the 2000 film "Traffic." What is the significance, if any,
of the scorpion image next to each 911 symbol? As I mentioned in my YouTube
video, in 2007, author David Hagberg published a novel entitled "Allah's
Scorpion" -- the code name of a massive terrorist plot by al-Quaida
in the book. I limited myself to this particular reference in part due
to time limitations, but also because I wanted to explore the scorpion
motif a bit more before presenting anything publicly.
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- Remember that this symbol was placed next to the numbers
911 a full year prior to September 11th, 2001. A Google search of the words
(unquoted) - scorpion taliban bin laden afghanistan - reveals over 400,000
hits. Indeed, the term scorpion seems to be used almost casually in reference
to both Bin Laden and Afghanistan (not terribly surprising since scorpions
are common to middle eastern regions). In addition to the Hagberg novel,
in 2007 the David Macdonald book was published entitled "Drugs in
Afghanistan: Opium, Outlaws and Scorpion Tales."
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- More than one post-911 military operation has included
the term "Scorpion." The following excerpt comes from the website
of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe:
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- After more than eight months of training, 86 "Scorpion"
members of the 603rd Air Control Squadron deployed Jan. 9 to Kandahar Air
Base, Afghanistan....
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- "For our deployment preparation, we had Scorpion
Strike in October, which was set up and tailored to look as close to a
real deployment as possible," said Lt. Col. Troy Jackson, 603rd ACS
commander.
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- In 2003, there was a major U.S. operation in Iraq called
"Operation Desert Scorpion." This was also the name of an unperformed
military operation in response to the UN/Iraq crisis of 1998.
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- Operation Desert Scorpion is also the name of an online
gaming file in which players seek to capture Osama bin Laden. A fictional
briefing in the game reads:
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- General,
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- Intelligence reports believe we have cornered Osama Bin
Laden and his Generals (P3) in a remote region of southwestern Pakistan.
We have strict orders that Bin Laden and his Generals should be captured
alive, the rest of his forces should be eliminated with deadly force.
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- A search of the <http://defenselink.mil>defenselink.mil
site for the term "scorpion" reveals 82 hits. The very first
is entitled "Afghan National Police Training..." It discusses
the training of Afghan police officers at "Forward Operating Base
Scorpion."
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- These are just some cursory results I've stumbled across
after performing some rudimentary Google searches -- and I'm still interested
to know what a more in-depth search might discover. (Might scorpion have
been a codename for bin Laden or other al-Quaida officials within intelligence
circles prior to or after 9/11?) Perhaps one could argue that the scorpion
motif in "Traffic" is not terribly anomalous, since the scorpion
has long been a symbol of danger or evil. But the appearance of the symbol
directly alongside the 911 numbers becomes even more powerful when one
considers the striking PATTERN of pop culture "coincidences"
prior to September 11th.
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- Since I personally have no conceptual reservations when
it comes to human precognition and other extrasensory abilities -- that
is to say, I don't dismiss evidence of these phenomena on an a priori basis
simply because institutional science has yet to recognize their reality
-- I want now to dig deeper and try to find the meaning in these "coincidences,"
if any exists.
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- Some Internet authors speculate that the 9/11 perpetrators
may have "leaked" their plans to key media players -- hence all
the anomalous pop culture "coincidences" -- but I simply can't
agree with that assessment. Does anyone really believe that all of the
writers, musicians, artists, and Hollywood producers and directors cited
above somehow became privy to a forthcoming terrorist attack (including
the precise date on which it would occur), and rather than explicitly alerting
the public to the danger, chose instead to insert subtle or not so subtle
warnings of the attack into their art? It's startling to me that some purported
"alternative media" websites express contempt for so-called "paranormal"
investigations, while promoting the belief that conspiracy is the most
powerful, overarching force in the Universe.
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- With that said, I think it's certainly worth noting that
a common thread seems to run through all of the movies, books, TV shows,
and pop music mentioned above, and it has nothing to do with terrorists
and Islamic Jihad. If one were to ask me which pre9/11 movies featured
the most dire warnings of impending Government intrusion in citizens' lives
(an obviously widespread concern in light of our Government's declared
"War on Terror"), I would not have hesitated to say, "The
Matrix" and "Enemy of the State." I suspect anyone who has
seen these movies would agree, and both of these films feature particularly
striking 9/11 "coincidences." Likewise, the Lone Gunmen episode
in which the Pentagon plans to fly an airplane into the WTC for the purpose
of triggering a war. If these "coincidences" were telling us
anything, it was, "Things are not what they appear. Don't believe
everything you're told."
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- Here is a reasonable challenge for the skeptical-minded.
If you think that the types of "coincidences" cited above can
be randomly pulled from movies, books, or other mediums, try focusing a
search on a specific date and number sequence -- say (from the top of my
head)...October 6th (or 10/6, or 106). I wonder how many movies in the
coming years will feature explicit references to October 6, or 106, and
more importantly, how many will feature obvious connections to any historical
events that have happened or will happen on October 6? The odds of any
three digit number coming up 106 are 1 in 1000. The odds of a random date
for any particular year appearing as October 6th are 1 in 365. (Remember
also that The Matrix film featured a reference not only to September 11th,
but the precise year in which 9/11 happened -- 2001).
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- It's not my position to assert what the ultimate meaning
is in all of this, except to warn of the inherent dangers in DENYING that
any meaning exists. I've no patience with cynical individuals who dismiss
evidence for psychic phenomena, for no clear reason other than they think
it's "silly." If real, a collective human consciousness is enormously
important to the future of our species. But for new clarity to be gained,
scientific researchers must not live in fear of ridicule and professional
ruination -- the pathetic outcome for many brave investigators into the
psychic frontier.
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- Stephen King writes, "...stories are found things,
like fossils in the ground....Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered
preexisting world. The writer's job is to use the tools to get as much
of each one out of the ground intact as possible." Perhaps many of
our culture's best writers, artists, and filmmakers were doing their best,
at least unconsciously, to uncover a treasure of extraordinary significance.
The most haunting aspect of the 9/11 "coincidences" is that the
collective human consciousness seemed to issue a frantic warning, like
a wailing siren or tolling bell. The question is, can we ever achieve the
psychic maturity to recognize such warnings in advance? This was the challenge
offered to the human race by one Colonel Dolan M. McKelvy, author of the
1988 USAF report, "Psychic Warfare: Exploring the Mind Frontier."
McKelvy writes:
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- "Man's greatest potential remains a prisoner of
man. Vast untapped mental capabilities create an entirely new battlefield
dimension which, if ignored, pose a threat to self and country more serious
than nuclear weapons. This threat starts from within. Our fears and cynical
attitudes towards psychic capabilities make us our own worst enemies....Exploring
the mind frontier is essential and the key to successful exploration is
a greater psychic awareness. The mind is rich in unfathomed resources ripe
for exploration, a limitless source of treasures for advancing all mankind,
and a serious threat to those who ignore its potential. We must overcome
our psych inhibitions, stop denying the existence of paranormal events,
and start trying instead to understand the nature of these phenomena. We
must shed the super secret cloaks and educate our leaders at all levels
on the real psi military potentials and threats so we can adequately focus
and prioritize national resources."
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- My 911 YouTube video may be viewed here:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI6P6G6QnrA
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