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Don't you think it was pretty weird that the security guard told Stanley: "Oh, that was just an accident. Two World Trade is secured. Go back to your office." when CLEARLY it wasn't safe?

Not at all. Many were told by security guards, some with bullhorns, that everything was okay, to stay inside and go back to their offices. Within the half hour after the second plane striking the building, Don and Roma Wade at WLS-AM in Chicago, told the audience that they had just spoken to their daughter who lived four blocks from the WTC. She had been on the phone with a friend in the second tower who had seen the explosion of the plane hitting the first tower. Her friend called her as she was leaving the building. She said they were all told by an announcement that they were to stay in their building and not to go outside, that they would be safe staying there. Her friend ignored this and left anyway. This saved her life. I myself heard Roma relate this before either of the buildings collapsed.

Many were told by security guards, some with bullhorns, that everything was okay, to stay inside and go back to their offices.

So this is the equivalent of what these people were told:

"It's OK folks - go back to your desks. That black smoke pouring out of Tower One - it'll dissapate in an hour or two when the fire burns itself out. "And that beautiful red glow you see in the windows of Tower One - that's normal for a fire of this magnitude. "And NEVER MIND the people you see hanging out the windows in Tower One - that's normal in a fire that intense with as much smoke as th fire is putting out. "And those people you just might see jumping from Tower One - never mind them and continue with your work ...
Everything is secure.

I don't believe it ...

There's a story by a guy who was on the 80th floor of WTC #2 at usenet that mentions how people were told to go back to their offices. Here's some extracts and an update at the end:

Steve Miller - A Famous Rock Star! (scmiller@panix.com)

Subject: WTC - personal testimony
Newsgroups: alt.obituaries
Date: 2001-09-15 22:13:24 PST

It's been a few days since I've been able to get back to usenet.

I was lucky enough to escape from the disaster, intact.

Here's my story.

I was in Building 2, the second building hit, on the 80th floor, in my office at Mizuho Capital Markets.

The first hit sounded like a sharp rush of wind. I looked out the window and saw a rain of confetti. My first thought was of a ticker tape parade. Immediately people came running through the office shouting that there'd been an explosion and that we should run for it. I put on my shoes and took the emergency stairs down to floor 55. It took a long time and it was nerve-wracking.

Then it seemed like things were calming down, and the PA announced that it might be OK to return to our desks. The stairs were jammed, and I went into an office on 55 to look for a phone to call my wife. I looked out the window at Building 1, which was in flames. People were jumping out from 80 stories up. No way was I going to go up again.

The second hit didn't sound like an explosion, either - I can't remember exactly what it sounded like. As soon as I felt it, I hit the floor. Then I got up and I looked back out at the stairwell, still jammed with people...

The crazy thing was that immediately before and even after the second hit, the PA announcer kept saying that there wasn't any immediate danger and that we could even return to our desks if we liked… I found out that, out of the 120 people in my office, only six are missing, presumed dead. Amazing. The really sick part about the casualties is that they were people who returned to their desks when the authorities announced it might be same to go back, or so I was told. We've got to find out why these announcements were being made. Maybe it will turn out to be that old saw, that the first casualty of war is truth…

Message 8 in thread
From: Steve Miller - A Famous Rock Star!
(scmiller@panix.com)Subject: Re: WTC - personal testimony
Newsgroups: alt.obituaries Date: 2001-09-20 15:16:26 PST In article , The Avocado Avenger wrote:

> Now, if someone can just explain why the PA system told people >everything was okay long after it was clear that things were *not* okay...

>
>
This is the big question. I spent another hour on the phone with teh NYTimes last night discussing it. They're supposed to run a big article this weekend.

-Steve