September 11 2001 was the day that changed our nation forever. Russell Spadaccini's personal video and photography collection of the 911 Terrorist Attacks on New York City's World Trade Center - WTC Towers will be forever in his memories. Russell was hesitant at first to share his personal experience of the events that unfolded on 911, however with inspiration and courage from his friends and family he was able to share his experience with you for the first time.
It all started Thursday, September 6 2001 while I was working at Merrill Lynch. I walked outside the office to grab something to eat. When, I returned with a hot meal and a cold drink. I started eating and decided to surf the web for plane crashes. I don't know why. But, I was fixated once I started. I couldn't stop reading about different plane crashes on the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) web site. I found one plane crash in particular that grabbed my total attention and that was Delta Air Lines Flight 191. Flight 191 was an airline service from Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, bound for Los Angeles International Airport in LA, California, by way of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. On August 2, 1985, Delta Air Lines 191 crashed while on approach to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, killing 8 of 11 crew members and 128 of the 152 passengers on board and one person on the ground: a total of 135 people died. It was at this time that I became even more relentless with my search for more information related to plane crashes in the United States. I was so consumed with plane crashes that I called the airline to have my seat assignment changed for my scheduled flight Friday, September 7th down to Fort Lauderdale. I had read that seats further back in the plane were safer based on the statistics that were online. While down in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend I met up with my family and friends. On Saturday, I went to my friend Roger’s house. When I arrived I was shocked to see that Roger had his old high school year book out. Roger had another friend over at the time and both of them were reminiscing on their high school years. When I looked at the page that they had opened I asked about the plane crash in the photo. Roger said that it was his mom’s plane crash. I had totally forgotten that 16 years ago Roger’s mom made it out alive from the plane crash. Yes, this was the same plane crash that I was researching on the NTSB website, Flight 191. I was so much in a fog that Roger made fun of me for not remembering his mom's plane crash. Roger's mom was one of the survivors.
The rest of the weekend, I spent it with my family in Boca Raton and in Deerfield Beach. While visiting them I felt compelled to let them know about all of my personal finances in the event that something was to happen to me. I briefed them on where to find all of my personal information. I went as far as to tell them who the beneficiary’s were on all of my accounts. And, even the combination to my safe. I even gave explicit instructions to my older sister not to let anyone near my personal computer. And, that she was the only one that should have access to it.
I am sure that you can image by now how my family and friends must have felt when I essentially told them that something bad may happen to me. My family knew something was wrong with me because of my specific details and explanations of my personal affairs and my nervousness about going back to NYC so soon. I didn't want to go back. However, I was due back at Merrill Lynch first thing Monday morning. So, I got on my early morning flight Monday, September 10 2001. I landed safely at Newark Airport in New Jersey.
Upon arrival in NYC, I dropped off my bags at my apartment and then walked to the office (corner of Fulton Street and Broadway). It wasn’t long after I arrived back at work that I continued my quest for more information that lead up to Flight 191’s crash. I went back onto NTSB’s web site to listen to the flight data recording of the events just prior to Flight 191’s crash. My colleague Janet Mulcahy asked me what was wrong but I could not explain what it was. I did not know what was wrong. All I knew is that I could not get plane crashes out of my head and that something bad was going to happen. Soon after Janet realized that I really was upset she suggested that I go home for the day. I accepted and left the office around 3PM.
When I arrived home a few minutes later I lied down on the couch thinking that I would just take nap and things would be better when I woke up. But, little did I know that I would go from the couch to my bed and sleep for 12 hours straight. Upon awakening, I realized how mentally drained I was and how I have felt these past several days. I just could not put my finger on why I was feeling this way. I needed to get ready for work because it was getting late, so I got into the shower and proceeded with my normal morning routine. I got into the shower and then afterward started brushing my teeth. It was at this time that I heard this loud piecing whistling sound and then an explosion. It sounded like a missile. But, at the time you are not actually thinking that's what it is because that would not happen in the United States. So, then I thought that there could be a parade on Broadway...just outside my window. But, then I thought it was too loud to be just a parade and way too early in the morning. I finally made it out of the bathroom and over to my windows. I opened the shades and all I see is huge volumes of paper flying around the sky. It looked like a ticker-tape parade! I knew that Merrill Lynch did not send out a notification email mentioning a parade. So, I knew this wasn't the case. This is all that I could associate with seeing so much paper flying around. Then, I looked towards Wall Street and the American Stock Exchange and people were not walking towards them. They were just looking up or standing still! They seemed dazed and confused...not really knowing what to do. But, it really wasn't until I turned on my TV did I realize what was happening, the unthinkable, the World Trade Center North Tower was on fire and that there were reports that a possible plane struck it. I looked up into the sky from my living room window and saw huge plumes of smoke from the WTC going directly over my apartment building. It was an unbelievable feeling to watch it on TV and then look out your windows to see it unfold three blocks away from your apartment. There was nothing in my line of vision to prevent me from seeing the unimaginable. The second plane hit as I was looking at the South Tower. I could not believe my eyes. I saw this huge fire ball in the sky. I didn't know at the time that another plane hit! The only thing my brain could think of was the opening scene of 'Charlie's Angels'. The fire ball was so enormous that my brain couldn't think of anything else. There wasn't an image that could have fit in its place because I have never seen such a huge ball of fire this big (and I hope to never to see another one in my lifetime). After the second plane hit, I stood in my window and videotaped the event...not realizing really what was happening and of course in shock! I didn't have any thoughts that the buildings would collapse. I used the camera to zoom all the way into the windows to see inside. I only saw steel and huge flames and smoke. I then turned off the camera and looked up to the top of the South Tower and all of a sudden the top of it slid quickly into the floors below and then it was like a domino effect...it was going in slow motion floor by floor...floor by floor...the sound...the sound of each floor collapsing into each other was in describable. It too was something that you have never heard before. It is morbid for me to type what I'm about to. I of course do realize that many people lost their lives in the building and I lost some of my dearest friends. But, when the building was falling I could only vision this amazing orchestrated collapse of the building. It fell so elegantly that I looked at it as almost art before my eyes. I know this must sound sick to say...but, remember I was in shock and not capable of thinking clearly. So, please forgive my interpretation of the building collapse. Once it fell...the next thought was the movie American Fog. The debris hit the ground and then it quickly raced past every building it and it got closer and closer to my building and i freaked out and rushed to close my window. It raced up the side of my building like a curtain. I couldn't see daylight! The windows went black! There were sounds of things blowing up and sirens going off. The sounds were intense (still to this day...I can't tolerate police or ambulance sirens) It only brings me back to this place in time! And, probably will forever! I rushed to put clothes on and get out of my building. I met this guy in my hallway and we rushed down the emergency exit on our floor only to find we exited to the basement of our building and it was filled with smoke and ash. We quickly went up the steps to the first floor and all I could remember hearing was this pregnant mother screaming 'my baby, my baby, my baby'.
I can't write anymore now...I'm sorry! I'll try again soon.
The Number 11
The number 11 has been linked to mystery and power since ancient times. All forms of number research and
study, including Numerology, the ancient science of Gematria, and the secret wisdom of Kabbalah, all give significant importance to 11, and 11 derivatives - 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, and 99.
The number 11 is considered a master number.
The first Great War, World War 1, ended on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. To this day,
victims and veterans are remembered at that specific time. In Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings, the number 11
is described as a curious number, and reaching your 111th birthday is an event. The USA skipped sequence
numbers on the Apollo moon missions to ensure it was Apollo 11 that landed on the moon. In ancient Egypt
King Tutankhamen's tomb had combinations of 11 in the jewelry he wore, and he had 11 oars placed on the
floor surrounding his tomb. The number 11, and particularly the number 33, have significance to Freemasons,
and other secretive groups.
In addition, there have been thousands of people worldwide who have recently expressed a strong feeling
towards 11. This has been widely reported for the last 5-10 years, and is now commonly referred to as
the 11:11 experience, referring to the time of 11:11.
The overwhelming quantity of elevens, surfacing from the events, people, and places related to the 9-11-2001
attacks, is remarkable. It is as if someone planned the events to occur around the number eleven. If it was
not planned, then the coincidence of the numbers, seems even more mysterious and improbable.
We have also found an 11-year cycle in Osama bin Laden's life. The life changing events occur every 11
years, when bin Laden is 11, 22, 33, and 44.
We have uncovered several patterns of elevens that have occurred before, during, and after the attacks.
