The accidental tourist

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a picture of a tourist on the observation deck of the World Trade Centre started circulating the net.

The picture was supposedly taken moments before the attack – Tourist Guy stands in the foreground, as a hijacked plane approached the tower from behind.

While it was claimed that the picture came from a camera found in the debris at Ground Zero, many people found fault with the photo – pointing out:

• The weather on that day was too hot for the clothes Tourist Guy is wearing.
• The picture was taken on the South Tower. The North Tower was hit first.
• The jet is remarkably clear - a plane traveling at that speed would be blurred.
• The jet is a Boeing 757. Flights 11 and 175 were both Boeing 767s.
• The digital date stamp looks phony.

After the original ‘Tourist Guy’ pic did its rounds, people began photoshopping him into other situations, including the sinking of the Titanic and the shooting of JFK.












Who is Tourist Guy?

Initially, Brazilian businessman José Roberto Penteado came forward claiming to be the man in the photos. But when he started getting a lot of media attention, a 25-year-old Hungarian man named Péter Guzli came forward as the real tourist. Guzli took the photo on November 28, 1997, and was also responsible for the initial edit. He never imagined the stir the picture would cause.

My opinion - good initial impact, got old quickly