BCR
Master Poster
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2008
- Messages
- 2,278
Edward Paik made his debut to the Pentagon research arena through the CIT Pentacon film in late 2006. He has since that time been promoted as a north-of-Citgo (NoC) flyover witness by some in the Truth Movement. In the thread started a few days ago by TheLoneBedouin, “Over the Navy Annex Featuring Terry Morin”, I responded in a post examining Edward’s POV a little more closely. I began this thread in order to examine one aspect of his account more closely.
As it turns out, Edward Paik did a preliminary interview with Russell Pickering and the Loose Change entourage which included the CIT folks in August of 2006.
In this account, Edward refers to an antenna that he saw bent on top of the Virginia State Police tower in back of the VDOT center. He described it as a 2-meter antenna which had been bent over and the next day (the 12th) he observed people on the tower repairing the antenna. This was of course not what Russell Pickering and friends wanted to hear, so Pickering followed up and clarified that Edward did not see the plane strike the antenna, but saw it being repaired the next day and made the inference. Pickering investigated it further (to his credit) and was told by the VDOT employees (he assumed it was the VDOT's tower, but it is the VSP's) that work was done on the 12th to add capability for the FBI. Later I believe CIT has asserted it was work done for the military.
This seemed like a fairly historical detail that required further investigation to me. So I examined the photographs I could find for the 11th to see if any had the tower in them. I found two, but the one taken by Steven Ross from the Sheraton Hotel that was available on the internet was simply too poor quality for enhancement. I contacted Ross and he was kind enough to send me the original digital copy, but it too was of very poor quality. The other photograph was one taken by Steve Riskus and although taken from a distance, was of sufficient quality for enhancement.
The image above is a 7X enhancement with a change to grayscale. The brightness has been adjusted to enhance the dark features. Although not conclusive by any means, it certainly seems to support Paik's assertion that an antenna was indeed bent over just as he described. So I contacted Jimmy Chu who was the VDOT Smart Traffic Center manager on 9/11 with Paik's observations and the photograph. His response was simply "that was not true!" So, although I was still scratching my head, I dropped the issue for the time being.
On 9/10/2008 I was tracing the flight path as described by the Arlington County Police Department personnel along Columbia Pike starting at Glebe Road. Amazingly, the first person I talked to in the area who had seen the plane told me that the plane had also clipped the tower behind the VDOT! As I worked my way down Columbia Pike talking to people, I realized that it seemed to be a definite part of the local legend surrounding the event. When I reached the the VDOT/Annex area, I found several people in the area who claimed to have seen the bent antenna and the work done on the tower the following day. I am only going to use only one of those witnesses because he is already known to CIT and as such protects others from harrassment by them. That witness is Shinki Paik, Edward's brother who also works at A-One Auto at Ode and Columbia Pike across from the State Police Office.
Shinki told me that he personally saw the bent antenna himself, and made a drawing of the bend on the back of my business card as I watched (and no, like a dummy I did not take the card back). The bend he drew looked just like the bend in the photo above. After returning from my trip, I began investigating this detail further. Lynn Spencer (author, "Touching History") joined me in a FOIA with the State of Virginia for any records of the activity on the tower in the 9/11/2001 time frame. The following is their 12/9/2001 response.
Since Pickering and CIT have asserted that what Edward saw was enhancements to the tower for the FBI/military. I followed up to clarify exactly what work was done.
The story is not over. Another researcher/author with extensive contacts in the area has joined us to further pursue the matter, but I think it is clear that both of the Paik brothers thought the plane was far enough South of the Annex to encounter the antenna. So much for "Over the Annex and north of Citgo, To crazy land we go;" (kudos’ to WildCat).
As it turns out, Edward Paik did a preliminary interview with Russell Pickering and the Loose Change entourage which included the CIT folks in August of 2006.
In this account, Edward refers to an antenna that he saw bent on top of the Virginia State Police tower in back of the VDOT center. He described it as a 2-meter antenna which had been bent over and the next day (the 12th) he observed people on the tower repairing the antenna. This was of course not what Russell Pickering and friends wanted to hear, so Pickering followed up and clarified that Edward did not see the plane strike the antenna, but saw it being repaired the next day and made the inference. Pickering investigated it further (to his credit) and was told by the VDOT employees (he assumed it was the VDOT's tower, but it is the VSP's) that work was done on the 12th to add capability for the FBI. Later I believe CIT has asserted it was work done for the military.
This seemed like a fairly historical detail that required further investigation to me. So I examined the photographs I could find for the 11th to see if any had the tower in them. I found two, but the one taken by Steven Ross from the Sheraton Hotel that was available on the internet was simply too poor quality for enhancement. I contacted Ross and he was kind enough to send me the original digital copy, but it too was of very poor quality. The other photograph was one taken by Steve Riskus and although taken from a distance, was of sufficient quality for enhancement.
The image above is a 7X enhancement with a change to grayscale. The brightness has been adjusted to enhance the dark features. Although not conclusive by any means, it certainly seems to support Paik's assertion that an antenna was indeed bent over just as he described. So I contacted Jimmy Chu who was the VDOT Smart Traffic Center manager on 9/11 with Paik's observations and the photograph. His response was simply "that was not true!" So, although I was still scratching my head, I dropped the issue for the time being.
On 9/10/2008 I was tracing the flight path as described by the Arlington County Police Department personnel along Columbia Pike starting at Glebe Road. Amazingly, the first person I talked to in the area who had seen the plane told me that the plane had also clipped the tower behind the VDOT! As I worked my way down Columbia Pike talking to people, I realized that it seemed to be a definite part of the local legend surrounding the event. When I reached the the VDOT/Annex area, I found several people in the area who claimed to have seen the bent antenna and the work done on the tower the following day. I am only going to use only one of those witnesses because he is already known to CIT and as such protects others from harrassment by them. That witness is Shinki Paik, Edward's brother who also works at A-One Auto at Ode and Columbia Pike across from the State Police Office.
Shinki told me that he personally saw the bent antenna himself, and made a drawing of the bend on the back of my business card as I watched (and no, like a dummy I did not take the card back). The bend he drew looked just like the bend in the photo above. After returning from my trip, I began investigating this detail further. Lynn Spencer (author, "Touching History") joined me in a FOIA with the State of Virginia for any records of the activity on the tower in the 9/11/2001 time frame. The following is their 12/9/2001 response.
Since Pickering and CIT have asserted that what Edward saw was enhancements to the tower for the FBI/military. I followed up to clarify exactly what work was done.
The story is not over. Another researcher/author with extensive contacts in the area has joined us to further pursue the matter, but I think it is clear that both of the Paik brothers thought the plane was far enough South of the Annex to encounter the antenna. So much for "Over the Annex and north of Citgo, To crazy land we go;" (kudos’ to WildCat).
Last edited:
