Have you heard that the face of Satan appeared in the smoke of the burning World Trade Center? That French astrologer Nostradamus predicted the attack on New York City? That Bishop T. D. Jakes received a private message from President George W. Bush warning him and his congregation to prepare for a chemical war? That the Dalai Lama is sending out email urging people to become “spiritual activists”? That an unlucky tourist captured a photo of an incoming plane from the observation deck of one of the World Trade Centers? If you have an active email account, you’ve probably heard some of these stories. But what you may not have heard is that they’re all false. Rumors and hoaxes abound in the best of times. But after a national crisis, the minor mills go into overdrive. Fueled by a combination of hysteria and hope, and spread by e-mail, rumors sweep the nation. Web site operators stay busy debunking these newly born urban legends. Two of the best are www.snopes.com and www.truthorfiction.com. Both sites work hard to track down the truth behind persistent rumors. Here are some of the current myths in circulation, and the real stories behind them.

Face of Satan

A photo-related rumor says that the face of Satan can he seen in the smoke from the World Trade Center. This rumor is a little harder to put to rest, because the photos involved do not appear to have been manipulated. One image frequently used to support this theory came from CNN’s life television coverage, while another came from freelance photographer Mark D. Phillips, who sent his photo to the Associated Press within 40 minutes of the attack—so quickly that there wasn’t time for digital manipulation of the image. The AP itself has strict policies prohibiting the manipulation of photos. Phillips says he never noticed a face in the photos he quickly sent to AP, and was surprised the next day to have received dozens of e-mail messages from people who saw a satanic face in the smoke. Seeing Satan’s face in smoke from a disaster is nothing new—the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News has been doctoring up photos like that for years. But even non-doctored photos can appear to have faces in them. The random patterns generated by smoke are likely to resemble a face at some point, and the human tendency to look for an image in the midst of randomness is so well known that there’s even a psychological name for it—pareidol. It’s an interesting phenomenon that also relates to being able to see images in clouds, hut it is hardly necessary in this case to look too hard for the evil force behind the attack.

Nostradamus

The ancient French astrologer Nostradamus is often trotted out after world calamities, with supporters insisting that Nostradamus saw the disaster coming long ago. In the wake of the terrorist attack, a 1654 Nostradamus prediction is being circulated that apparently predicts World War III. The verse in question allegedly says: “In the City of God there will he a great thunder/ Two brothers torn apart by Chaos/ while the fortress endures/ the great leader will succumb/ The third big war will begin when the big city is burning. —Nostradamus 1654” If Nostradamus really did write that in 1654 it would be nothing short of a miracle, since he lived a century earlier, from 1503 to 1566. His verses tend to be filled with obscure imagery that can be bent to fit the events of the day. Other predictions made by Nostradamus are clearly lifted from biblical prophecy, so even if they come true it’s no particular credit to Nostradamus and his methods. This particular Nostradamus verse can be traced to a student at Brock University in Canada, who posted it on a web page essay about the ancient seer. The student Neil Marshall put forth his admittedly fabricated verse as an illustration of how easy it can be to make up an important-sounding prophecy. Some anonymous person took Marshall’s prophecy as a true Nostradamus verse, and seems to have added the final line about a “third big war.” Subsequent Nostradamus fakeries have been circulating, including one that says, “On the 11th day of the 9th month/ two metal birds will crash into two tall statues/ in the new city/ and the world will end soon after.”

T.D. Jakes

Another popular rumor claims that Bishop T. D. Jakes, pastor of the 18,000-member Potter’s House Pentecostal church in Dallas (and known for his curious statements about the Trinity), returned from a meeting with President George W. Bush and told his congregation to stock up on supplies because a “chemical war” was coming. An email message used to spread this rumor typically says that jakes “couldn’t disclose the information the President shared with him, but he warned his congregation and told them to contact as many family members and friends as they could and let them know to stock up on bottled water, canned goods, and nonperishable food items, Also, he sure to have flashlights, batteries, and other items needed in an emergency on hand. ‘The war, when it breaks out, will be a chemical war that will effect [sic] our water system, electricity and crops.” It’s not unusual for rumors to circulate claiming that the government is withholding important life-saving information in order to “prevent panic.” This rumor is part of that general class of rumors, but lacks internal consistency. If Jakes couldn’t say what Bush told him, why is he issuing a warning to the congregation? And why is he warning of a “chemical war” – a phrase so vague it could cover bioterrorism, poisoning of food wand water, or even poison gas?

There is a kernel of truth to this story. Jakes did indeed suggest that people have fresh water and canned goods in their homes as one way to provide for their families in these uncertain times. He explained, however, “I returned from my meeting with the President with a strong sense of confidence in his ability to handle the situation at hand. As a spiritual leader, I certainly believe in peace; yet, feel the need to prepare my congregation with practical tools and guidelines in the event of future terrorist activities. This mindset, however, was not prompted as any secret the President shared with me during our meeting, but simply my responsibility as a “watchman on the wall” in relation to the people and the congregation I serve.”

Lotz of Rumors

One popular email purports to convey an on-air discussion between television’s Bryant Gumbel and Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham. Gumbel reportedly asked why God didn’t stop this disaster, to which she replied, “For years we have told God we didn’t want Him in our schools. We didn’t want Him in our government and we didn’t want Him in our finances and God was being a perfect gentleman in doing just what we asked Him to do. We need to make up our minds—do we want God or do we not want him? We cannot just ask Him in when disaster strikes.” A stunned Gumbel reportedly sat in silence. Lotz did indeed appear on the CBS Early Show in Sept. 13, but Jane Clayson conducted the interview. Asked how God could let this happen, Lotz actually said, “I say God is also angry when He sees something like this. I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, we want You out of our schools, our government, our business, we want You out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing His hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we’re sorry we have treated You this way and we invite You now to come into our national life. We put our trust in You. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it.”

Hello Dalai

An email message being circulated claims that the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet’s Buddhists, wrote a letter in response to the Sept. 11 attacks in which he urges the people of the world to be “spiritual activists.” The alleged letter says, in part, “We have not understood the most basic spiritual wisdom. In short, we have not been listening to God, and because we have not, we watch ourselves do ungodly things. The message we hear from all sources of truth is clear: We are all one. That is a message the human race has largely ignored. Forgetting this truth is the only cause of hatred and war, and the way to remember is simple: Love, this and every moment. If we could love even those who have attacked us, and seek to understand why they have done so, what then would be our response? Yet if we meet negativity with negativity, rage with rage, attack with attack, what then will he the outcome?” The letter certainly has a spiritual message, hut that message does not originate with the Dalai Lama. He did send a letter of support to President Bush, and he did send a letter to New York’s Mayor Rudolph Giuliani along with a $30,000 donation for relief efforts. But according to the web site of Tibets Government in Exile, the letter quoted above is a fake.

Presidential Prayer Team

President George W. Bush has openly called on the American people to join him in prayer for the nation. His openness to prayer has led some to believe that an independent effort called the “Presidential Prayer Team” is endorsed by the Bush administration. There really is a Presidential Prayer Team, and it’s possible that some of its promotional efforts could he misunderstood. Its title and logo look a little like an official government seal, and email messages sent to recruit new prayer partners come from “The Office of the Presidential Prayer Team.” The subject line reads, “The President of the United States needs you.” However, the prayer team is not affiliated with the White House in anyway—a fact that is now being made clear on the group’s web site.

**Bible That Wouldn’t Burn **

Though most stories surrounding the Sept. 11 attack deal with the World Trade Center’s destruction, one persistent story is based at the Pentagon, which was also the site of a terrorist attack. According to this story, an unburned Bible was found in the wreckage of the Pentagon. The story quotes a rescue worker who reportedly found an open Bible on an undisturbed stool. The Bible was not burned, nor was anything around it. The soldier reportedly said, “I’m not as religious as some, but that would have me thinking. I just can’t explain it.” This story found its way into USA Today, but only as a secondhand anecdote. Other sources on the site say the book was a phone book or dictionary. The people who run www.snopes.com say they’ve seen photos proving that the book in question was a dictionary, not a Bible. However, in a rare disagreement between the two leading rumor-hunting web sites, the people at truthorfiction.com have classified the story as true. They write, “We spoke with reporter Andrea Stone from USA Today. She felt enough confidence in having talked with Sgt. Williams and having been on the scene that she reported the story as it was told to her, and she still stands by it. We asked her about the speculation that the book may have been a dictionary, but she says there was no such speculation at the scene. There are pictures of the unburned book on the stool and TruthOrFiction.corn has seen them, but there is nothing in them that conflicts with the searchers’ reports.” (EP News)