Account of Satam Passport Discovery by Rich Wozniak

Pete Tar

Senior Member.
Credit to ATS member waypastvne for the info contained in this post on the 'impossible plane' thread on ATS

The first thing I try to do every morning when I wake up is ask God what it is He will have me do for him. I pray that I will be a light for others so that through me they can see that He is present and I pray that He will use me to plant seeds that will bring others to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
September 11th started out just like an ordinary day.
...
I was standing in the middle of what were the remains of a passenger aircraft. There were seats and engine parts smashed through car windows everywhere. What seemed to be an engine was embedded into the sidewalk and body parts were strewn all over the street. Then I looked down to my feet and picked up a passport. It was a Saudi passport. It was green with Arabic writing and as I opened it and saw the man’s face inside it and I felt as if I were looking into the eyes of someone that may have been part of the terror that I was witnessing around me and I later learned that I was right as I passed it off to an FBI agent that was standing a block away on West side Hwy who immediately took it from me. He then instructed me to leave the area but before he could notice I ran back to the side of the Bankers Trust building determined to help find survivors that may have been hurt in the streets or in the cars. Then my life was changed forever.
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(archived link created by Mick...)
http://archive.is/2xkyj

Photo of street showing possible passport:


And other photos taken before the towers fell, at around the time the passport was supposedly picked up.







[Photo discussion moved to: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/ph...mpact-before-collapse-possible-passport.2893/ ]
 
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The photos seem genuine. However the account from Wozniak would need some additional verification. Seems overly dramatized, possibly made up.
 
So Rich Wozniak is the person who found the passport . . . seems the individual did understand the importance of what he found and did not disappear into shadows of history . . .
 
The photos seem genuine. However the account from Wozniak would need some additional verification. Seems overly dramatized, possibly made up.
I note some skepticism in your post . . . does it come from the elaboration of his deeds of altruism . . . ??
 
Well, that clears up the 'issue' of where the passport was found and how it got to the detective.

He was on the backside of the Deutsche Bank building on Liberty St. when he found it, and proceeded to West St. about a block away and handed it over

The story seems fake though.
 
Well, that clears up the 'issue' of where the passport was found and how it got to the detective.

He was on the backside of the Deutsche Bank building on Liberty St. when he found it, and proceeded to West St. about a block away and handed it over

The story seems fake though.
So you like Mick are skeptical . . . Why ?
 
I'm skeptical because it seems exactly like what high school student would write if asked to asked to write an account of an a hero rushing in to help during the events of 9/11. All the events depicted seem to be things that we are all familiar with via video and other accounts, and combined with high level explanations of what happened. It's like a laundry list of everything the writer could think of, taken to extremes. Like:

A young man approached me filled with blood and as I helped him into the back of the truck I noticed that either he or someone else had performed a tracheotomy on him as a straw stuck out of his throat so he could breath.
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So you like Mick are skeptical . . . Why ?
This is a secondhand story, passed on by the site owner, Michael Fackarell. Where did he get the story? Directly from Rich Wozniak? From a blog of Rich's? Maybe it's time to give Michael Fackerell an email to see.
 
I am skeptical because I'd never heard this FANTASTIC story before. You'd think it would have been all over the news.
I think there is possibly 911 fatigue . . . a saturation point where things 911 are no longer news worthy . . . ??
 
It is an elaborate tale. However, in the context of providing an inspirational christian story of how God worked in his life on that day, it is what you would expect.
 
I find the ending a little disturbing as I find this sort of religious sentiment icky and it seems not far off from what the perpetrators themselves would have believed...

All I can think about now is how to use this for the Lord’s purpose. This letter was the best way I knew how at first. I want everyone to know that our faith cannot be shaken and that we need to be aware that God promises so much more than what this world has to offer. God will be proclaimed throughout this whole terror and I won’t stop until He takes me to Him. Right now I believe He wants me here. All is ok and life is an incredible gift and our Lord is an incredible Savior. Let us all turn to Him in repentance and prayer for our great Nation.
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However, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that is his way of coming to terms with an incredibly devastating situation.

A cynic would question if the tale was invented purely for christian propaganda purposes - however I would not push that angle.

Perhaps this part leaves room for physical verification (phone records, the pastor)...
I walked up 3rd avenue and God provided water stations for everyone at various Salvation Army posts. I entered a non-denominational church in hopes I could use a phone and was able to call home again. My family saw the building collapse moments after I hung up the phone with them and they were frantic because they had not heard from me in over an hour. My brother, who had just made it out of the subway tunnel after the first plane struck and was ok was now searching for me and he was finally able to make contact with me from his cell phone as we were both relieved that we were alive. The pastor of the church approached me and asked me if I needed anything
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(though beyond our resources probably.)
 
You think it sounds plausible then?
I can only speak in probabilities . . . I would say the story is embellished . . . a 90 percent certainty . . . the fact this particular person found the passport . . . less than 50 percent . . . does that help?
 
I find the ending a little disturbing as I find this sort of religious sentiment icky and it seems not far off from what the perpetrators themselves would have believed...

I belonged to a Methodist church at the time of 911, I attended very regularly. The Sunday after 911 I went to the service, and as the pastor spoke of God giving us strength etc etc I thought the same thing....there are probably people in the middle east who side with the terrorists listening to a similar talk. It was pretty much the last time I went to church other than weddings, funerals, and the occasional xmas mass.
 
I think there is possibly 911 fatigue . . . a saturation point where things 911 are no longer news worthy . . . ??
I think except for a few hardcore groups and individuals the 911 investigation is over . . . the damage to the US credibility and goodwill and sympathy earned by the loss of human life in NYC/Pentagon/Pa is long gone . . . it was squandered by ill advised military actions which are still resonating distrust and damage throughout the Middle East . . . there is no real national interest to reopen the wounds of 911 . . . the history settled, the animals are out of the barn and the door has been closed behind them . . .
 
I wish you hadn't moved the pictures to another thread. In my view they are material to his account, and demonstrate the condition of items ejected from the aircraft and towers - one of the major 'sticking points', regarding the provenance of the passport was whether it would even be visible amongst all the other debris.
The pictures are central to the story. Oh well....
 
I wish you hadn't moved the pictures to another thread. In my view they are material to his account, and demonstrate the condition of items ejected from the aircraft and towers - one of the major 'sticking points', regarding the provenance of the passport was whether it would even be visible amongst all the other debris.
The pictures are central to the story. Oh well....

I've put the photo back in the OP, and added some more, so the story can be discussed in the context of the images.
 
I wish you hadn't moved the pictures to another thread. In my view they are material to his account, and demonstrate the condition of items ejected from the aircraft and towers - one of the major 'sticking points', regarding the provenance of the passport was whether it would even be visible amongst all the other debris.
The pictures are central to the story. Oh well....

The picture that was separated from this thread has yet to be proven as a passport at all, let alone to be that of Saqami's. Until it is, it's just a picture of debris. Certainly it has a minor connection in that it could be a passport and it could be Saqami's but until either of those ideas are proven true it's a just picture of debris from that day. The connection itself is mere speculation.
 
The picture that was separated from this thread has yet to be proven as a passport at all, let alone to be that of Saqami's. Until it is, it's just a picture of debris. Certainly it has a minor connection in that it could be a passport and it could be Saqami's but until either of those ideas are proven true it's a just picture of debris from that day. The connection itself is mere speculation.

Indeed, but the photo do show what a street strewn with the rubble from the building would look like, also that there were people looking down at the rubble, even examining things (and, obviously, taking photos of it).
 
Thanks Mick.

Josh, surely you're not disputing that the picture gives valuable context to the type of debris found on the steets immediately after flight 11 hit WTC 1.
It might be worth contacting Chris Sorensen about the photo. He has a blog. Perhaps he can clarify what the object was.
 
Note though that the story has him arriving at the tower after the second plane hit. The photos of the street are all before the second impact, so that's all WTC1 debris.
 
The photos also show some people running around (not everyone), which corroborates Wozniak's observations.
As we moved toward the towers we were met by 1000's of people running away in our direction.
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Some detractors had claimed that it was suspicious that the person who handed the passport to the cop 'ran off'. I haven't seen anything to indicate Wozniak did not return to the area around the towers, nor that he was caught in close proximity to the collapses.
What is it that people find untrue?
 
The photos also show some people running around (not everyone), which corroborates Wozniak's observations.
As we moved toward the towers we were met by 1000's of people running away in our direction.
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Some detractors had claimed that it was suspicious that the person who handed the passport to the cop 'ran off'. I haven't seen anything to indicate Wozniak did not return to the area around the towers, nor that he was caught in close proximity to the collapses.
What is it that people find untrue?
At this point, I don't see any reason to dispute that a man did find the passport, and turned it in to law enforcement.

Things currently in dispute (and hence the reason I mentioned a topic split) are:
  • Is the story genuine?
  • Assuming the story is true, was the passport Rich found shown in the photograph in the other thread (completely linking the picture and the story), and
  • Pertaining to the other thread, is that actually a passport? (We'll probably have to verify this part first ourselves somehow unless we get direct testimony from Rich or the photographer)
 
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So Rich Wozniak is the person who found the passport . . . seems the individual did understand the importance of what he found and did not disappear into shadows of history . . .
Yes, all seems genuine, very good, although how did he know the guy was fbi, because the NYPD detective seemed quite sure he was NYPD not FBI unless he was confused who he worked for, or confused as to the man running off and telling the guy to run off. If the guy WAS FBI then Yuk Chin lied. If he wasn't, what explains him (RW) Thinking he was?
 
As near as i can tell, the suspected passport looks too thick to be a passport and far different in condition than the recovered one, unless of course they ironed it out. And was he the photographer? Because if not then the cover is visible from one side only. Anyway my larger issues here are,

"But we were determined to keep going. At one point there was nothing between us and the towers except 2 police officers preparing to block the street entrance but they were too late as we blew right past them and got within 200 ft. of two burning towers"

And those cops, decided the job they were given did not matter, a terror action taken place did not matter they could let people run where they like especially TOWARDS the towers


."There were scattered police and firefighters all around the streets. It seemed that I was one of only a handful of civilians so I had to pass myself off as a security agent"

Confirming what i earlier asserted, he would find a cop very close to finding it.Additionally, he does not have to pass himself off as anything to civilians, only to cops and fbi, how does this work, you just TELL someone.."the name is Bond..James Bond" and they believe without question?


"I could hear objects hitting the ground around me so I decided to work my way around the back of the building and now I had learned what had happened"

He already knew by his own words, before he even got there


" I felt as if I were looking into the eyes of someone that may have been part of the terror"

Because only Arabs ever are terrorists?

"The firemen then proceeded to move toward the tower. They got about 30-40 feet away when without warning a person’s body landed between them with such an impact they were thrown to the side. The woman had also jumped from the building but she had landed on top of one of the firemen, killing him instantly"

This event is described by FDNY and NYPD, it does not cite any civilians huddled there,

"My cell phone messages were piling up as I watched them pass 10 but there was no reception within miles as the tower’s antenna’s were completely destroyed disrupting all cell phone usage in the area"

If there is no reception, how does he explain receiving the messages? They do not appear with no reception

. I remember thinking to myself, “”what is out there””, “”what hit us””? I had no idea that the tower had fallen and much of it had landed on top of us destroying so much of the building we were in.

At which point he is IN wtc 1 and so NOTHING landed on top of it
 
I thought you said it all seems genuine? It all seems highly exaggerated and made up to me. I don't think this account can really be used as any sort of evidence.
 
I thought you said it all seems genuine? It all seems highly exaggerated and made up to me. I don't think this account can really be used as any sort of evidence.
It did until i decided to find the original piece.
But, in the interest of fairness, i will try to run this down a bit. So anyone else that can add credence please let me know. I would be remiss to dismiss it out of hand when i have not done the same to anything that backs my own theories so ill dig deeper
 
Yes, all seems genuine, very good, although how did he know the guy was fbi, because the NYPD detective seemed quite sure he was NYPD not FBI unless he was confused who he worked for, or confused as to the man running off and telling the guy to run off. If the guy WAS FBI then Yuk Chin lied. If he wasn't, what explains him (RW) Thinking he was?
Not necessary that someone was lying - he could just be using 'FBI' inaccurately to mean any law enforcement authority, or maybe he got the wrong impression from jackets being worn, or remembered it wrong.
Not really a point to get hung up on, though I guess the discrepancy should be noted.
As near as i can tell, the suspected passport looks too thick to be a passport and far different in condition than the recovered one, unless of course they ironed it out. And was he the photographer? Because if not then the cover is visible from one side only.

See the separate thread on the photo - it was another photographer, and he doubts details of the story as he does not recall the extreme carnage described here.
I still don't know why that photo was originally connected to the passport, probably it was suggested as a possibility at one point because of the timing (before the collapse) and the colour.
@Hitheycallmejosh has pointed out it has sharp edges compared to the round edges of the passport, so it's probably not it.
"But we were determined to keep going. At one point there was nothing between us and the towers except 2 police officers preparing to block the street entrance but they were too late as we blew right past them and got within 200 ft. of two burning towers"

And those cops, decided the job they were given did not matter, a terror action taken place did not matter they could let people run where they like especially TOWARDS the towers


."There were scattered police and firefighters all around the streets. It seemed that I was one of only a handful of civilians so I had to pass myself off as a security agent"

Confirming what i earlier asserted, he would find a cop very close to finding it.Additionally, he does not have to pass himself off as anything to civilians, only to cops and fbi, how does this work, you just TELL someone.."the name is Bond..James Bond" and they believe without question?


"I could hear objects hitting the ground around me so I decided to work my way around the back of the building and now I had learned what had happened"

He already knew by his own words, before he even got there
Most of these don't seem very concrete objections. You need something more verifiable to challenge.

" I felt as if I were looking into the eyes of someone that may have been part of the terror"

Because only Arabs ever are terrorists?


Arabs terrorists have been a stereotype for a while, so it's easily possible, but it may indicate a narrative that is just a little too tidy.

"
The firemen then proceeded to move toward the tower. They got about 30-40 feet away when without warning a person’s body landed between them with such an impact they were thrown to the side. The woman had also jumped from the building but she had landed on top of one of the firemen, killing him instantly"

This event is described by FDNY and NYPD, it does not cite any civilians huddled there,

Do you mean an incident of jumper landing on a fireman? Can you give the account?
Depending on the level of detail, not mentioning them doesn't indicate they weren't there necessarily.

It is starting to look like an elaboration for christian inspiration propaganda. But notably, independent of any 'official version propaganda'.

However, he may have been there, remembering the day a couple years after, building on the skeleton of memories a more elaborate and fleshed out version with no intent to do deliberately mislead. Memories are not movies and we fill in gaps without being aware of it.
 
Pete, i do not have to hand the fireman/NYPD account because i only read through them the other day and saved both files, to find these excerpts again will be requiring reading the lot again. Which i will do but not for a few days as it will be for part of my work to locate officers etc, so when i come across it i will put it up.

It may well be that if this is a sincere piece that false memory is the case for some parts. Some things seem to be a case of what we may want to be like. I would like to THINK i would do something noble, but whether i would or not i cannot say for sure. I had a look deeper into that aspect since the previous thread, and events and exactly what is said by interviewers have been proven to shape the recollection, even making it possible to recall things that never happened. So i think the answer is to try to speak to the person more directly to better understand then being questioned by different people, the story should have subtle variations that will by how variant they are, reveal if parts are made up or not. If the story sticks very rigidly to the same wording it would suggest it was scripted. But as yet no chance to find the person. Has anyone else ?
 
Wozniak's account seems to contain to much detail. It's argued that this is one indication of lying. The connection he makes with terrorists seems suspect to me. If I picked up, and handed over a passport, it would be so that it could be returned to it's owner. Jumping to conclusions about terrorism in such a chaotic situation makes me a little suspicious of the authenticity of this story.
 
Small point about "running off".....

In this interview FBI agent Dan Coleman says....."And it was handed him [but] by the time he looked up again, the guy who had handed it to him [had] run off, you know, which made sense".

This is not the same as seeing someone run off. This is looking up and seeing that they're not there anymore. (It is, of course, a second hand account).

http://911blogger.com/news/2011-11-...ssport-911-hijacker-satam-al-suqami-was-found

Here is the transcript of the interview : ...first day we had the passport of Satam al-Suqami. That was given to a New York City detective from the fifth precinct that was down there, trying to talk to people as they were coming out to the buildings. And it was handed him [but] by the time he looked up again, the guy who had handed it to him [had] run off, you know, which made sense. And that passport was given to a detective on the Joint Terrorism Task Force. So, by that evening we had it, the detective Marty Mann, from a detective of fifth precinct had given it to him and it was bagged up, and you know. But it was also -- we realized by then, because we'd gotten some communication back with headquarters that this was the passport of one of the people that headquarters had identified as one of the 19 probable hijackers. We couldn't have done any of that, because basically, the 212 telephone exchange, the building that housed the exchange was on fire and was... didn't work anymore.
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Small point about "running off".....

In this interview FBI agent Dan Coleman says....."And it was handed him [but] by the time he looked up again, the guy who had handed it to him [had] run off, you know, which made sense".

This is not the same as seeing someone run off. This is looking up and seeing that they're not there anymore. (It is, of course, a second hand account).

http://911blogger.com/news/2011-11-...ssport-911-hijacker-satam-al-suqami-was-found

Here is the transcript of the interview : ...first day we had the passport of Satam al-Suqami. That was given to a New York City detective from the fifth precinct that was down there, trying to talk to people as they were coming out to the buildings. And it was handed him [but] by the time he looked up again, the guy who had handed it to him [had] run off, you know, which made sense. And that passport was given to a detective on the Joint Terrorism Task Force. So, by that evening we had it, the detective Marty Mann, from a detective of fifth precinct had given it to him and it was bagged up, and you know. But it was also -- we realized by then, because we'd gotten some communication back with headquarters that this was the passport of one of the people that headquarters had identified as one of the 19 probable hijackers. We couldn't have done any of that, because basically, the 212 telephone exchange, the building that housed the exchange was on fire and was... didn't work anymore.
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And he was 7th not 5th anyway so that is in error. But whether 5th or 7th it is not fbi as stated.
I cannot find a Wozniak that seems to be a match.
My biggest issue is, the claim to have masqueraded as a security services person, having also run straight past two cops. The problem is, that 1) Having identified he ran by cops, he clearly shows he knows a cop vs a FBI agent, and 2ndly, if they were cordoning the street they are not going to let people run by. There is a piece of footage where cops get angry at people filming trying to push past the barrier and they tell them to get back, whoever is behind the camera tells them to do there fxxxxxg job then. The point is, the cops are not going to just ignore someone racing into the buildings vicinity when they have been ordered to clear it.

But these are speculations and i guess will be dependent on more, like the host site of the story. They may know more
 
Just for some information. There exists further information the FBI is holding, including the police records, regarding the passport. Having submitted a request for them. It has been denied apparently the items are subject to exemption from disclosure.

That is not the end of the matter, but has stalled me momentarily. It at least demonstrates there is far more information relative to the passport than what is publically available, and therefore i will continue to push for it
 
Just for some information. There exists further information the FBI is holding, including the police records, regarding the passport. Having submitted a request for them. It has been denied apparently the items are subject to exemption from disclosure.

Can you post the evidence of this information, request, and denial?
 
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