# Anyone fancy debunking this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362 "2006-01-24T04:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/1 "2006-01-24T04:41:00Z")
Received this today, but it seems a bit far-fetched (to say the least). Or is it?? > [@](#): > > 1. NewYork City has 11 letters > > 2. Afghanistan has 11 letters. > > 3. Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters. > > 4. George W Bush has 11 letters. This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting: > > 5. New York is the 11th state. > > 6. The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11. > > 7. Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11 > > 8. Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers, was carrying 65 passengers. 6+5 = 11 > > 9. The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 +1+ 1 = 11 > > 10. The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number > Sheer coincidence…?! Read on and make up your own mind: > > 11. The total number of victims inside all the hi-jacked planes was 254. 2 + 5 + 4 = 11. > > 12. September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year. Again 2+ 5+ 4 = 11. > > 13. The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 =11. > > 14. The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers incident. > Now this is where things get totally eerie: > > The most recognised symbol for the US, after the Stars & Stripes, is the Eagle. The following verse is taken from the Quran, the Islamic holy book: > > “For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands > of Allah and there was peace.” > > That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran. > > Still uncovinced about all of this…?! Try this and see howyou feel afterwards, it made my hair stand on end: > > Open Microsoft Word and do the following: > > 1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers. > 2. Highlight the Q33 NY. > 3. Change the font size to 48. > 4. Change the actual font to the WINGDINGS ---
**Author:** ![Serket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Serket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serket)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/2 "2006-01-24T04:50:09Z")
> [@marky33](#): > > The most recognised symbol for the US, after the Stars & Stripes, is the Eagle. The following verse is taken from the Quran, the Islamic holy book: > > “For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands > of Allah and there was peace.” > > That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran. This part is [false.](http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_quran_911.htm) This thread would probably be better in General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/3 "2006-01-24T04:57:37Z")
> [@Serket](#): > > This thread would probably be better in General Questions. You’re probably right - I just wondered whether anyone would try to defend the implications. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/4 "2006-01-24T04:58:17Z")
[Obligatory Snopes link](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/coincidence.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/5 "2006-01-24T05:09:57Z")
> [@marky33](#): > > You’re probably right - I just wondered whether anyone would try to defend the implications. I don’t think anyone is willing to deny the existence of kooky numerologists who see conspiracies every time they look away from their tinfoil hats. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/6 "2006-01-24T06:06:56Z")
I see no debate. It is not really a poll. No reference to Cecil or the Staff. Much too polite for the **Pit**. No arts or entertainment involved. Not a question of Board Policy. Off to Mindless, Pointless Stuff I Must Share. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/7 "2006-01-24T06:50:40Z")
This is the problem with some scientific studies…if you look hard enough, you can create evidence to prove your point, valid or not. I am sure if someone had the time and inclination, they could just as easily have come up with several dozen coincidences with the number 9… The month it happened…9 John Lennon predicted it would happen…Revolution Number 9 Exactly nine years prior to 9/11, a hurricane hit Hawaii At exactly 9:09 yada yada happened…etc etc It is pretty easy to pick and choose facts, as long as you give yourself some loose parameters. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/8 "2006-01-24T14:12:14Z")
Cecil Adams has 11 letters\* hmmmmmm… :dubious: [sub]\*if you count the space as a letter[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/9 "2006-01-24T16:35:39Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > It is pretty easy to pick and choose facts, as long as you give yourself some loose parameters. Not only that, the “Q33” in the Wingdings finale has no relationship to anything else. Maybe if they said “Q+3+3 = 11!” ---
**Author:** ![homeskillet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@homeskillet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homeskillet)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/10 "2006-01-24T16:57:58Z")
\*6) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11. 1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.\* I like how it contradicts itself! :smack: …but we know the real story \*\*Milhouse: The Rand Corporation, in conjuction with the saucer people… Bart: Thank you. Milhouse: …Under the supervision of the reverse vampires… Lisa: Ugh… Milhouse: …are FORCING our parents to go to bed early in a fiendish plot to eliminate the meal of dinner! \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/11 "2006-01-24T17:32:06Z")
_My_ user name has 11 letters! I’ve got something in common with terrorists and Bush! :eek: Of course, as [Snopes points out](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/elevens.asp), the phrase “It’s bullshit” also has eleven letters… ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/12 "2006-01-24T17:40:07Z")
Isn’t there a rule against posting Glurge here? No? There oughta be. ~Winston (who once ended a friendship over glurge) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/13 "2006-01-24T18:24:37Z")
It’s da bunk! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/14 "2006-01-24T18:30:58Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters. Only if you choose to spell it that way. There is no standard, accepted technique for translating Arabic names into English. None. Consider– [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_264b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_264b.html) > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > I count at least 12 different ways to spell the colonel’s handle, including Qaddhafi (New York Review of Books), Qaddafi (New Republic), Gaddafi (Time), Kaddafi (Newsweek), Khadafy (Maclean’s), Qadhafi (U.S. News & World Report), Qadaffi (Business Week), and Gadaffi (World Press Review). Libya’s UN mission, in an effort to spread further confusion, spells the name Qathafi, and I know I’ve seen Gadaafi somewhere. To make matters worse, the Library of Congress and the Middle East Studies Association, to whom one would ordinarily look for guidance, have a fondness for Qadhdhafi, which is an abomination unto God. I think you now begin to grasp the dimensions of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/15 "2006-01-24T18:52:23Z")
Change all the plus signs to minus signs in the OP and we can come up with the theory of 7 1 7 -7 -7 -5 Look out! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/16 "2006-01-24T19:12:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Not only that, the “Q33” in the Wingdings finale has no relationship to anything else. Maybe if they said “Q+3+3 = 11!” I know! Q=5. Hmm… “Marley” has 6 letters. 2+3=5. Coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/17 "2006-01-24T19:24:14Z")
Yes, but of much more importance is the fact that **Marley** and **23** _rhyme!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/18 "2006-01-24T19:55:11Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Only if you choose to spell it that way. > > There is no standard, accepted technique for translating Arabic names into English. None. True true. And I’ve NEVER seen his name spelled “Ramsin Yuseb.” It’s Ramzi Yousef, which is not his real name anyway - though it does have 11 letters - and acceptable variants include “Ramzi Yusuf” [10] and “Ramzi Youssef” [12]. His real name is Abdul Karim [10]. If you include his middle name, then he has three names - just like John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc. > [@saoirse](#): > > Hmm… > “Marley” has 6 letters. 2+3=5. Coincidence? > [@Ethilrist](#): > > Yes, but of much more importance is the fact that **Marley** and **23** _rhyme!!!_ Oh, that’s nothing. My middle and last names also have _six letters_. Until I change them, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/19 "2006-01-24T21:36:31Z")
Today marks the eleventh day in a row I’ve had breakfast. Verily, I am a weapon of mastication. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362/20 "2006-01-24T22:25:50Z")
Hey, I just realized my name has 11 letters if I include the middle initial. That means I must have gotten really drunk one night, gone into a blackout, then flown to Afghanistan where I swore an oath of fealty to none other than Osama himself! Man, I sure hate it when that happens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-fancy-debunking-this/341362.md?page=2)