# Would You Recognize Osama Bin Laden? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827 "2010-11-16T04:06:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827/1 "2010-11-16T04:06:16Z")
I saw a blip about whether or not OBL is still alive, it got me to thinking. I wouldn’t recognize him if he walked right past me. Even if he was in the traditional Arab grab (or whatever traditional clothing that is) he could walk right by me and I’d think he was some Mid-East guy. So do you think you’d recognize him if he walked right past you in your city? For the sake of his question, let’s assume he makes no change in his looks. You kind of like the best way to hide, is just get lost in the crowd and be one of them ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827/2 "2010-11-16T04:12:09Z")
Hell, I have seen him around the area three times this week although he isn’t nearly as tall as they describe. That beard, headdress, and robe is a dead giveaway. In all seriousness, I swore I saw a former coworker who is an Indian Muslim in a clothing store on Sunday. On closer inspection, it wasn’t but there is only so much you can do with a certain look before the people that wear it start to blur together. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827/3 "2010-11-16T06:36:44Z")
He’s six and a half feet tall. That’s got to make him stand out. And he’s surprisingly [shapely](http://www.pollsb.com/photos/o/97734-sexy_osama_bin_laden_costume_halloween.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827/4 "2010-11-16T06:42:20Z")
If he had the beard, maybe. He is unusually tall, so that helps. I think I might be more likely (especially if he was clean shaven and dressed in western clothes) to think he looked familar but not be able to place him. At best, I might think, “hey, that dude looks like Osama bin Laden,” but I’d just think it was a dude that looked like him, I would probably find it too incredible for it to really be him. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827/5 "2010-11-16T06:43:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > He’s six and a half feet tall. That’s got to make him stand out. My 6’10" partner would call him “shorty.” ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827/6 "2010-11-16T08:46:15Z")
I would probably need the clothes and beard. I also wonder how much his appearance has changed since 2001ish (when most of the pictures of him stuck in my mind were from). ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recognize-osama-bin-laden/560827/7 "2010-11-16T18:33:08Z")
I went for “not sure”, because on the one hand I think I could recognise him without his beard and traditional dress (assuming he was not wearing sunglasses/hat/different hair/other disguise), but on the other hand I have walked past close friends in the street on occasion because I was thinking about something else.