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The WTC Fake Guy was just a hoax.
Dateline: 11/28/01 By David Emery By a strange twist of fate (or so it seemed), his face would become as recognizable in the weeks following the World Trade Center attack as that of Osama bin Laden. He would be known to millions as the "Tourist Guy," that oblivious dude wearing dark glasses and stocking cap whose photo was snapped, wayward jetliner looming in the background, atop one of the doomed twin towers seconds before tragedy struck. The photo was a hoax, of course — "Photoshopped," as they say, with the aircraft and the date of infamy, "09-11-01," layered in after the fact to transform an ordinary snapshot into a mock record of one of the most horrendous events in living memory. Still, the placid face beneath that stocking cap was obviously that of a real person. Who was this mysterious man?
José Roberto Penteado, a Brazilian businessman, was the first to oblige by stepping forward to claim Internet stardom in early November. "I believe that some friends planted my face in that body," he stated in an email to the editors of Wired News. People had begun recognizing him on the streets of Campinas, his hometown. "I'm even giving autographs," he said. At last report, he had been invited to appear in a TV commercial. But skeptics were unsatisfied. Where is the original, undoctored snapshot, they asked. Why should Penteado's face — indeed anyone's face — have been superimposed over that of the actual subject of the photo? These questions went unanswered. Unanswered, that is, until two weeks later, when a Hungarian newspaper announced it had solved the mystery for real. Penteado was a pretender, the paper said. The true culprit, outed to reporters by his own friends, is a Hungarian national named Peter (whose last name was not divulged). To prove the claim, Peter was not only able to produce the original photo taken during a vacation in New York City in November 1997, but several additional shots from the same roll of film. "He's the real Tourist Guy," proclaimed Wired News on November 20 after corresponding with Peter and examining the evidence. The Hungarian admitted having doctored the picture himself "as a joke meant for my friends." Why all the secrecy about his last name? "I was afraid that some
people might have misunderstood my intentions," Peter explained. He never
meant for his irreverent prank to garner a worldwide audience, and the last
thing he wants now is Internet infamy. Don't look for his face to appear in TV
commercials any time soon. Update: It couldn't remain a secret for long — the Tourist Guy's full name has now been revealed in the press: Peter Guzli. Mr. Guzli is 25 years old and lives in Budapest, still trying to cope with his unexpected fame. We wish him well. Gallery 1 Gallery 2 Gallery 3 Gallery 4 |
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