I contacted Werner Herzog

LOL SUPERMAN
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I contacted Werner Herzog regarding his 2005 SILVERDOCS comments about the alleged 9/11 footage

For years, Werner Herzog’s comments during the 2005 SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Festival have been cited as evidence that a specific piece of unreleased 9/11 footage exists.

At approximately the 1:50 mark, Herzog said:

“…video was shot during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and some amateur footage is in existence where people jump out of the 106th floor and crash to their death right at the feet of the person who filmed it, and nobody has ever shown it, and rightly so. You just do not show that, period.”

Because this description closely resembles the alleged contents of the lost “LOL SUPERMAN” video, I decided to contact Werner Herzog directly to ask whether he was describing a specific tape that he had personally seen, or whether the description was intended more generally.

This was his reply:

“Dear Riley,
I know there are videos of people jumping from the World Trade Center, but I have not seen any. It does not matter. What I describe is something like a metaphor.
Best,
Werner Herzog”

To me, this is an important clarification.

It indicates that Herzog was not describing footage he had personally viewed, and that his description of victims “crash[ing] to their death right at the feet of the person who filmed it” was intended as “something like a metaphor,” rather than a literal description of a specific tape.

This obviously does not prove or disprove the existence of LOL SUPERMAN or any other lost 9/11 footage. However, I do think it means Herzog’s 2005 remarks should no longer be treated as first-hand testimony that such a video exists.

I also want to respectfully ask that nobody contacts Werner Herzog about this. He was kind enough to answer my question, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for him to receive multiple emails asking him to repeat the same clarification.

As far as I’m concerned, this particular lead is now closed. We now have clarification directly from Herzog himself that he had not personally seen the footage he described, and that his remarks were intended as “something like a metaphor.” Future research should focus on primary evidence and first-hand sources rather than treating his 2005 comments as eyewitness testimony.

I thought this clarification was worth sharing, as his remarks have often been referenced in discussions surrounding the search.

View original Reddit post.

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Since publishing Werner Herzog’s email response, I’ve spent some time reflecting on both his reply and the discussion that followed on Reddit.

My initial interpretation was that his email effectively closed this particular lead by clarifying that he had not personally viewed the footage he described in 2005.

After revisiting both his original SILVERDOCS remarks and his email, I think the picture is more nuanced.

Herzog clearly told me:

“I know there are videos of people jumping from the World Trade Center, but I have not seen any. It does not matter. What I describe is something like a metaphor.”

This remains an important clarification, as it indicates that he does not consider himself to have personally viewed the footage he described.

However, his reply also leaves an important question unanswered.

In 2005, Herzog spoke with considerable confidence, stating that amateur footage existed showing victims impacting “right at the feet of the person who filmed it” and that it had never been shown publicly. His recent email explains that he had not personally seen such footage, but it does not explain where that description originated or why he expressed it with such certainty at the time.

As a result, I no longer think the email completely resolves the issue. Rather, it answers one question while leaving another open.