LOL SUPERMAN — A Chronological Timeline

LOL SUPERMAN
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Introduction
“LOL SUPERMAN” is the name given to an alleged piece of lost footage from the September 11, 2001 attacks. Supposedly filmed up-close in the World Trade Center plaza as people jumped from the towers, this graphic “shock video” has been referenced by multiple internet users over the years — yet no copy has ever been publicly recovered. Below is a comprehensive chronological timeline of the LOL SUPERMAN phenomenon, including confirmed events and well-supported recollections (with clearly noted rumors).

September 11, 2001 — Rumored Footage Is Filmed (Unconfirmed)

On the morning of 9/11, countless cameras captured the tragedy. Rumors later arose of two individuals who snuck into the Austin J. Tobin Plaza (between the Twin Towers) with a video camera, filming the horrific aftermath as people fell or jumped from the burning towers. According to later witness accounts, this footage showed multiple jumpers colliding with the ground at high speed, some bodies disintegrating on impact just a few feet from the cameramen. In these accounts, the cameraman and companion were eerily calm — panning from mangled bodies to the burning buildings without audible shock. No such video aired on news networks at the time (most broadcasters avoided showing jumper impacts), so if it was recorded, the tape remained unofficial. (Note: The existence of this original plaza video is unconfirmed, but later FOIA references suggest authorities hold at least one graphic WTC plaza tape.)

2005–2006 — Circulation on Early Internet & Shock Sites

By the mid-2000s, people claim to have seen this gruesome footage online during the internet’s “Wild West” era. Several eyewitnesses independently recall a short video of 9/11 jumpers hitting the ground circulating on gore sites (e.g., Ogrish) and briefly on early YouTube. One user remembers a ~15-second clip with “traditional Iraqi music/chants” dubbed over it — likely added for dark effect — in which “two bodies literally exploded and turned into a red mist on the floor,” clearly filmed at close range in the WTC plaza. Another recalls a video of jumpers “hitting an awning and just exploding” on YouTube around 2006, with commenters referencing “LOL superman.”

Origin of the name “LOL SUPERMAN.” The title is widely believed to have come from an edgy early-YouTube upload in this era. A later account claims that as a kid in 2006, the user found the video on YouTube titled “LOL SUPERMAN.” It’s also possible the phrase began as a comment that was later misremembered as the actual title. Regardless, by the late 2000s “LOL SUPERMAN” had become the de facto name used in discussions.

2007–2010 — Video Removed & “Lost”

As major platforms cracked down on graphic violence, the jumper video became increasingly hard to find. By around 2010 the clip had been “scrubbed from the internet” — likely deleted from YouTube for content violations. The demise of Ogrish (shut down 2006) and the end of many Flash-video sites in the 2010s wiped huge amounts of unarchived shock footage. Many researchers note that while raw 9/11 media was widespread in the 2000s, much of it was cleaned off mainstream platforms in the 2010s. The alleged LOL SUPERMAN video effectively entered lost media status: widely remembered, but no longer obtainable.

September 2008 note. A known WTC jumper clip appeared on LiveLeak showing a person hitting a lamppost near FDNY Ladder 10 and disintegrating in “red mist.” Some have speculated it could be the same tape or a similar angle. It does, however, demonstrate that extremely graphic 9/11 clips did surface online.

September 2015 — Earliest Named Reference

On September 15, 2015, an anonymous user on 4chan’s /x/ (Paranormal) board posted about WTC jumper videos, recalling a 9/11 shock clip remembered from childhood titled “LOL SUPERMAN.” They described it as “around two minutes,” capturing multiple impacts just feet away from two men filming, adding that it was easy to find around 2006–2007 but had since vanished. Other /x/ users engaged, marking this as the earliest known explicit reference to the name and effectively planting the seed for the modern lost-media hunt. (A poster claimed to have a still, but no image was shared publicly.)

2016–2019 — Urban Legend & Skepticism

Mentions popped up occasionally on forums and subreddits, often met with skepticism. Some argued it might be an urban legend or “Mandela effect,” conflating different 9/11 jumper clips and a misremembered title. Others insisted they “definitely saw it back in the day.” No concrete evidence (no clips or frames) surfaced during this period.

Lost Media Wiki listing (2018–2019). By 2018, the Lost Media Wiki had a page for “LOL SUPERMAN (World Trade Center Plaza footage, 2001; existence unconfirmed),” acknowledging consistent eyewitness accounts but no proof. The entry grew as new notes and debunks appeared.

Mid-2022 — Resurgence & a Debunked “Screenshot”

The hunt exploded into a full-fledged effort in mid-2022 after a detailed r/lostmedia post catalyzed hundreds of comments and testimonies. Multiple users claimed firsthand viewings:

  • One recalled a gore-site link that originally pointed to a deleted YouTube upload.

  • Another said they’d seen the clip in a high-school class from a shock site ending in “666.com.”

  • A third corroborated the Ogrish account: a very short clip set to Middle Eastern music with two jumpers turning to “red mist.”

  • Another described it as “the worst 9/11 footage out there,” with fast falls, loud impacts, and a cameraman whose lens occasionally caught distinctive arched tower windows from below — implying very close ground-level proximity.

Amid the surge, a low-res still image purported to be from LOL SUPERMAN circulated and was even featured on a community wiki page. It was later debunked as not from 9/11 at all — likely a decades-old foreign news frame (a tell was a period car visible in-frame). This removed the only “visual” thought to be associated with the video.

Wiki updates (late 2022). Editors incorporated the new testimonies, emphasized that no verified fragment or frame had been found, and noted a plausible theory: the legend could stem from confusion with other era shock videos. Still, the sheer number of consistent accounts kept interest high.

2023 — Intensified Efforts, Media Coverage & Official Clues

“Found video” rumor (January 2023). A YouTuber claimed LOL SUPERMAN had been found; it was quickly debunked as a misidentified known news clip (often nicknamed “NE521”) or a recreation. Community groups flagged it as false.

Community building (Spring–Summer 2023). Dedicated spaces formed, including a focused subreddit and Discord. Researchers compiled “current leads” documents (possible filenames, known camera operators, private collections). A FOIA log also surfaced referencing an item called “SKYLIGHT.MOV,” described as 9/11 video showing several people falling to their deaths — suggesting official holdings contain highly graphic plaza footage. Whether any of that ever leaked online is unknown.

Press & ethics (September 2023). Journalism highlighted the ongoing search and debated the ethics of pursuing and (hypothetically) sharing such footage. Many researchers argue that even unpleasant historical material should be preserved (with sensitivity), and that verifying the truth of LOL SUPERMAN matters historically. Others stress dignity and harm considerations.

Official responses (late 2023). Researchers filed FOIA requests to the FBI for plaza-area videos. Denials cited enforcement exemptions tied to ongoing legal matters, implicitly confirming unreleased footage exists within investigative files. Community speculation held that LOL SUPERMAN may have been an illicit leak of such a tape in the 2000s before removal.

2024 — Clarifying Myths & Ongoing Research

Title misconception. No definitive evidence shows a 2000s video literally titled “LOL SUPERMAN.” The name may have originated from a comment or anecdote that stuck. The footage (if real) may have circulated under a different title, while “LOL SUPERMAN” became the community shorthand.

Confirmed non-origins. Several candidates were disproven (e.g., “skylight.mov” or Ogrish jumper compilations). These are gruesome, but not the handheld roaming plaza footage that defines the legend.

Archival & outreach. Researchers contacted archives and museums (e.g., NARA, the 9/11 Memorial Museum). Public leads were thin; where items existed they were often unrelated or sensitive. Separately, a widely repeated anecdote holds that Werner Herzog was shown private, close-up jumper footage years ago, which some view as indirect validation that such material exists in non-public hands.

2025 — The Search Continues (Websites, Forums & Community Hubs)

In 2025, LOLSuperman.com launched as a central hub collecting the verified history of references and leads. Alongside Reddit and Discord, PENTTBOMB.com and forums.penttbomb.com (run by the MTTJ Research team and collaborators) formalized the investigation: archiving testimonies, cataloging every known lead, and documenting debunks. Truthdude and the MTTJ Research folks have coordinated interviews, compiled FOIA references, and chased obscure sources with a stated commitment to handle any eventual evidence with sensitivity (e.g., blurring impacts in public-facing summaries).

As of late 2025, no actual footage or even a single verified frame of LOL SUPERMAN has been recovered online. The prevailing view among many is that something like it may have existed (given the number of consistent accounts) but was removed from mainstream sites in the late 2000s. If it survives, it’s likely on an old hard drive, in a private collection, or within government evidence holdings.

Conclusion

The LOL SUPERMAN phenomenon has evolved from a niche rumor into a broad research collaboration spanning forums, wikis, Discords, and dedicated sites. Whether it eventually surfaces or is ultimately proven to be a collective misremembering, the hunt has already clarified what the video is not, tightened standards of verification, and documented a significant slice of early-internet memory. For now, LOL SUPERMAN remains lost — a modern legend of the early web — and the search goes on.

Sources

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