Burning Pentagon, WTC spotted on 20-spot

Kirk Baird

Monday, July 22, 2002 | 8:16 a.m.

Money provides wealth, power, comfort and, if a new rumor is true, an eerie reference to Sept. 11.

According to an urban legend, when a new-design $20 bill is folded properly, it creates an image of the World Trade Center on one side and the Pentagon on the other complete with smoke billowing out of both structures.

Lisa Miranda, 40, of Las Vegas, first learned of the Sept. 11, $20 bill connection from some co-workers who were discussing the trick.

"They thought terrorists had folded the bill up, and that's where they got the idea for the attack," Miranda said, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's just someone to blame (Sept. 11) on."

Miranda, however, had never performed the trick until recently.

Quickly folding the sides of the $20 bill in half lengthwise, and then in the middle in two 45-degree angles, she produced the images of what some claim was a governmental warning of the terrorist attacks.

"It's terrible," she said. "It brings back memories of seeing this on the news."

Coincidence? Conspiracy? Cryptic warning?

Does it matter?

The majority will believe what they want to believe, especially when it comes to the tragic events of Sept. 11, Barbara Mikkelson said.

Mikkelson is the webmaster of snopes.com, a site devoted to debunking urban legends. Since the attacks, she has posted close to 100 rumors on her website dealing with myths surrounding Sept. 11.

"It's huge and there's still more to write about," she said from her home in Los Angeles. "It's just a question of finding the time."

Mikkelson said the proliferation of legends centering on the terrorist attacks concerns our sense of safety and how quickly compromised it was.

And the $20 bill trick is no different.

When she first learned of the trick, which she estimates began circulating on the Internet two months ago, Mikkelson was moderately amused.

"I thought, Well, that's kind of neat,'" she said.

"But to me, it's an unremarkable coincidence."

While in Las Vegas on a recent trip, Mikkleson overheard a change girl describing the $20 bill phenomenon to a few casino patrons. The woman then demonstrated the trick to the group, to which one man replied: "You really have to wonder about the person who would sit there folding the bill looking for these kinds of images."

"It was really wonderful to hear that," Mikkleson said. "I think that sums it up."

The $20 bill is not the only denomination with a supposed Sept. 11 connection.

When the $5, $10, $50 and $100 bills are folded in the same manner, the terrorist attacks on the WTC may unfold in sequential order: the buildings before the attacks, just after the plane crash, the structures crumbling to the ground and, finally, a column of smoke. (See: http://egomania.nu/20.html).

Mikkleson, though, has yet to test those urban legends.

"I have other things to do with my money."

A prediction/warning of Sept. 11 is not the first urban legend involving U.S. currency.

There is the persistent rumor that, on the back of the original $10 bill (before the new style was adopted in 2000), Bonnie and Clyde can be seen in a Model T Ford in front of the Treasury building. In reality, they are two faceless figures who appeared on the bill a few years before the infamous bank-robbing couple even met.

Or, in an even farther stretch, the initials "J.S." that appear on a dime stand for Joseph Stalin. They don't. In truth, it is the initials of the coin's designer, John Sinnock.

Even Canadian money is not immune to such mythology. There have been rumors for years that the American flag can be seen flying over an illustration of Parliament in the $2, $5 and $10 bills.

According to snopes.com, the concern was eventually addressed in the House of Commons, after a concerned citizen contacted a member of Parliament.

Upon closer inspection with a magnifying glass, all fears were temporarily quashed when the alleged American flag was revealed to be the Red Ensign, which served as Canada's recognized flag before the country adopted the Maple Leaf flag in 1965.