I think these pictures (or videos) should not be banned. I felt so bad after watching this photo again but it is the same feeling I have had about war and violence after watching and witnessing many more videos, photos and scenes. I personally witnessed 8 years of bloody war between Iran and Iraq with no result but over a million innocent people killed and much more impacted by the long term consequences of the war (which are unknown to most of the people).

These pictures would show the real nature of any war, hate crime or terrorism without the glorifying aspect that either part try to show to the public. Terrorists never show the unpleasant details of the damages they make and try to exploit it as a victory by saying it is slapping US in the face. US also tries to hide these impacts to prevent public fear and distrust in American glory. Let things to fold out in a realistic way. The more people see this type of pictures, the more they will hate violence, terrorists and politicians!

Seeing this picture causes more heart ache than hearing thousands of people were killed on 9/11.

Thanks

I need to start with a question..Was this falling man ever identified?? This picture is a true testiment to the actual trauma that was accuring on this awful day..It shows what was actually happening and gives realism to the terror...When I view this photo I somehow feel a little peaceful with the knowledge that he was aware of his demise and could make peace with his higher power before he landed...Blessed Be!! Falling Man!

Although it may be easier to glory in heroism, this picture should not be hidden, as it is an important documentation of the utter destruction of lives on September 11. "The Falling Man" is a tragic, heartbreaking image of the horrors endured on that day. I for one will never forget this man. May God have mercy on his soul.

The pictures were hidden because they were too painful to see as the country and world mourned the dead. It's easier now but whether they jumped, were pushed or thrown out of the window the result was the same they like the people who loss their life by burning or by being buried alive in the debris they shall be join forever together as victims of the heartbreaking horrors of that day.

I saw a program on the Falling Man photos and others taken on September 11th last night. It was a little disturbing and sad. It makes me mad that people don't get angry that these people were put in the position to have to make a choice like this as they went about their daily routine.

Since when do we accept airplanes being used as missiles to attack our homeland as acceptable behavior? When do people get mad at those who financed, planned and supported the situation.

T.S.Eliot said that "Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood." The poetically horrific image of the Falling Man does just that: it says what words cannot. It has entered -- one would hope forever -- the lexicon of humanity's conscience.

being a wife and a mother of a son, how can I not but cry and say I am so sorry that you had to do that. After seeing it again I ask myself "What would I do?" and no one should judge the choices that were made on that day, that day of horror and disbelief nor should we hide these devastating photos from others who upon seeing them will then react with a new horror at yes it really did happen and maybe just maybe what can I do to help so that it may never happen again. I do feel that this man is with God and at peace. I pray that he understands that his photo affected me deeply and that is not a bad thing.

As I look at this image I can remember the day in my pain memory. I truly believe this dear soul is jumping to the hands of god and defying the evil that surrounds that day. My son was conceived on that black day and represents the Phoenix rising from the ashes for me. Perhaps this image could be inverted to represent the same to the world. God bless his soul and all the others who died and mourn for them.

" And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing saying, Alas, alas. That great city, where (we) were made rich...for in one hour is she made desolate."

REVELATION 18:19

As horrific and chilling as it is to see the picture of the falling man, it also depicts the true horror of the attack, and the terror that the people went through in the building. Whether he was pushed or jumped doesn't really matter, just being in that terrible position shows the true final moments of terror that people had to face. We cannot hide our heads in the sand just because the image is disturbing, this is something that really happened, I know I couldn't handle watching it on the news at the time, so I looked away till it was over, but I will never forget it, and neither should the rest of the world!

May god have mercy on this man and his family, as well as others who perished that day.

A simple question that remains for me is this:
The body that was found! Did he have on an
orange shirt like the one seen in the picture?

The Falling Man gives us a chance to see someone just before they die. Humans, especially humans here in North America are fascinated by death, let's face it, we avoid death and we live our lives as if we can avoid it.

This man seems to have chosen how he will die and yet did he? It helps me decide how to live my life!

The questions around the falling man's identity are powerful and important. We cannot and should not hide from the pain of that horrific day. The failure of the U.S government to properly investigate 911 in an open, honest, transparent way is profoundly unfortunate. In failing to investigate all elements of the day the government fails to honor the lives of all those who died on 911.

It's unfortunate that we have those images of the fallen man. However, we live in a fallen world where people do fallen things. It was never meant to be this way and won't always be this way. The comment was made in the documentary that instead of looking at who the fallen man was, we need to look at who we are. I think if we spent more time reflecting on our own actions and behavior we would all be better off.

One thing that was commented on several times during this documentary was about how these victims came to the 'decision' to jump. The Hernandez family sadly refused to accept that their son or brother would not do it because of his oral or religious convictions.

I suspect that the great majority, if not all, of those who jumped did so out of sheer panic. I doubt that any of them deliberated in a way that seems to be suggested by the documentary. It's reasonable to assume that the conditions were so horrific on those upper floors that people took completely irrational steps to escape. Any of us might have taken the same avenue of escape without rational thought about the inevitable consequences.

I remember with horror the events and images of 9/11. What this photo said to me was 'desperation'. After watching the documentary and hearing the stories and opinions - I still feel a desperation in the final act of life and truly hope the falling man remains unknown, but always in our memories.

the falling man
desperation freed
in mid flight

Was the falling man identified and if not then why not. Surely it would have been possible, knowing from where he fell and that he was wearing the identifiable clothes and including an orange t-shirt. I think that there has been an effort to keep the person's identity covered up to save the feelings of the family involved.

None of the people who died in the trade centers on 9-11 deserved to die but the 3000+- pale in comparison to the many, many Iraqis who have died at the hands of the US military in both the Iraq wars. The US decided that they were going to wage war by throwing 1000 lb. bombs at Iraqi villages from 10 miles away and Osama simply followed their lead. Neither the people of Iraq nor the people in the WTC had it coming but the United States did. I'm sorry but the WTC on 9-11 is rather insignificant in comparison to the probably million Iraqi civilian deaths due to US agression in the M.E.

My heart has been hardened to the point where I feel little emotion after viewing this sort of documentary which only renews the hate the U.S. citizenry has toward the rest of the world who are their victims.

I just watched your documentary on The Falling Man and feel that your conclusion was very profound,moving, and true - he symbolizes all those nameless people who were lost to the world that horrific day. That one could be forced to make the choice he was forced to make makes one seek his own soul. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

The flip side of this documentary made me think about the last thoughts of this man. We will never know what they were but I pose this thought to the viewers....what if this man made a decision...unlike those that burned to death in Auswitz, this man had a choice of how he was going to die. To burn to death, experiencing extreme pain or to experience death suddenly...with minute hope of surviving than burning to death. It is the thoughts and last words on cell phones that bring us all to our knees to the last moments before death. I believe this man and 2-3oo others that jumped from the twin towers made a conscious decision based on a very thin line of hope than giving up. These people had the consciousness to attempt to try the unthinkable ...I do not think of any of them as having committed suicide. God bless them for their last thoughts of family and friends and most importantly, their Maker.

This picture even though tragic, is a masterpiece. For just a moment, as said in the documentary, this man took his life in his hands, and took the control away from the terrorists. Sept. 11. 2001, was a very sad day and many people died, but the number of dead people from that tragic day does not come close to the enormous number of Iraqis and other innocent lives of people that America have taken since Sept. 11. Also, our troops who have lost their lives, did not have to. American foreign policy is what created September 11.

The photograph of the falling man, whom by the way I believe to be Jonathan Briley, is a material photographic representation of the abstraction perpetuated through the media of the way by which thousands of people perished on Sept 11, 2001. I also agree with Jonathan's sister Gwendolyn who believes that it is less important who is in the picture but more important of what it represents.

There were a myriad number of ways by which people died that day, some people died instantly when the planes hit the buildings, others died of smoke inhalation, others burned, others jumped, and other were crushed as the buildings collapsed on themselves. However, it is the picture of the falling man that puts a face on all the victims of that day. It is the face of pure desperation and perhaps even bravery.

Finally, it changes the focus of the discourse from the heroism of that day (i.e., NYFD, NYPD, volunteers, etc.) and instead on those people who saw their lives coming to an end and could not do anything about it.

The picture is also a representation of the sorry state the world is in where people suffer and die horrific deaths daily and we/the world simply, as the media tried to do in this instance, look the other way as if to pretend it is not happening.

I watched the documentary aired on "the passionate eye" called "The Falling Man". I was not directed affected by 9/11. In that I mean I had no relative or any friends die during the terrorist attacks that day. For me, and I can only speak for myself, I am glad (for lack of a much better word) that I watched the documentary because after a while I think some people just forget about the horrors of that day. Not forget but "get used to it". So seeing this documentary reminded me. Yes, we need to move with our lives and LIVE, but we need to remember.

I think it was a great documentary. It made me think about what I might do. It made me think about how horrible, terrifying and hellish it must have been for those people. It made me think of individual lives instead of a collection of people. It made me think of individual souls instead of two big buildings that were landmarks/workplaces in a great city. May God comfort and give peace to all the families of all the people who lost their lives on 9/11.

It is only when we see the pictures from the WTC or we go to the site of Ground Zero that we realize the pain and suffering that so many families experienced as a result of this terrible act of terrorism. Let us never forget the pain and raw emotion that this story and this picture evoke within us. Let us never forget the families who are forever changed as a result of this act - people who did not care about the idealism and the lies that taint both sides of this struggle. People who lost loved ones and really don't understand why. That is the tragedy that this picture and this documentary so powerfully portray.

The most disturbing find viewing this documentary was the feeling from people that this man, and the many others, were thought of a people who had committed suicide. I cant imagine what these men and women had to go through, and to say that no-one jumpped and they were blown out or forced out is just another way to hide the truths surrounding the events of this day. I feel this documentary tried to tell the story of these people and although the name of the "falling man" was never discovered, it was perhaps for the best. Without an identification he truly could be anyone.

The picture forces us to ask questions about what we believe and how we should act. When it comes to questions of eschatology, no one can claim to know--only to believe.

Personally, I believe that no God could possibly punish anyone who commits suicide: such a decision is completely at odds with careful, sober thought...it is one made by people in a desperate minute, a manic second.

But to state this is to defy many of the world's religious doctrines. Let's take a lesson from this picture and unearth the historical and philosophical reasons why the suicide prohibition exists in the first place.

The Falling Man was something we all had to see and remember. The editor from the Globe and Mail, Peter Cheney, and Tom Junod missed the point and took it too far in their quest for the man's identity. The real meaning is in what the photo represents. It's good Junod figured that out in the end, better late than never. Journalists like the editor who felt people had the "right to know", or worse, Cheney, who did such a shoddy job of investigating his story, yet arrogantly printed it anyway, and devastated family members, we do not need. I hope they have come to the understanding Junod has, and are in another line of work. Thanks for the program. We will remember.

To stand on the brink of a window and given a choice of turning and walking into a burning room of hell's flame or to step into the air and fly like a dove born from heaven.

There is no choice as the falling man came to understand.

This was not suicide. This was a celebration of living. The desire to step into the unknown and for one moment feeling absolutely free.

The reason of why he had to make the choice is the horror.

As a writer/researcher I sat gripped to my tv tonight with the compelling, fragile images that ripped through my screen.The vivid intrusions bombarding my vision with sights I had long buried in my memory. The journalistic approach to this delicate piece was shelved to show a humanistic essence to what none of us wanted to further explore.

The dignity of the Falling Man conflicts the hopelessness we all felt across the world that day; an image scorched into our vulnerable souls that burned a hole in our own hearts: What would we have done that very day given the horrific circumstances? Or worse yet, What if it was one of our loved ones, would we want to face that grim reality?

I applaud The Passionate Eye on a well researched humble story that embraced the cold, hard truth; on September 11th,2001 people falling out of the sky would "live on" through a camera lens capturing their last moments on this earth and leaving a message of their deliverance that will NEVER be forgotten!

I feel very upset when I hear people having a negative or judgemental reaction to anyone jumping from the towers. It would be completely ridiculous to intentionally burn to death, get crushed to death, or be roasted to death with hot air just to live a few seconds longer when there is no way out.

Choosing to die in a less painful way when death is immediately inevitable is not suicide; it is just good sense. Thinking negatively of anyone who had the chance and good sense to jump shows a total lack of empathy for people in the situation. Family members of jumpers should feel happy that their relatives did not die in a more painful way.

I was surprised that the documentary mentioned The Falling Man's orange shirt during the sequence, but in the end failed to mention that Jonathan Briley always wore an orange shirt under his clothes. That identifies his identity beyond any reasonable doubt. I think it was somehow paternalistic to try to steer people into thinking his identity wasn't important by omitting an obvious fact like that one. You must let the public make their own decisions and give the facts at hand.

In the end, they all fell.
Either of their own Free Will,
or because time had run out.
All at peace with their God,
and their God with them.

Not suicide...choosing life...choosing to leap into the fresh air, into the sunshine...one final instinct to live.

This man took control of his life and of his death. What courage it must have taken to take such a leap.

I caught the last little bit of this documentary on Sunday - brutal

I remember the morning of 9/11 and seeing this live image on the TODAY show - it still haunts me to this day. I was at the University of Toronto in the final year of my masters - it was the first day of class.

I probably would have jumped too, given the circumstances.

He looks at peace.

I was disturbed by the documentary,not because of the facts and pictures but because anyone, Catholic or any other religion would entertain the thought that the jumpers were committing suicide. Anyone with those thoughts should be ashamed of themselves. The people in those towers were murdered by assassins, plain and simple. Not one of them would have gone to work that day with suicide on their mind. In their confused, paniced and disorented state of mind some chose to stay with the building to burn or fall with it and some chose to fall outside of it. They all died with dignity and their loved ones and relatives should be proud of them.

It was said by more than one person that it was getting hotter and hotter up there. The jumpers must have jumped to prolong their stay, and not to cut it short. They must have waited until the last second, and they probably felt it would be much, much less painful to jump than to burn to death. Many of them probably thought that perhaps some supernatural force would catch them in their fall. They probably thought that there was more chance of living if they jumped, and that God was in control after that.

I WATCHED THE FALLING MAN ON CHANNEL 4 WHEN IT WAS ON AND I FOUND IT VERY UPSETTING. I HAD TO TURN IT OVER ABOUT FIVE TIMES, I DIDN'T LIKE THE WAY THEY KEPT REPEATING THE SEQUENCE OF PICTURES.

I FOUND IT VERY HARD TO WATCH, I NEVER THOUGHT A PROGRAMME LIKE THAT COULD OPEN MY EYES TO ALL THE SCUM IN THE WORLD, ALL THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE LOSING THEIR PRECIOUS LIVES. IT MADE ME SICK WATCHING PEOPLE JUMP OUT OF WINDOWS BUT SOMEHOW I FELT THEY WERE DOING THE RIGHT THING.

I DON'T THINK THE PICTURES SHOULD BE BANNED ALTHOUGH DISTURBING THEY ARE VERY INTRIGING, I THINK THEY ARE LIFE ART AND I'D LOVE TO SEE THEM IN A MUSEUM FOR ALL TO SEE AND REALISE HOW PRECIOUS LIFE IS AND JUST HOW QUICKLY IT CAN BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU. BECAUSE TO THOSE PEOPLE THE DAY WAS THE SAME AS ANY OTHER AN AVERAGE DAY AT WORK UNTIL IN A SPLIT SECOND THEY'RE ALL IN A DIFFERENT FRAME OF MIND AND JUMPING OBVIOUSLY FELT SO RIGHT AND I AGREE WITH THEIR DECISIONS.

I am currently watching the Passionate Eye here in Calgary. I have always thought that the show is a must for all to see. I do think it is a thought provoking show and believe that it is unbiased and truthful. However I am disgusted at the commercial that was shown during its airing. The Commerative 911 Silver Leaf Bill. It is not even legal tender. It is Liberian. As i write this it is on again. This is a sickening example of the CBC and the Passionate Eye making a poor desicion on what to be shown in the interm break between the documentary. If the Passionate Eye needs another topic to focus on why dont they focus on the hype around this bill. After all you did do a show on the Third Tower conspiracy. Why would the Liberians want to commemorate the 911 disaster? How much are they paying the tv networks to run this at the time of documentaries analyzing the 911 disaster? How many people actually bought this worthless item and why? Whats next? The commemorative falling man Liberian Legal Tender .999 % silver bill? Turn it on its side so you get the full picture of the falling man? If my anger is misdirected then i am sorry. Then direct my in the right direction. I am watching channel 15 thru shaw cable in Calgary AB.

this documentary was very professional. It had an impact on me that helped me realize how fragile humanity is. And how much power we have that we can put to good use instead of doing horrible attacks on ourselves.

I think the falling man represented to me a last declaration of freedom and choice; the man taking into his control the choice-the final choice and not to have that choice made FOR him via circumstance: to burn in inflicted inferno or to jump with the breeze on his intact body; soaring like the great American flag-His way. His choice. God bless him and those who CHOSE that route rather than face the raging inferno fueled by the hatred of the attackers...
Please, don't misinterpret my meaning: I wish blessings on ALL who perished that dreadful day. It's just that - when I saw the man falling, it reminded me of words in a book I once read which a jumper had inscribed on a pen:"Remember. I did not fall. I lept." That sentiment, to me, symbolized CHOICE-albeit final...to take life and make a final decision and not have cast unto him a decision of his fate by those whose blind hatred flew those planes; causing the inferno. Given the choices- certain burning death or flying out into the air, I probably would have jumped too.

In response to those who believe this constitutes suicide and therefore, eternal damnation-if that is, indeed, how God's judgement operates, to stay IN the building with logic speaking certain death in an inferno, I'd have to say that death seemed inevitable and the gentleman and those others who dove out the window--simply made a choice.
Perhaps it is the raw humanity which is depicted- the most raw and honest portrait of the reality of the situation which most viewers find disturbing because it forces us, as human beings to confront the situation and witness the staunch reality of the horrors which the victims of 911 faced. This man-leaping and falling was still recognizable as a human and not a burned abstract corpse, but rather a man whose emotions seemed to be conveyed there in his final moments-forcing us to ask ourselves questions: "What would I have done?"..."What was he feeling?"..."Just how horrible must it feel to be faced with those 2 choices?" This picture which I saw of the falling man assaulted me not only with the reality and vulnerability of that man in that situation, but as a human being...here and now and it reminds me to embrace each day and each person and cherish the life and freedom which we have been granted for X amount of time. I face my own mortality.
God bless everyone.
Denise LaFrance
Toronto, Canada

The picture of 'The Falling Man' makes it poignantly clear that death is a journey we must take alone. God bless all those souls who lost their lives in such a horrific way and bring peace to their families.

Thank you CBC for making insightful documentaries.

It is about time. People need to see this. Who are we to judge those people in the towers on that day. They were not jumpers - they were victims. To forget or shun them, is dishonoring everyone who was affected that day.

One other thing I would like to see is more acknowledgment of the victims who were not Americans. This event didn't just happen to them. It happened to the whole world.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
"Explaining" historical events and "creating" art are familiar (& worthy) human endeavors. But WHAT was the point of merely "identifying" the falling man? WHAT was the purpose - and in the course of answering that question, consider that so much time was devoted to documenting the making of a false identification?
This effort has no redeeming features and no enduring value.

God is a God of love, and my heart went out to everyone who lost someone precious on that terrible day, however, I hurt the most for those who believe that God would send their loved ones to hell for jumping instead of being burned to death. the jumpers each had a choice, they knew their death was near, and so they chose the route of air rather that fire, and they were probably praying for a miracle on their way down, for Someone to help them live. Now, they live in eternity and in our hearts. May the God of all peace be with those who are grieveing, may He bring them comfort.