Since I first published this article, it has been divulged to me by Joe Craine (see comments below) that this witness is actually Theresa Renaud, the wife of CBS Early Show producer, Jack Renaud. The source of this information is this CBS News article. Thanks, Joe!
Introduction - "Theresa Renault"
“Theresa Renault” was being interviewed by Bryant Gumbel on CBS at the time of the “second impact.” “Theresa” is explaining to Bryant that she both saw and heard the first explosion at WTC1, although she never actually saw any plane. My searches for Teresa/Theresa Renault in the downtown Manhattan area have come up empty, as the closest I’ve come is Theresa M. Renault, almost 90 miles away in New Paltz, NY.
Analysis – "Theresa Renault’s Eyewitness Account”
“Theresa” claims to have been inside her office at 8th Avenue and 16th Street in Chelsea. According to her, she works in “the tallest building in the area.” According to Google Earth, this places her inside the building at 111 8th Avenue.
This building has a fascinating history, to go along with its equally intriguing tenant list, which also now includes Google (Update: tenant list includes Deutsch Advertising, where Theresa was a vice president).
Almost as fascinating: once again we have a witness claiming to have heard a “very loud” explosion while indoors from over 2 miles away.
Of course, this pales in comparison to what she claims to have been able to observe from her vantage point looking south toward the towers. “Theresa’s eyewitness account” can be heard from 1:40 to 5:40 Video Run Time (VRT) of the following video:
Notice how quickly "Theresa" reacts to the second explosion and declares that she saw “another plane.” Keep in mind that she is looking at the towers from the north, and that she’s over 2 miles away.
From that angle and distance (if her view wasn’t blocked by buildings), the “plane” would have been difficult to see at best. Yet we are expected to believe that she saw an object that would have been essentially only 16 feet tall from over 2 miles away, and recognized it as a plane.
Remember, she’s supposedly looking out of her office window, without the aid of any camera zoom lens. Right about now is where all my questions start again:
If she saw "a plane" so clearly, why doesn’t she react until after the fireball?
How could she see “a plane” fly into the south face of WTC2 when she was over 2 miles away to the north?
Who is telling her what to say at 3:14 VRT?
Right after this, when she says “and right now… that… yes… that was definitely looked like it was on purpose,” is she watching a video replay only 24 seconds after the explosion?
If so, what station is she watching? The earliest replay I found to be shown by any network was at ABC, 54 seconds after the “live” footage was shown. Did she have a TiVo unit in her office? Oh wait, those didn’t come out until 2003. So what was the cause of her hesitation?
Getting back to that angle and distance for a second, let's take a quick look at "Theresa's" view from Google Earth:
This angle looks kinda familiar to me... hmm... does it look similar to the angle in the screenshot below that almost every network showed at one point?
If you can't see it, maybe getting right up on the roof of that building will help:
Okay, this is my last try. I zoomed-in from the roof, added WTC7 for reference, and placed it side-by-side with the stock screenshot:
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Of course, it's not perfect and the aspect ratio is a little off - but it sure is close. The building spans an entire block too, so the angle could be slightly different - depending on where they may have placed the cameras.
BTW, if you didn't read the entire history link, here's an excerpt from it that may be relevant:
"Fascinating tidbit: 111 8th Avenue used to be an old media headquarters"
Sorry for that little aside - I thought it was worth mentioning. Now back to "Theresa's eyewitness account:"
As much flack as Bryant Gumbel has taken for his inability put things together as quickly as the rest of the media anchors, he asks “Theresa” a very good question: “Why do you say that was definitely on purpose?”
This “answer” was the best she could do: “It’s because… it just… it just flew straight into it. There’s not… it didn’t look like it was… ah… and it didn’t look like a commercial jet. It was a smaller plane. It was definitely a smaller plane.”
This is clearly not an “eyewitness” answering a question. This is an example of a woman being instructed what to say.
Perhaps the most telling quote of all: “It hit another building… flew right into the middle of it! Explosion!”
I can clearly picture the guy holding up the “Explosion” cue card in my mind’s eye. Either that or she realized that she forgot that she was supposed to say that word earlier. People just don’t talk like that… but they do they read like that.
Conclusion
“Theresa Renault” did not see a plane crash into WTC2 through her office window. If she did see a “plane,” she saw the “live” CGI insertion on TV – just like the rest of us who weren’t there.
In my opinion, it could not be more obvious that she had people with her to “help” her answer Bryant Gumbel’s questions.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well Bryant did his job on that day, in spite of his apparent vision issues. I suppose I should also make the point that Daryn Kagan (from my previous article) was also asking meaningful and intelligent questions over at CNN. Unfortunately, the only information Rose Arce was able to provide (from wherever she was) was a traffic report.
This indicates to me that not all media personnel were aware of the hoax at the time. Of course, unless they live in a cave, they must surely know the truth by now.
Just to clarify, “Theresa Renault” is the first “eyewitness” I've analyzed in this series who lied on 9/11/01 about seeing a plane (Rose Arce didn’t lie about that until CNN’s tribute DVD was recorded).
Based on the timing of her statement “and right now… that… yes… that was definitely looked like it was on purpose,” I'm guessing she really was looking at a replay before any of us could. This would make perfect sense if she were right next to the equipment they were using to review the replay before approving it for rebroadcast.
It's a shame that I haven't been able to identify who "Theresa Renault" really is, and who she was working for at the time. After her "performance," I'd be surprised if she's still alive today. As bad as it was, they may have thrown her off the roof as soon as she hung up the phone.
Based on the next “eyewitness” I will be presenting, you may begin to notice a pattern with regard to where these “eyewitnesses” were calling from. If you skipped over the building history and tenant list links I provided earlier, you may want to go back and have a look.
I’m sure there’s much more information on that building than what I’ve posted, so feel free to dig deeper if you find yourself to be intrigued. I'd also appreciate any ideas with regard to "Theresa's" identity. The only other spelling of the last name I can think of is "Reno," and I came up empty on that one as well.
Update: Currently researching Theresa Renaud. Is this potentially the same individual who is currently a marketing director at Summit Systems Inc. since 2001. Strangely, Zoominfo seems to indicate that she's a Senior VP at CBS (then again, Zoominfo also lists Jack Renaud as working for Deutsch Advertising).
Deutsch Advertising founder? Donny Deutsch. Donny interviewed Jim Fetzer in August, 2006 - no mention of Theresa Renaud. YouTube video of interview has been removed.
Donny sold Deutsch Advertising to IPG in 2000, according to Wikipedia.
Is this the same Theresa Renaud?
8 comments:
I've been in that building before and it's cavernous. There are incredibly long hallways with very few people. As a carrier hotel, it's mostly floor after floor of "cages" full of telecom equipment. So anyway, if you wanted to set up shop with a bunch of computers and cameras no one would notice. Also, if you were planning on doing anything evil, no one would notice.
Interesting find, SD.
Oh, I noticed this same thing about TR, then I found that you already had posted it! Plus, the work about the building is excellent. Good work. Yes, I knew it was fake because she says "there's another one, a plane just hit" right after the fireball comes through the NORTH side, so if she has seen a plane she would have noticed it before that. Then when she catches herself saying how much of the building she can see first "the top third" then the top "two thirds" then the top half, cuz she said it was half way down. Also notice the fake plane that comes after she is done, when BG says "can we see a plane?"
Stilldiggin, you're great!
Another facinating element of the exchange arises if you think about where the phone might have been relative to the window.
Imagine, if you will, an unknown clerical employee goes to her office only to arrive in
"The Twilite Zone"
She hears an explosion that sounds just like a plane.
She looks out her window to see the smoke from the wtc1 tower coming up wind from the hole made by that sound and the smoke has no shadow despite the angle of the sun.
Actually no, she saw that on TV.
She can barely see a mark on the wtc1 tower from where she is nearly 2 miles away. But, she knows it must be burning in there, so she thinks the TV smoke is more accurate than what she sees.
She calls CBS (apparently she heard that they were accepting calls from nobodies that morning - Jim Friedl, Joe Trachtenberg and that latin lady) and gets to talk to host Bryant Gumbel.
She is thinking, "what should I say in my 15 seconds of fame here?" She is nervous as all getout. I doubt she is looking out the window, but, if she is, she is not really paying attention - she is thinking "Bryant Gumbel - wait till I tell my friends. I think I have to pee."
Actually no.
She is staring out the window with X-ray vision. Despite the overwhelming haze, oh, sorry again, that was the TV shot (Damn WESCAMs - why do they spend so much for them if they can't get the color or focus right)
The day was actually crystal clear so she could see a plane flying in from 10 miles to the south - a small plane - it dissappears behind the towers and she sees a fireball that looks just like pumba with a hat at one brief moment.
Sorry, I keep mixing up TV with reality - she doesn't see any fireball - that was on TV.
She sees the walls come out of wtc2. Well, you get it.
Another nobody, whose voice sounds suspiciously like someone who had just been listening to a latin music station while Jim Ryan tried to get her attention.
Again, thanks for diggin'.
Quick comment on spellings
I have found Wendell also as Clyne.
Theresa also as Renaud.
And another Bryant Gumbel witness;
Stewart Nurick, who was waiting a table in a SoHo restaurant.
Thanks
well, my sarcasm about Renauld being a nobody may have been misplaced! I just found a CBS article claiming
Theresa Renaud, wife of The Early Show producer Jack Renaud, is a vice president at Deutsch Advertising in Chelsea. She was live on the phone and dramatically described the impact of the second plane. She, too, lost a close friend who worked at KBW.
Stewart Nurick the waiter was a former intern of the Early Show
Stranger and stranger
Hi, Added a new value add to my blog this weekend - a news widget from www.widgetmate.com. I always wanted to show latest news for my keywords in my sidebar. It was very easy with this widget. Just a small copy paste and it was done. Great indeed.
hi this is theresa renaud. if only that morning had been faked. i still work at 111 8th avenue. every morning at 8:55 I look out at that empty hole on the horizon and say a prayer for those we lost.
Prove you are Theresa Renaud. You can't. And if you are - why should we trust you - explain your hesitation while speaking and your very scripted dialogue on the phone. No normal person speaks like that.
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