Images I took from the Pentagon this morning

[packetjunkie]

This morning I planned to go downtown to take pictures of the Pentagon. Just last Saturday I had been downtown with my daughter Samantha taking pictures.

But, when I got up, the weather was horrible - it was raining. I almost didn’t go, but then I figured it might be a better time to go because the rain would keep sightseer's away (for the most part, I figured).

So, I loaded up all my equipment and an umbrella and headed down.

First thing I noticed when I drove past the Pentagon was that the damage was not on the side I expected. I had expected the damage to be on the side towards the White House since I figured they turned after going over the White House. But, the damage is actually on the opposite side! That means they had to circle around and come up from the South. Just interesting, because they must have been flying circles for a little bit.

Anyways, first attempt at getting near was unsuccessful - police have the whole area shut off. My second attempt was also unsuccessful - but the policeman there was helpful and suggested a place I might try and go.

I found a street nearby where I could park my car (I offered the guy $50 to let me park in front of his house). I then hiked down towards the Pentagon. When I got closer, I notice an area of woods where if I could get into would give me some good shots. I crossed over and was able to take some pictures. It was then that some Marines came by using the same shortcut, so I followed them. When we got close to the Pentagon (and the security checkpoints) I headed towards the "Press Area" which is the closest you can get.

Now, what I didn’t know is that this area was also restricted. But it seems that with all my gear they assumed I was with the press and didn’t challenge me or stop me. I found a good spot in the Press Area and started taking pictures. Then I started moving around the area - I was impressed to see people whom I had been seeing on the television the past few days.

At one point I was taking some pictures when I looked at a stool next to me - it had CNN written on it!

A guy with some Nikon D1s and I started talking (I had my D1 with me also). (In fact, most of the cameras I saw were D1s with a couple D1Xs!). After a little bit of talking he asked whom I was with. Ut oh. So, I decided it was no good lying, so I said I was there on my own. He looked at me funny and said, "Nice equipment." (I had a Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 lens, which is pretty big on my camera). Pretty soon I was talking with a few guys who told me they were with the AP and "pooling pictures " - they wanted to know if I had any shots from before now - which I didn't.

One guys said, "Look at his (mine) equipment, there isn’t a scratch on it! Looks like it just came out of the box. You new?" I told them, in fact, the camera was a year and a half old, but that I mostly shot swimsuit models in the studio. They laughed at that. Some decided they were in the wrong business.

So I wandered around a little more taking pictures from different angles. When I got back to my new AP buddies, they were setting up some equipment. One had as big a lens as I had ever seen - it was a Nikon 600mm with an extender (the lens even had its own tripod) - I asked about the lens and they said you could see right into the floors of the building. So, I asked if I could hook my camera up to it for some shots and they said no problem! So, I fired off about a dozen shots before they needed it back.

I handed out business cards and we said we'd touch base later. Maybe I'm in the wrong business?!

On my way out I passed a service being held for relatives of people still missing. I took a couple pictures and said a prayer.

I've posted all my pictures at:
http://www.michaelpierce.com/pentagon/index.htm

if you'd like to see them.

Having given you the "story" being the pictures, I'd like to say that I am awed by what I saw. I cannot describe in words my feels at seeing the destruction or the sadness of seeing loved ones waiting for word on their family or friends. My prayers are with those family and all those whose lives are affected by the tragedy.

[packetjunkie]

[BWoodbury]

Michael,

I am blocked from accessing www.extremebikini.com from work here so I have to go home to see most of your pictures. This is not suprising. But I found it interesting that I also can not get to www.michaelpierce.com...

[packetjunkie]

I'm guessing that my IP address is blocked by your office. I have two IPs and EB was moved to a seperate one, but they probably still have the other one blocked.

I've been thinking about adding a third IP to the box to move my personal site over so it wouldnt be blocked.

[packetjunkie]

An odd thing happened on my way out of town. While I was on my cell phone talking to a friend and telling him this story, the conversation was interrupted and a woman identified herself, but I couldnt get the name of the organization. She demanded to know who was in the car with me. I thought there might be a mixup of signals, so I said "Hello?" and she responsed "Hello. This is..." and some more information that was hard to catch because she was talking so fast. She repeated her question about who was in the car with me. Still suprised by the interruption, I asked "Excuse me?" and the phone line went dead. I called back my friend and he said the line just went dead and he didnt hear anything. I cant help but wonder if my cell phone call was being monitored.

[BWoodbury]

I spent years working on cell phone software and what you experienced is more likely a software bug in the cell switch. Your buddy was dropped and someone else was connected to you. I've heard it many times in the early days...

If you were being monitored, which is VERY easy to do with a digital cell phone, you would not have heard anything...

[Y2K5SRT]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BWoodbury:
If you were being monitored, which is VERY easy to do with a digital cell phone, you would not have heard anything...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I thought it was pretty difficult to monitor digital or spread spectrum transmissions. I know it is an absolute piece of cake to monitor analog cell phones (and home phones) completely undetected. Drawing on my limited telephony background here...

Chris

[BWoodbury]

Think of it this way Chris, as a software engineer designing cell phones I have a need to monitor the performance of the phone while in a call. And I am not alone in this. I am working in a group of 30 or so engineerings with this need. And we are one of many groups in the company with this need. And there are many companies designing phones...

In short there is a need for "test" equipment and there are companies that makes such equipment. Sure it is not "easy" in that you can not simply buy a $100 Radio Shack scanner and plug in the frequencies, but you can call Marconi and order what ever you need. It just costs a little more...

Daniel,

Did I miss something? Or is this just some more Supra-speak?

[packetjunkie]

You could be right - just seemed off with the question she was asking at the same time I was talking about how I slipped into the Press Area - maybe she was asking someone else about who was in the car with them and I just got caught in a passover.

But sure makes you THINK, doesnt it?

By the way, the weekend edition of the Post said they were cracking down on unauthorized photos of the Pentagon - guess I got in and out just in time!

[dmora]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BWoodbury:
I spent years working on cell phone software and what you experienced is more likely a software bug in the cell switch. Your buddy was dropped and someone else was connected to you. I've heard it many times in the early days...

If you were being monitored, which is VERY easy to do with a digital cell phone, you would not have heard anything...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US.

[packetjunkie]

By the way, now that things have quieted down a little here, I've taken the liberty of going back through the pictures and cleaning them up. I think you'll appriciate the improved quality.