Washington Post changing the public record - again

Alada

The Living Force
Here's a funny thing. While looking for some quotes talking about the Pentagon, this odd quirk appeared. I thought we could have a competition to guess how long it would take them to fix it, but blow me if it wasn't put right while I was typing this! Anyway, Google still returns the snippet of Steve Patterson text in the results, for now, so I don't think I was seeing things. Here's the thing...

If you Google the following, not in "quotes", just as is: washington hold eight to ten pentagon

You get this return on top of page one:

washingtonpost.com
The plane, which appeared to hold about eight to 12 people, headed straight for the Pentagon but was flying as if coming in for a landing on a nonexistent ...
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/sep01/attack.html - Similar pages

Which links to:

'Extensive Casualties' in Wake of Pentagon Attack
By Barbara Vobejda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 11, 2001; 4:59 PM

But for a while the link was going to an original version of that page and included the full quote from Steve Patterson (that many 911 sites have quoted):

" Steve Patterson, 43, said he was watching television reports of the World Trade Center being hit when he saw a silver commuter jet fly past the window of his 14th-floor apartment in Pentagon City. The plane was about 150 yards away, approaching from the west about 20 feet off the ground, Patterson said.

He said the plane, which sounded like the high-pitched squeal of a fighter jet, flew over Arlington cemetary so low that he thought it was going to land on I-395. He said it was flying so fast that he couldn't read any writing on the side.

The plane, which appeared to hold about eight to 12 people, headed straight for the Pentagon but was flying as if coming in for a landing on a nonexistent runway, Patterson said.

"At first I thought 'Oh my God, there's a plane truly misrouted from National,'" Patterson said. "Then this thing just became part of the Pentagon .,.,. I was watching the World Trade Center go and then this. It was like Oh my God, what's next?"

He said the plane, which approached the Pentagon below treetop level, seemed to be flying normally for a plane coming in for a landing other than going very fast for being so low. Then, he said, he saw the Pentagon "envelope" the plane and bright orange flames shoot out the back of the building.

"It looked like a normal landing, as if someone knew exactly what they were doing," said Patterson, a graphics artist who works at home. "This looked intentional."
Then I Googled this in the same way: eye witness pentagon commuter

And got this return below, to exactly the same link, but with the quote edited/removed (exactly the same date stamp though). For a short while the two identical links were popping different pages!

washingtonpost.com
Video: Eyewitness at Pentagon - Audio: Expert on Anti-Terrorism ... Steve Patterson, who lives in Pentagon City, said it appeared to him that a commuter jet ...
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/sep01/attack.html - Similar pages


Don't know how it was possible, but there you go. Saved copies of both pages and screen shots of the Google results for the record.
 
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