May 15, 2002

7:52 AM

Of course it's just a coincidence, but ...I didn't know that this particular bit of pop culture had already been discussed on Fark, but it certainly freaked me out when one of the guys at the bar showed it to me last night. (and wait! There's even more to the conspiracy ...)
posted by yhbc (27 comments total)

When I was shown the trick for the first time, it was with one of the new $5 and $10 bills as well as the $20. When all three are folded in the same way, the five seems to show two towers with nothing wrong with them, the ten seems to show flames at the very top, and the twenty is as shown. It was rumored that the $50 bill shows no towers at all, but who has that kind of money at a bar? (also, I couldn’t find pix of the other bills - anyone know if they are up anywhere on the web?)

Doo-dee-doo doo, doo-dee-doo doo ...
posted by yhbc at 7:52 AM on May 15, 2002

This is very, very um... spiffy.
posted by Marquis at 7:56 AM on May 15, 2002

Are you easily freaked out?
posted by Spoon at 8:00 AM on May 15, 2002

Well, I just tried it with a $5, and while the result could be said to resemble a tall building, I wouldn't say it looks like the WTC at all.
posted by dnash at 8:15 AM on May 15, 2002

So Al Qaida is controlling our currency? Or just getting ideas from folding it?
posted by iceberg273 at 8:21 AM on May 15, 2002

And I suppose its on a $20 bill because 9+11 = 20, right?

Still, its creepy.
posted by fahfooh at 8:22 AM on May 15, 2002

That is creepy...now I have to find the other currency and try it. Anyone seen a hundred lying around?
posted by dejah420 at 8:36 AM on May 15, 2002

we tried it on a 20 here in our office and actually seeing it live was much more eery than just seeing a picture of it. Still havent' tried other denominations.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 8:38 AM on May 15, 2002

Can I do this on a credit card?
posted by Postroad at 8:54 AM on May 15, 2002

My boss looked at me weird, but...

$50 - side 1, side 2
posted by SpecialK at 8:57 AM on May 15, 2002

ooh! there's NOTHING THERE! which totally fits! it's just like where the towers used to be!

chills, I tell you. chills.
posted by Sapphireblue at 9:02 AM on May 15, 2002

When did the bills undergo a facelift? 2001? Hmm? Hmm?

doo dee doo doo - doo dee doo doo
posted by fahfooh at 9:08 AM on May 15, 2002

ooh! there's NOTHING THERE! which totally fits! it's just like where the towers used to be!
Ziing!
posted by darukaru at 9:08 AM on May 15, 2002

we tried it on a 20 here in our office and actually seeing it live was much more eery than just seeing a picture of it.

Funny, for me it was much less convincing when I tried it out myself, than when I saw the pictures online. Being able to see the actual detail much better only made the differences that much more obvious--the "towers" on the 20 really don't look that much like the twin towers when you look at them closely, and the bushes make unconvincing "smoke".
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:25 AM on May 15, 2002

I saw something like this once with the Land O' Lakes butter girl, but it didn't show any smoke...
posted by GernBlandston at 9:33 AM on May 15, 2002

Terrorists spread information through origami.

Look! It's an origami frog!

Or... is it?
posted by Kafkaesque at 9:53 AM on May 15, 2002

"...with the Land O' Lakes butter girl, but it didn't show any smoke..."

you didn't do it right.
posted by mikhail at 9:56 AM on May 15, 2002

dang, forgot the link.
posted by mikhail at 9:58 AM on May 15, 2002

and the bushes make unconvincing "smoke".
the Bushes?
posted by matteo at 10:16 AM on May 15, 2002

If you look at this one close enough, you can see the face of Satan! SCARY.
posted by mkn at 10:46 AM on May 15, 2002

Okay Someone send me a hundred dollar bill and I'll try this with it and scan the results...

The things I do for you people...
posted by KnitWit at 11:42 AM on May 15, 2002

"My boss looked at me weird, but..."

why, because you actually had a 50$?

i kid cuz i love.
posted by jcterminal at 1:46 PM on May 15, 2002

Someone send me a hundred dollar bill ...

The joke at the bar was that since the progression of the 5-10-20-50 ended up showing nothing there, we needed to get ahold of a $100 to see what was going to be built in its place.

Can I take my tongue out of my cheek now?
posted by yhbc at 3:11 PM on May 15, 2002

Think this would work with coins, too...?
posted by davidmsc at 5:37 PM on May 15, 2002

I don't know...try taking the coins out of your cheek, yhbc.

Anything?
posted by Kafkaesque at 6:09 PM on May 15, 2002

This was a full news story on Fox Five news at ten here in NYC. I guess nothing else really important happened yesterday.
posted by computerface at 5:31 AM on May 16, 2002

Alright, I'll go ahead and get it off my chest (since MeFi is back up within a reasonable amount of time). The ever-redoubtable snopes was on the ball quickly with this one. They not only thoroughly and properly debunked the idea (with the same degree of tongue-in-cheekiness that I thought the topic deserved) but they also came up with an even better bill-folding result from an unidentified foreign currency. I always knew there was a real future in origami.
posted by yhbc at 4:20 PM on May 19, 2002