By Stephen Rex Brown New York Daily News
A closeup of the visage dubbed ‘The Angel of 9/11.’ Mary Altaffer/AP
A twisted and corroded steel girder recovered from Ground Zero appears to bear the visage of an anguished woman who construction workers dubbed the “Angel of 9/11.”
The massive mangled beam is part of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and one of two “impact steel” pieces that feature prominently in the hallowed exhibition slated to open in spring 2014.
Experts believe the beams come from the point where United Flight 175 collided with the South Tower. Near the top of the distorted metal construction workers say they occasionally see the distinct visage of a person. Her eyes, nose and face are unmistakable.
“You can see the face clear as day, as if it’s looking down over a sacred spot,” one visitor told England’s The Sun, which first reported the spooky sight.
A steel expert told NBC News that the beam bears the clear signs of the chemical processes behind corrosion, which created the eerie face.
“Atmospheric corrosion is very sensitive to microclimates,” P. Chris Pistorius, a materials scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, told the broadcaster.
“It’s actually difficult to get even corrosion of such a surface. It’s more likely to get a pattern than to get uniform corrosion.”
Construction workers at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have been stunned at a face appearing in a twisted girder from the World Trade Center. Mary Altaffer/AP
Pistorius added that salts, oxides, moisture and air circulation all contributed to the haunting design on the girder.Of course, this is far from the first time a face has emerged from an unlikely setting.
A Florida woman was “blessed by the holy toast” when she saw the Virgin Mary in her grilled cheese.
In 2005 a plaster statue of Jesus in Hoboken attracted hundreds of devout Christians when the faithful said it opened one of its eyes.
In June of last year a Texas family said it saw Jesus in their moldy shower.
In December 2012 a Columbian sailor said he saw the Virgin Mary in his coffee.
In June 2013 Jesus appeared in a smudged tile at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
And in October some Google Earth users said two figures hovering over a highway in Switzerland resembled Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
