How have specific 9/11 “anomalies” like the Odigo messages and the “dancing Israelis” been investigated and explained?
Executive summary
Two of the most-circulated 9/11 “anomalies” — pre‑attack Odigo instant‑messenger warnings received by some Israeli employees and the so‑called “dancing Israelis” arrested after being seen filming the World Trade Center — were promptly investigated by journalists and U.S. authorities and later explained in ways that undercut claims of Israeli foreknowledge or complicity [1] [2] [3]. Nevertheless, gaps in public record, selective retellings, and the political utility of alleging foreign culpability have kept these stories alive in conspiracy and propagandistic channels [4] [5].
1. Odigo warnings: what was reported and how it was investigated
Reports following 9/11 said employees of Odigo, an Israel‑linked instant‑messaging company with offices in New York and Herzliya, received an anonymous message on the morning of September 11 that some interpreted as a warning about an attack, prompting company management to alert Israeli security and eventually the FBI; Ha’aretz and subsequent summaries by the ADL document that Odigo staff did receive messages that day and that company leadership contacted authorities [1] [6]. Odigo’s CEO later characterized the message as possibly a joke that by terrible coincidence “got it right,” and reporting notes that Odigo’s platform included searchable, nationality‑based forwarding features that could make such messages circulate among users — details used by skeptics and defenders alike [6].
2. The “dancing Israelis”: arrest, media accounts, and official findings
A widely repeated account holds that five Israeli men were arrested after being seen celebrating and filming the WTC collapse; initial press stories and later feature pieces recounted eyewitness impressions and the men’s detention [7] [5]. The FBI, according to internal memos cited by multiple outlets, including reporting in The Grayzone, conducted investigations in New York and Newark and concluded that the arrested Israelis had no prior knowledge of the attacks; mainstream updates and a field report later reiterated that investigators found no evidence tying those men to advance knowledge of 9/11 [3] [2].
3. How investigators explained the anomalies and evidence
Investigators and later reporting offered mundane explanations: Odigo’s messaging could have been an unrelated hoax or coincidence amplified by the service’s forwarding/search features, and the detained Israelis’ behavior and items (videotaping, multiple passports, cash) were investigated and ultimately dismissed by the FBI as indicative of espionage or foreknowledge in the absence of corroborating evidence [6] [8] [3]. The ADL’s synthesis of reporting emphasizes that the “dancing Israelis” narrative has been examined and labeled a recurring antisemitic trope because the core claim — that Mossad agents were caught celebrating and thus must have planned 9/11 — is not supported by agency conclusions or available public records [4] [1].
4. Why these anomalies persisted in public discourse and who benefits
Even after official probes, the Odigo and dancing‑Israelis stories persisted because they fit a broader narrative that powerful foreign actors orchestrated 9/11; outlets ranging from foreign state media to fringe sites amplified selective facts or insinuations while sometimes omitting the FBI findings, which fuels confirmation bias and political exploitation [5] [9]. Watchers such as the ADL warn that the story’s durability also reflects and reinforces antisemitic conspiratorial frameworks, and investigative skeptics charge that limited public release of full investigative files creates space for suspicion and politicized reinterpretation [4] [3].
5. Bottom line: investigations reduced but did not entirely erase public doubt
Multiple contemporaneous investigations and later journalistic follow‑ups converged on explanations that the Odigo message could be coincidence or a prank amplified by technical features of the service, and that the detained Israeli men showed no evidence of foreknowledge according to FBI probes — yet the incomplete public record, periodic resurfacing of selective claims, and the political value of alleging foreign culpability keep the anomalies central to 9/11 conspiracy lore [6] [3] [4]. Reporting reviewed here shows explanations grounded in routine investigative closure exist, while acknowledging that incomplete transparency and active disinformation ecosystems have ensured these episodes remain controversial in the public imagination [1] [5].