Back To The Future Conspiracy Theory Connects The Trilogy To The Sept. 11 Attacks

No one legitimately believes that the Back to the Future trilogy contains numerous references to the terrorist attacks of September 11… right? I mean, on every level, the idea that a series of films that concluded in 1990 could reference a domestic terrorist attack that wouldn’t occur for another 11 years – well, that’s impossible. Still, this video making the rounds raises more than a few interesting points, before going completely off the rails. It’s worth a watch:

I was completely ready to dismiss this new conspiracy theory as nonsense. Actually, I still believe that it’s nonsense… but, enough odd coincidences are pointed out in this video to at least make you pop the Back to the Future movies in your DVD player and reference the scenes that are brought into question.

The beginning point of the argument is a pretty obvious one. The narrator from barelyHuman11 notices numerous references to the Twin Towers and 9/11, starting with the name of the mall where Doc Brown is attacked by Libyan terrorists – Twin Pines Mall – which are supposed to represent the Twin Towers. Convenient. I’ll admit I started paying attention when they noticed that Marty (Michael J. Fox) arrived at the mall at 1:16 am. Which, when turned upside down, shows us "91: 1."

Twin Pines

Later, Doc (Christopher Lloyd) shows us stopwatches, each reading 1:19 am… the numbers that can be unscrambled to be 9/11.

I hear you. That’s a reach. The video goes on to reveal certain lingo that connects to the attacks on the Twin Towers, such as the warning of the lightning strike that is going to destroy the clock tower. "Save the clock tower!" a woman shouts, and there’s illuminati graphics spotted over her shoulder.

When the video catches up with Back to the Future Part II, however, things get REALLY strange. They speak about a scene where contemporary Jennifer is in her older self’s house. On a screen, the family looks at video of the Twin Pines (or a visual representation of them), followed by a screen that appears to show the World Trade Center. This could just be a city scape. It does look like the Twin Towers, but it also might not be. Still, if you go through the calculations in the above video, this "movie" on the screen is showing in October of 2015 – the year that Marty and Doc travel into the future. And if you went to the movie theaters in October of 2015, you would be able to watch The Walk… a movie about the Twin Towers directed by Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis. Yeah, that’s when I started to get more than a little freaked out. I finally lost it when the video showed Marty running back to Doc through the visual representation of Sept. 11:

Burning tires

Wearing the same clothes that Zemeckis put on Philippe Petit in The Walk.

Philippe Petit

Why? Why is Philippe Petit dressed like Marty McFly from Back to the Future Part II?!?!

This is all nonsense, right? There’s absolutely no way that the Back to the Future movies could contain any references to terrorist attacks that wouldn’t take place for another 11 years. It’s physically impossible, on every level. But the video’s weird, right? That’s a lot of coincidences. Especially the ties to The Walk. It’s bogus. It has to be. But it makes you think… at least, a little.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.