Context

As the sun set on September 11th, 2001, Billy Hughes was seen flying over the skyline of New York City. He came to a stop over Ground Zero, where he hovered for almost a minute before disappearing. Of course, no-one knew who he was at the time. No-one even got a good look at him to be able to describe him. On any other day, that might have been enough to get him a mention before the commercial break. But not today. Not in the debris of September 11th. Most people who saw him thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. But enough people did see him to make him a fairly popular urban legend.

Right now CNN is playing a retrospective documentary on "the life and times of Billy Hughes." Anderson Cooper is saying that on September 11th, the Internet was flooded with reports and sightings of "a flying boy." I'm sure that's how it seems. I'm sure that's how people remember it. But it took two weeks for the Internet to be "flooded" with Billy Hughes stories.

It was on September 20th that Billy contacted me for the first time. It was via e-mail. I had just celebrated my one year anniversary at CNN. My show, Tough Talk with Tim Craine, was struggling to find its audience. CNN had hoped that I would carry over my Comedy Central numbers, but it just wasn't happening. So when I got the e-mail from the guy identifying himself as "Billy, the kid who can fly," I thought it was a joke.

Its random absurdity made me laugh. But its sincerity disturbed me. "It has to be a joke," I thought. But the more I reread it, the more I realized that if it was a joke, it wasn't a funny one. It was just someone claiming they could fly and who was hoping we could arrange a meeting between the two of us. None of my catchphrases were quoted. None of my blunders were brought up.

I googled the name "Billy Hughes" and found a whole lot of nothing. When I googled "flying boy New York City," however, I found myself staring down a list of every conspiracy theorist's website.

Some thought he, an angry god, was responsible for the attack. Some weren't sure about how responsible he was, but were sure he was involved somehow. Probably a third of them theorized some version of the government choosing this time to unleash their long-developed "super soldier." The more religious thought he was angel -- and of those, some said the Angel of Death and some said he was someone's guardian angel. I kept expecting to read the word "alien" or "visitor from another planet," but never did. Conspiracy theorists have come a long way since The X-Files.

None of them had pictures or video of him. He was being whispered about, but even those that were whispering about him seemed to be doing it with a "this can't be true" scowl.

It took me another 24 hours to work up the courage to respond. If it was a joke, I'd play along and be a good sport. If it wasn't a joke, and I refused to meet with this Billy, then he would seek someone else out and find someone who would take him seriously. And together they would make history.

And if there was one thing I wanted to do before I died, it was read my name in a history book.

-Tim Craine