Kei Sugimoto was just 24 years old when he watched the September 11, 2001 attacks unfold from the rooftop of 64 St. Marks Place in New York City. After seeing the second plane strike the World Trade Center, he realized what was happening was no accident and rushed to get his Sony VX2000 video camera. His six-minute recording captured thick smoke pouring from the Twin Towers and their eventual collapse from an angle rarely seen in other footage. The attacks killed 2,753 people in New York. For more than two decades, Sugimoto’s recording remained stored away and unseen by the public.

Sugimoto finally released the footage in 2024 after discovering old Hi-8, Digital-8, and DV tapes while cleaning his closet. He said some of the tapes had already deteriorated or suffered data corruption, prompting him to quickly digitize what remained. Once uploaded to YouTube, the video drew widespread attention, with viewers describing its perspective as unusually clear and historically significant. Sugimoto explained that he did not record the second plane itself because he only went for his camera after witnessing the impact. Nearly 25 years after the attacks, the footage has become another preserved piece of September 11 history, showing how important personal recordings can remain hidden for decades before resurfacing.