"[dramatic music]" " 15 years ago, in our nation's darkest hour, three firefighters raised a flag above the rubble at Ground Zero." "♪ ♪" " They had no idea what that flag was gonna do." " Instantly, it strengthens a nation gripped by terror." " In the face of this horrible disaster, its value is incalculable." " But then, inexplicably, it vanishes." " This was the most famous flag in America, and it just disappeared." " Two years ago, we told this heartbreaking tale of lost history." "Now, we tell a story of found history." "We'll reveal our exclusive multi-state investigation." "It's like a fingerprint." " In fact, it's better than a fingerprint." " A secretive former marine." " He simply vanished." " A trace of human DNA." " It's pretty compelling." " And a cloud of dust." "We promise you answers." "We've got a lot of evidence now, but how confident are we that it's this flag?" "It's time to find America's 9/11 flag." "[dramatic piano music]" "♪ ♪ 9/11 tested our nation like never before, and I lost a dear friend in those attacks." "That's why I'll never forget that picture of three firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero." "In October of 2014 on this network, my series "Lost History" aired a harrowing story about how that iconic flag is actually missing, and I pleaded for your help in tracking it down." "Help me honor the bravery and sacrifice of 9/11." "We need your help to find this icon of history." "And you know what?" "It worked." "After the show aired, something truly unbelievable happened in Washington State." "♪ ♪" "It's a brisk fall morning in the city of Everett, Washington." "A mysterious man carrying a white plastic shopping bag cautiously approaches a local firehouse." "He speaks with a firefighter, and he makes an astounding claim:" "inside the plastic bag is the answer to an enduring mystery." "He hands it over, and then, just as quietly as he arrived... he vanishes." "♪ ♪" "Nine months and dozens of forensic tests later, the police turn to this woman, Monica Rosero." "They believe she could be the key to solving this vexing mystery." "They lay before her the contents of the plastic bag." "She's one of the only living witnesses who can determine if this is the missing Ground Zero flag." "♪ ♪" " I understand that you thought that you could identify with a 100% certainty." " Yes." " The flag that helped rally Americans through one of our darkest days, the flag that has been missing for more then a decade." "And her reaction changes everything." " [crying] I'm sorry." " But before we can peel back the powerful truth at the heart of this investigation, we need to reexamine how the celebrated flag disappeared in the first place." "It turns out, the mystery begins the very same day it was raised." "♪ ♪" " 9/11 was one of those beautiful days." "You know, we're in the kitchen having coffee... ♪ ♪" "And the phone rang, and it was my son Jonathan, a New York City firefighter." "He said, "Turn on the television quick."" " There was just a huge explosion." " I immediately responded." "I got there very quickly, and as I was walking in, we felt a vibration, and we thought it was an explosion on the upper floors, but I got a report immediately saying," ""Commissioner, the south tower was hit."" "♪ ♪" " So I get that phone call." "My son said, "Dad, we're going to the World Trade Center,"" "and I said, "Okay, buddy."" "I said, "Be careful."" "He said, "Okay, Dad."" "♪ ♪" "And that's the last time I spoke to my son." "♪ ♪" " We lost 343 firefighters that day." "As the commissioner, I was someone who-- who knew all the firefighters and knew their fathers." "That day was bigger and more horrific than anything we had ever seen." "♪ ♪" " My son's firehouse sent 19 men." "Nobody went home that night." "Every man died on 9/11." "♪ ♪" " In the face of devastating loss, firefighters continued to search for survivors." "♪ ♪" " You had thousands of firefighters searching in that horrible pile of rubble." "The worst horror movie you ever looked at wouldn't do justice." "♪ ♪" " After hours of digging in the Ground Zero wreckage, a young firefighter named Dan McWilliams walks by a nearby marina, and something catches his eye." " He noticed this debris-covered flag on the back of a yacht on a broken pole, and he had a moment of inspiration and then just decided he would take it and put it up." " Flag in hand, McWilliams trudges back to Ground Zero." "On the way, he runs into two firefighter friends." " He said, "Come on with me." "Give me a hand."" " They thought people would feel just a little twinge better when they saw it." " A photographer for "The Bergen Record,"" "Tom Franklin, is on the scene." " I walked right into the southwest corner of the debris field, and there were firemen and other rescue personnel looking and searching for survivors." "I remembered seeing these three firemen standing up on a rise with a flag." "I got myself into a position, and then very quickly, they raised this flag." "[camera shutter clicking]" " Franklin's photo possesses an indescribable power." " The photo resonates with people because they see, you know, feelings of hope and solidarity and patriotism and perseverance." "There are not a lot of pictures from 9/11 that make people feel that way." " For weeks, it feels like that photo is everywhere." "♪ ♪" " The newspapers and TV stations started to pick up on it." "Today we would say it went viral." " Americans are galvanized by Tom Franklin's photo of the firefighters and the iconic flag." " That photo on that day brought out people's pride." "Flags started to pop up across America." " Even in the midst of carnage and total destruction, the country still had something to rally around, and at that time, it was that flag." "♪ ♪" " As the nation prepares for war," "U.S. Navy asks the city of New York to borrow the flag to fly aboard an aircraft carrier bound for the Middle East, but before it's handed over to the navy, the flag is raised at a special ceremony" "before a crowd of 20,000." " Together we will get through it, because we are the United States of America." " It appeared at a memorial service at Yankee Stadium, where it was signed by the mayor, the governor, and the police and fire commissioners." "Then it was conveyed to the navy and was raised as the ship headed off to the Arabian Sea." "[airplane engine roaring]" "♪ ♪" " In March of 2002, the flag returns to New York, and here's where the story takes a surprising turn." "A couple comes forward and claims that they are the owners of the 9/11 flag." "Greek Americans Spiros Kopelakis and his wife Shirley Dreifus live and work in lower Manhattan." " When I was a kid, I had two dreams:" "one to be a captain, and second dream, to be a citizen in America." " Over time, fortune shines on Spiros." "He becomes both a citizen and the proud owner of a boat called the "Star of America,"" "but in the late afternoon of 9/11, the boat is blanketed in dust, and one of his flags is missing." " The city verifies their story, but Shirley and Spiros-- they don't want the flag back." "Their primary interest is ensuring that someday, it hangs in a museum." "That summer, the couple asked to borrow the flag for a charity event, but when they receive it from the city, neatly boxed for display, they notice something is very wrong." " We went to open it, and lo and behold, what we found was this gigantic flag that fit around both of us, so we said," ""This is not our 3x5 little flag."" "It was a totally different flag." "This was not the flag that was in the photograph." " The flag they received is larger than the flag firefighters found on their yacht and raised up the flagpole at Ground Zero." "♪ ♪" "But then they see another detail on the flag:" "some writing that indicates much more than a simple mistake." " I was extremely surprised to see the signatures of the ex-governor Mr. Pataki and ex-mayor Mr. Giuliani in the flag." " This mis-sized flag has signatures from dozens of city officials, and there's only one place where all these people could've signed it." "You got it: at Yankee Stadium 12 days after 9/11, before the flag was sent around the world." "It means that the banner that went from Yankee Stadium to the Arabian Sea, raised and saluted in countless ceremonies around the world, was the wrong flag." "♪ ♪" "So what happened to the real Ground Zero flag?" "It's a mystery that has endured for over a decade." " This was the most famous flag in America, and it just disappeared." "It would be as if we had somehow lost the Liberty Bell or something like that." " But now with the arrival of the mysterious flag in Washington State, this cold case has taken a jaw-dropping turn." "We've gotten this far, America, and we're not gonna let you down." "We're launching a massive, multi-state investigation..." "Tell me what you found." "To answer the burning question, is this the missing 9/11 flag?" "We uncover stunning clues at the heart of this mystery." "Is the anonymous man who dropped off the flag telling the truth?" "And can our forensic experts find definitive evidence that proves the 9/11 flag has been found?" "♪ ♪" "[dramatic music]" " In 2014, more than 13 years after the Ground Zero flag went missing, a mysterious man approaches a firehouse in Everett, Washington." "♪ ♪" " The doorbell rang, as it often does during a shift, and typically it's somebody looking to have their blood pressure checked, maybe a complaint about a neighbor." "But there was a gentleman at the door with a plastic, white sack." " And inside the bag is something remarkable." " He told the firefighters that this was the 9/11 flag." " You guys aren't gonna believe this." "This guy at the door says he has the Ground Zero flag." " He basically stated that he had gotten this flag from a friend, who said that that person had gotten it from a widow of one of the firefighters that was killed on 9/11." " He said that he was a former marine, that he had seen the "Lost History" show and figured that he was in possession of something that was way more important than he had figured." "♪ ♪" " He just didn't want this on his conscience or on his hands." " And then, without leaving a name, the mysterious former marine vanishes." "Inside the bag he leaves behind is a worn, 3x5 American flag along with a halyard, the system of ropes and hardware used to raise it." " At first the firefighters didn't know what to think." "The chances of it being the actual 9/11 flag were almost nil." "Almost zero." " You know, you hear a story like that, and it doesn't seem like it's possible, and so we of course had to-- had to check out his story." " I just happened to have in my office, still, from October 2001, a copy of an industry magazine with a picture, a photograph on the front cover taken by Tom Franklin." " It looked like it had been through a little bit." "It was dirty." "It was stained." " And I looked at the fittings on the halyard and the fittings and the halyard in the photograph, and I was struck by how similar they were." " The more we looked at it, the more we thought that this might really be the flag." " Immediately, the local police are notified." "Detective Jim Massingale is assigned the case." " So I receive a telephone call from the lieutenant of investigations, and he asks me to return to the police station." "Typically, that's-- that's not a good thing, when you get that phone call." " But this time, it was a great thing." " That's when they tell me about the existence of the flag, that the flag had been turned into the fire station." " Right away, a thorough investigation begins." " There were three primary concerns in this investigation, and paramount was safeguarding the flag." "The second priority was to attempt to authenticate the flag, and then our third was to try to return the flag to its rightful owner." " As the police in Washington State start their work, we turn to our own investigative expert, former FBI special agent" "Robert Wittman." "Okay, Bob, so you're the seasoned investigator, and the Everett police are now graciously sharing their evidence with us." " That's correct, and what we're doing is, we're running a parallel investigation at the same time they're doing theirs." " What is it really gonna take now to prove that this is the flag from 9/11?" " So, you're doing three things." "It'll be a visual investigation, and we're gonna look at, hopefully, photographs that we can get." "The second thing will be eyewitness testimony." "We're gonna have people who hopefully-- who actually touched the flag and worked with it to be able to see the flag and determine whether or not that's the one that they were working with, and then the third thing would be physical evidence." "We're talking about forensic evidence involving hair and fibers." "We're talking about DNA and dust." "All of that would be part of that forensic physical evidence." " So if we find these three things, that'll tell us this is the flag from Ground Zero?" " I believe it would be." "I think if we get that evidence, it's like a three-pronged stool, a three-legged stool." "Those three pieces put together will allow the stool to stand." "That means it's gonna be legitimate." " So where are we now?" "What do we do now?" " Well, the first step is going to be a chain of custody." "We're gonna have to try to determine who had that flag, who had touched it, and where it's been." " I appreciate it." "Thank you." " Thanks, Brad." " As always." "In our initial investigation, we uncovered footage shot by the NYPD at Ground Zero." "It revealed that the flag disappeared on the night of 9/11, before the image of the firefighters gripped the nation." "In this video, there's a glimpse of the flagpole late at night." "See it right there?" "Without the flag." " That video suggests that the flag disappeared at some point between dusk and maybe midnight on 9/11." " When we originally analyzed the footage, former NYPD detective John Cutter offered up this theory of what may have happened that night." " That flag could've been used to cover a deceased first responder just to honor them, because it was the only flag available, and no one thought that that flag at that time was gonna be so significant." "If that flag was draped over a body, it would remain with that individual, and when the family came, they may have been presented that flag." " This theory lines up with the mystery man's claim of getting the flag from the friend of a widow of a first responder, but now, when considering the flag in Washington," "John Cutter finds this story implausible." " I have some trepidation about the story of the unidentified person who turned the flag in simply because the idea that the rope and the halyards would still be attached to that flag is highly unlikely." " Burial flags are traditionally folded, and any rope and hardware are removed." " This leads me to believe that he received the flag in some other fashion and just is afraid to say how he got it." " To probe what seemed like inconsistencies in the former marine's story, investigators attempt to track him down." " The police department conducted canvasses of the neighborhood, trying to identify him using the firemen as witnesses." " We checked every commercial business for a video that may be available that would've captured him passing by." "We have attempted a sketch with a sketch artist." "We released that through the local press and requested if somebody knew his identity to call and provide that information to us." " Unfortunately, they had no luck in identifying him." " The guy who surrendered it maybe didn't want to get in trouble." "Certainly he would have been questioned intensively over how he got the flag." "♪ ♪" " It seems pretty clear here." "The self-described former marine just doesn't want to be found, and you know what?" "I can live with that." "Wherever you are, sir, we thank you for turning in this flag, but without his testimony, we need to find some other way to link the flag to the events of 9/11." "Investigators in Washington State have been conducting extensive photographic analysis of the flag, and they've shared with us some amazing high-res images." "This is huge." "Our first detailed look at the flag in question." "♪ ♪" "Bob Wittman is meeting with John Jay University professor Nick Petraco to do a professional comparative analysis between known pictures of the Ground Zero flag on 9/11 and details of the flag that's in Washington State." " Let's get in here and see what we really have." "You see these pieces of hardware, but what's interesting is, one is of one metal, and the other one is basically stainless steel." "These fittings all seem to match up." "There's the hooks." "Right here." " Yeah." "One is brass, and the other one looks like stainless steel." " Incredible." "The hardware in the new photos is made from two different metals, matching an unusual, easy-to-miss detail from the iconic photo, but even more remarkable is this black tape on the halyard." " Take a look at this." "I think what's really striking is the tape-- the black electrical tape." " Oh, absolutely." " I mean, you can see here in these photographs as well." "The rope that was used to launch the flag had been cut or separated at some point, and the tape was put on it in order to hold the two parts together." "And you can see here that there's a gap between the two sides, and it matches here perfectly." " You can see the shape of the knot looks exactly the same, and then the gap area's in the same position." "The contour pretty much looks the same." "So all in all, you have a large number of points of similarity that look to my eye the same." " So from a forensic photographic standpoint, does that tell you this is the flag?" " Not quite, but it really is an enormous amount of information telling me that it could very well be the flag." " From a standpoint of visual comparison, we may have that, but we still need the-- the scientific evidence." "On top of that, possibly an eyewitness." " Absolutely." " Coming up, an eyewitness comes forward." " I would be 100% sure that that was our flag." " And her testimony is powerful." "c music]" " Investigators in Washington State are trying to determine if a flag turned in by a man who described himself as a former marine is actually the missing flag that rallied the nation on 9/11." "They've shared with us dust samples taken from the flag, and our forensic expert Nick Petraco is examining them to see if they match the unique fingerprint of 9/11 dust." "While we wait for those results," "I'm joined again by FBI special agent Robert Wittman, who has managed investigations like this dozens of times." "Okay, so here's the thing, Bob," "I want to believe that this is the flag, but I also don't want to be a sucker, so how do we know this isn't all just a hoax?" " Yeah, you have good reason to be suspicious, Brad, because the counterfeit market is huge." "It's worth millions of dollars in this country and around the world." " Right, and that's the thing." "In this case, this former marine never asked for the reward." "History offered $10,000 for whoever turned it in, and this guy didn't want any of it." " That's right." " He just wanted to do the right thing." " You know, what we just talked about, the fact that these forgeries are done for one motivation." "That's money." "And the fact that no one has claimed this reward, this $10,000, which is right on the table-- that would show that this is not a fake." " Okay, so what's our next step?" "What do we do now?" " Well, at this point, we need eyewitness testimony." "We need someone who can identify that flag and the parts of it." " That makes-- that's crucial right now." " Absolutely." " Great." "Those three firefighters in the iconic photo only touched the flag for a few minutes, but there are three crewmembers of the "Star of America"" "who handled the flag regularly." "♪ ♪" "There's Spiros Kopelakis, owner of the boat." "There's also Carlos Rosero, the ship's engineer, and Monica Rosero, the second mate." "All three can ID it." "Now here's where we deliver some crushing news." "Soon after our original story aired, the warm-hearted and patriotic captain, Spiros-- he sadly died." "And in 2008, his loyal and long-serving employee Carlos also passed away." "Both men felt a deep connection to the flag, and they were devastated by its disappearance." "We carry their memory in our hearts." "Now investigators are turning to the only living "Star of America" crewmember," "Monica Rosero, for help." "Monica was hired by Spiros and Shirley in 1989." " I worked for Spiros for 11 years." "They were more than just a boss to me." "They looked after me like their own daughter." " And on the "Star of America,"" "she found more than a job." "There she fell in love with her future husband, Carlos." " I worked side by side with Carlos." "We were responsible for the maintenance of the motor yacht." " She thinks there may be something that will help her definitively identify the flag." "The "Star of America" flew two flags... ♪ ♪" "And one of them had a distinguishing mark." " One of the flags I had actually sewed in the corner to stop it from fraying." "If I can see anywhere where I had sewed it," "I would be 100% sure that that was our flag." " We walked Monica into the room where the flag and the halyards were on display, and she had time to look at both of the-- the flag and the halyard and the hardware." " On the "Star of America," Monica's husband Carlos constructed the halyards with his bare hands." "Now it's time to determine if Monica can solve the case and identify the iconic missing flag." "But first, to avoid contaminating the flag, police asked Monica to put on protective clothing and a respirator." "Folks, for good reason, these investigators are not messing around." "♪ ♪" " The first thing that I noticed-- yes, it was the size of the flag." "♪ ♪" " She did say that it was consistent." "It was the proper size and that it was nylon." "It was the proper material for the flags that they used." " But can she find the repair that she stitched by hand?" " Can I touch this?" " Yes." "♪ ♪" " I don't see any stitching." " It's true." "She can't find the stitching." "♪ ♪" "But hold on, America." "Our quest to uncover the truth behind this flag is far from over." " I'm looking at a set of samples taken from the flag." " And you think that anyone could even fake such a thing?" " No." "In fact, it's better than a fingerprint." "♪ ♪" "[dramatic music]" " The person who knows the Ground Zero flag best has traveled to Washington State to personally identify it." "Among other things, she's looking for some hand stitching that she herself may have done to the flag." "Finding it would be a slam dunk, but folks, this part is like a punch in the gut." " Unfortunately, I didn't see the stitching." " But stay with me." "There's more to the story." " Once Monica had the opportunity to look at the flag, and she didn't find the tear and the-- and the repair that she had done, she started to look at the other parts of the flag," "the rope, the halyards, and the tape, and see if she could identify it." "They had multiple flags in rotation, and it's quite possible that particular flag with the tear in it was not the one that was hanging on the boat that day." "♪ ♪" " When I saw the hardware," "I had a very strange feeling." "♪ ♪" "It's the hardware that's on the ropes." "♪ ♪" "Sorry." "♪ ♪" "The hardware stuck out more in my mind because of my husband." "♪ ♪" "He would've used that." "♪ ♪" "The ropes are the ones, same as the ones that we used, and the black tape my husband used a lot." "I would say, looking at the hardware," "I would be... 95% sure that this come off the "Star of America."" "♪ ♪" " Seeing that flag clearly had a powerful effect on Monica, and her eyewitness testimony is invaluable, but we want to get this right, and here's what we're still missing:" "physical evidence that proves the flag was at Ground Zero." "As it turns out, on that fateful day, a unique type of evidence filled the air." "♪ ♪" " I was in New York at the time when the towers fell." "I remember looking across the river from Brooklyn at these huge clouds being released by the towers." " The dust that was generated spread over a tremendous area." " You see people just covered in white." "You can't see clothing." "You almost can't see hair." "♪ ♪" "You see pictures of people with scarves and handkerchiefs over their mouth because material was so dense in the air." "It must have been incredibly hard to see, to breathe, and even just to get through." " And it wasn't just a nuisance." "The Ground Zero dust was highly toxic." "Thousands of 9/11 first responders and survivors exposed to the material have developed respiratory illness and cancer, and tragically, hundreds have died." "And it's feared that over time, those numbers will only grow." " The long-term consequences of exposure to this material are really unknown." " And as a result, this toxic substance has been studied extensively." "♪ ♪" " The dust and debris has a unique signature given the specific items that were in the towers at the time of the collapse." "A lot of concrete, asbestos, glass fibers." " Furniture, textiles, computers, plastics." " Melted clothing fibers and even dried human blood." " This dust is like a fingerprint." "It's specific." "It's unique." "And it's not something that's reproduced around anywhere else in the world." " If that flag was at Ground Zero, then it would contain dust with the unique signature of the tower collapse." "♪ ♪" " The investigators in Washington State have generously shared with us samples of dust found on the flag, and once again, we've turned to our expert Nick Petraco to help us analyze the evidence." "Folks, Nick Petraco isn't just a forensic scientist." "He literally wrote the book on the Ground Zero dust, and now this case is in his hands." " It's a two-pronged test." "Basically, the electron microscope allows you to image the sample, and then the material gives off the characteristic X-rays, so you can actually tell the elemental composition of the sample you're looking at with the electron microscope." "I'm looking at set of ten samples taken from the flag." "Here we go." "Ooh." "Right there." "♪ ♪" "[dramatic music]" " Investigators in Washington State are trying to determine if a flag turned in by a man who described himself as a former marine is actually the missing flag that rallied the nation on 9/11." "♪ ♪" "They've shared with us dust samples taken from the flag, and our forensic expert Nick Petraco is examining them to see if they match the unique fingerprint of 9/11 dust." "While we wait for those results, I'm joined again by former FBI special agent Robert Wittman, who's managed investigations like this dozens of times." "Okay, Bob." "This is the big moment, right?" "Nick Petraco has 20 different individual samples that were taken from the flag in Washington State." "This is a big test for us." " Oh, absolutely, Brad." "If those dust particles in the flag are matched up with what was in the air on 9/11 at Ground Zero, it'll show that the flag was flying that day, but there are other things as well" "that can link it to 9/11, more specifically to the people who were there." " DNA." " Exactly." "♪ ♪" " Almost every moment of your life, you are shedding cells, maybe a little bit of saliva." "A hair falls out." "So DNA is just everywhere out there in the environment." " DNA could potentially identify someone who handled the flag, which would tie it to 9/11." "♪ ♪" " Investigators believe they're most likely to find usable DNA on the flag's halyard." "They focus in particular on a section of rope covered with electrical tape." " You can see video of that day, and when the firefighters took the flag and actually launched it, they wrap the halyard with tape using their bare hands." " If they left DNA on the tape, it could crack the case." " At the crime lab, they peel back the tape one inch at a time, swab it, and do an analysis." " In peeling back the black electrical tape, they actually found a good single source of DNA." " For the investigators, the next step is obvious:" "test the DNA found beneath the electrical tape against the three firefighters who raised the flag on that faithful day." "♪ ♪" "After months of waiting, the results finally come in." " I received an official report saying that the male profile that we sent did not match any of the three firefighters." "I was very disappointed." "I thought for sure it would be one of the three firefighters." " But these results aren't viewed as a setback." "It turns out, DNA testing is a long shot." " It's not surprising that DNA evidence has not cracked the case, and the reason for that is because it's very specific, and it could be contaminated at any point, and it's been many years," "15 years now almost since the flag went missing." " Investigators are continuing to look for DNA that could link the flag to Ground Zero." "So far, the results are inconclusive, and frankly, they may never pan out." "But luckily, Nick Petraco is ready to present his findings about dust found on the surface of the flag." "If it's a match for the 9/11 dust, this could be the physical link we need to prove this flag was present at Ground Zero." "So let's take a look at it." "Show me what you found." " Well, if you look at the screen here, these are photographs of the dust samples from the flag, showing all the different components that I found." "One material I found unique was a fiberglass insulation, which was actually burned, and the resin was actually burned, and the fiberglass was melted." "It's not a normal fire condition." " So this here is the fiberglass that we're looking at?" " Yes, this black-looking piece of fiberglass, and fiberglass typically is not black." "It's typically a clear glass structure, and in this particular sample, which was one little speck from the flag," "I found that all the components that I saw in the dust samples from the first building going down, the second building going down, were in fact in these samples from the flag." " And this one you find-- not fiberglass-- you find human remains?" " Yes, looks like human remains to me." "♪ ♪" " This is the one that gets to me." "♪ ♪" "You can have a piece of the building." "You can have a piece of fiberglass." " Yes." " But when you have this" " Missing people are in the dust." "That's where they are." " I mean, this is it." "This is what we're here for, right?" "This is the one." "We could--it's not about the flag to me." " That's why I do this work." " So this dust, it's like a fingerprint." " In fact, it's better than a fingerprint, because fingerprints come from the 7 billion people we have on the planet." "This dust you're not gonna find anywhere on the planet." " And you think that anyone could even fake such a thing?" " I don't believe anyone could fake it." " No one could fake it." " No." "I really believe that this dust is from the World Trade Center site." "I'd bet my house on it." "I'm so sure." " Now, let me tell you something else." "This is the second study of these dust samples." "Investigators in Washington State also analyzed them, but we kept their findings from Nick to ensure his impartiality." "And they too concluded that the dust could only have come from Ground Zero." "♪ ♪" "Coming up, the evidence is in." "Now it's time for answers." "It's time to find out." "Have we found the Ground Zero flag?" "♪ ♪ c music]" " This is it, America." "This is the moment we've been waiting for." "For over a year, investigators in Washington State and our own experts have been trying to determine if this mysterious flag is actually the long lost Ground Zero flag raised by the firefighters on 9/11." "Now I'm meeting with former special agent Robert Wittman to review the evidence and make the final call." "A year ago we dreamed about being at this moment." "Never thought we'd be here." "Got a lot of evidence now." "Can we draw a true, firm conclusion here?" " I believe we can." "We've had two separate investigations going on concurrently." "The Washington State public safety officials have done a massive investigation." "We've also done our own." " Let's look at them one by one." "So walk us through it." " So as far as the photographic evidence is concerned, we've been able to take those high-resolution pictures and compare them with the photograph from 9/11, and we see some very, very striking similarities." "That was also the conclusion with the investigator from Washington State." " It's not just the photographic evidence." "There's also eyewitness evidence." " Yeah, the eyewitness testimony is very compelling." "Monica Rosero, who was a employee of the ship-- she was very, very emphatic about being able to identify the halyard and the hardware." " She saw the real one." " She's seen it." "She's touched it." "She's very familiar with it." " And I just spoke with Professor Petraco, and to hear him talk about the dust analysis that was done was just incredible to me." "Just how certain he was that this could only come from Ground Zero." " And that is a secondary investigation, 'cause that was also done by the public safety official again in Washington State." "They did their own dust analysis as well, and they concur." "♪ ♪" " Okay, Bob, so we've got all this evidence." "We know from the dust analysis that this flag was at Ground Zero, but how confident are we then that that means it's this flag?" " The amount of work and forensic science that's gone into this investigation-- this particular flag probably has more authenticity than many Rembrandts and Rubens that are in museums around the world." "There's been more work done on this than on those." " So this is it." " Brad, in my professional opinion, this is beyond a reasonable doubt." "This is the flag that was raised by the firefighters on September 11, 2001, at Ground Zero." "♪ ♪" " Unbelievable." "♪ ♪" "I don't even know what to say." "I mean, this is incredible news, 'cause this is, you know-- listen, this is not just about a show, right?" "There are firefighters." "There are first responders." "There are family members who want to know." "This is a symbol for so many people out there, and to me, the question is, you think it's okay to now tell Shirley Dreifus, right, the owner of this flag?" "You think it's time to tell her what we really have?" " I do believe it's time to let her know." "♪ ♪" " Thank you, sir." "♪ ♪" "Shirley, I've been waiting a long time to come see you." "You have no idea." " Thank you." "♪ ♪" " This is the flag that was brought in." "After forensic testing, our experts say that it is over 90% certainty that this is the flag that the firefighters raised at Ground Zero." "Shirley, this is your flag." "♪ ♪" "I promise you one thing:" "when they're done with the final testing, we are gonna bring this back to New York City." " It's truly unbelievable." "I find it so hard to absorb that the flag was actually found, and I am so sad that my husband is not here to share that moment." "I wish he were here with me." "It would've meant everything to him." "My husband was so upset that it was lost." "We had gone through 14 years, wondering what happened to this flag." "I think he would be extremely happy that the flag was found." "My husband called it the icon of the century, and I think it was, and it is." " Absolutely." "This is one of the most important flags in history." " I do take pride in the fact that the flag came from our boat." "It was a symbol of hope in a horrible, horrible day." "♪ ♪ [upbeat music]" " America, when we first told the story of this missing flag, we hoped and dreamed we'd find it, and with your help, we did." "Then just a few weeks ago, something amazing happened." "A young woman visited our friends in Everett, Washington." "Hers was a very special mission:" "to receive, then transport some very precious cargo," "America's 9/11 flag." "And now, thanks to the generosity of Shirley Dreifus, and in loving memory of her husband, Spiros Kopelakis, with the remarkable assistance of the Chubb Insurance Company, and the good people of Everett, Washington," "that flag has been donated here, to the National 9/11 Memorial  Museum." "[solemn music]" "♪ ♪" "Listen, there's only one thing to say, and that is simply to say, thank you." "Thank you for helping us to preserve it, display it." "I will tell you, my kids came here two months ago, and this wasn't here, and I cannot wait to bring them back and show them this, right?" "For my kids and for all those kids who get to see that story, we are a country starving for heroes, and this is proof of them." " Absolutely, and I want to say thank you to you." "Through your special, through the work of the History Channel, it is back after 15 years to one of the most, if not the most, sacred place in this entire country, and we could not be more grateful for that," "and I think that the museum, our team, does the best job to preserve the things that are so important to us." "We want to also at the same time make sure that we get it installed so that the public can start seeing it, and we've set this goal that by the 15th anniversary, this flag will be on display." "It'll have the iconic photographs next to it." "It'll have the story of how it was found, and we're gonna take care of it for the end of time." " Listen, what can I say?" "Thank you for that." " Thank you, Brad." " Now this uniquely American icon will be on public display for all to witness." " It's significant to me and I think to all the firefighters to know that we've recovered the real flag." " The image of that flag is beautiful." "It speaks volumes about us." " Here we are 15 years later, and I still get emails from people telling me how much this picture means to them and how important it is to them." "That's what the picture is about." " This flag belongs back here where it was put up." "To me, it brings tears to my eyes all the time." " That little 3x5 flag became a symbol for the brotherhood, for the effort to help innocent people." " Knowing that that flag was missing?" "It hurt." " I would really love to be there the day it finds its resting place." "I would love to get a good look at it and touch it and say, "Welcome home.""