BKNJ said:
I've also noticed a lot of people claim the falling debris to be from the popcorn ceiling... and I think it's too fine to be popcorn. It looks like powdered concrete to me.
To my eye, these are smaller, lighter, more bouncy, and more consistently-sized debris chunks, which would likely be from drywall versus concrete. I think the units in this building had simple painted drywall ceilings, with no exposed slab, so it's more likely this is debris from a drywall sheet snapping above the camera. I wanted to also point out, the "popcorn ceiling" term is not accurate because these ceilings, as far as I can tell, were finished with smooth, painted drywall, not the textured/dimensional stuff you might find in cheap or outdated apartments.
BKNJ said:
I thought if the camera is backed up to the concrete block wall, that it might be coming from cracks grinding across each other in the concrete block wall. Is if possible the slab has cracked above the camera and this is concrete dust from cracks in the slab moving?
I think the camera is backed up against the glass doors of the unit. Which answers one of rodface's questions:
rodface said:
Can we pinpoint the precise location and direction of this view, on a floorplan? This will help make sense of the perceived distortions
Yes, the unit is the 11 on this plan, on the 7th floor.
The camera is in "Unit C", somewhere just inside of the balcony doors and windows. It's facing north toward the hallway, in the central section that collapsed first.
See this Reddit thread if you haven't already:
rodface said:
The “old” initial frame is a bug that turns out to be a great feature here. Question is, how old is it? Could it be from the last activation (minutes ago, hours ago, why did it activate, loud noises perhaps?), or is it from a few seconds prior?
Great feature/bug indeed. I was very thankful for that first frame - an incredible reference opportunity. I assumed it was from
just prior to the first frame, but you're right, that's not proven.
rodface said:
I don’t think air movement is a large factor in dust trajectory but it should not be ruled out, A/C registers puffing due to being crushed/pulled, large objects falling outside camera view
I had thought about HVAC playing a role. The behavior change seems fairly linear, so something would have to start blowing and keep blowing in the same direction consistently. There's also not a lot of turbulence in the falling of the particles.
rodface said:
Timing of video end coincides with loss of power but there are delays due to latency in wifi connection, server-side activity. Just some disorganized thoughts on the element of time with regards to the footage.
Yes, I've wondered what else this little heroic camera would have caught if it had kept transmitting data until the room was pancaked. I think we're missing maybe a second of the room's final moments.
AusG said:
IE the fall of grains is trending more toward the lens as well as laterally. Thus the room is tipping back toward the camera - as well as the deformation you have identified.
Yes, it seems to me the room is also falling backwards, which would be consistent with the initial frames of the exterior surveillance footage, where the facade is falling first.
Depending on how much movement is actually happening here, I am surprised that there's such a small, localized area of visible debris from the ceiling. I don't see any other failures in the room causing debris in this video. On the floor however, I suspect the floor slab is hinging causing the refrigerator to raise up and tilt to the north.
