The pair first claimed to find the data recorders in an August 2003 book entitled "Behind The Scene: Ground Zero" when DeMasi said the "black boxes" were found while he traversed ground zero in his ATV with three federal agents.

FBI and New York fire officials have denied ever finding the voice and data recorders.

Now Bellone claims agents were adamant about keeping the discovery a secret.

"They confronted me and told me to not to say anything," recalls Bellone, referring to one of three reddish-orange boxes with two white stripes he saw in the back of DeMasi's ATV. "I said give me a good reason? When they couldn't, I told them I wouldn't shut up about it.

"Why should I? I have nothing to hide and nothing to gain. It's the truth and Nick and I are sticking to our story as we always have."

Bellone said he and DeMasi were not the only 911 rescue workers to see the black boxes. He said there were several other witnesses and knows first hand they have been silenced by federal agents.

"I know two or three others saw what went down, but they are not talking," added Bellone. "They got to those guys after they talked to me. The only reason I can figure they are trying to hide the truth is that the government knows it screwed up and the recorders would prove it."

Asked to give names of the other witnesses, he said he wouldn't break a fellow-worker's confidence, privacy and firm desire to remain anonymous.

"I can tell you this, though, it was all very strange. I worked on the spaceship Columbia clean-up and you know when something important is found and when something is not" he recalled, saying the day the 'black boxes' were secretly carted away agents acted like "something big was going down."

Bellone also recalled never learning the FBI names as this type of personal contact and information wasn't exchanged between the civilian workers and government officials working side-by-side at ground zero.

"We worked together, but nobody knew their names," added Bellone. "They had on their FBI jackets, but I'm sure I could pick them out of a line-up or recognize their pictures."

The pair's bombshell accusations blows a big hole in the official story as well as the findings in the recent 911 Commission report. In Chapter 1, footnote 76, there is the sole but definitive reference to the airline "black boxes":

"The CVR's and the FDR's (voice and flight data recorders) from American 11 and United 175 were not found."

Asked if DeMasi and Bellone were questioned or subpoenaed, Commission spokesman Al Felzenberg said:

"I can't tell you now if he was is one of the 1,200 people we interviewed or if the book was one of the countless ones we researched. We explored every lead, but I will try to find out if we talked with him and get back to you"

However, Bellone said he and DeMasi never were contacted by Commission members or asked to appear regarding their statements even though the book was published well before the hearings commenced.

And it's amazing with a story of such importance that in over a year since the book surfaced almost nobody else has called them either. It's hard to imagine a story with such magnitude has not been thoroughly checked out unless the mainstream press purposely ignored it.

"I have been contacted by only one newspaper reporter from the Philadelphia Daily News. That's it," he said, referring to an October 2004 story by reporter William Bunch, recapping DeMasi's book statements as well as the usual official denials.

Those close to the 911 investigation said the recovery of the "black boxes" is important, holding vital clues and leading to the truth of what really happened on the morning of 911.

The cockpit voice recorder uses a pair of microphones to capture all cockpit sounds for the last 30 minutes of a doomed flight. The flight date recorder is also significant since it records altitude, heading and airspeed.

Both recorders are designed to withstand enormous impact and heat. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials said they should have withstood the conditions at the WTC.

And finding the boxes after a crash seems to be standard procedure, according to the NTSB.

"It's extremely rare that we don't get the recorders back,' said NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz. "I can't remember another case which we did not recover the recorders."

Bellone is retired and was made an honorary New York fireman for his efforts after 911. DeMasi also recently retired from Engine Co. 261, nicknamed the "Flaming Skulls," after serving a brief stint after 911 with the fire department's marine unit.

Greg Szymanski