HOUSTON -- A man died Monday morning after failing an attempt to climb one of Houston's tallest skyscrapers.

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Witnesses Recount Climber's Fall

He was spotted shortly before 7 a.m. climbing the Williams Tower, 2800 Post Oak Blvd., in the Galleria area.

Investigators told News2Houston that the 20-year-old man was scaling the outside of the 64-story tower without using any safety lines.

Houston Fire Department spokesman Jay Evans said that the man discovered a way to the outside of the tower on the 10th floor and began climbing using some of sort of climbing device, but without a safety harness or parachute, Evans said.

Witnesses said that at about 7:45 a.m. he reached about the 30th floor and paused to rest using a suction cup, and then jumped.

"He looked down (and) you could tell he was getting tired, because he was going fast at first," said witness David Mowery.

"He didn't have (any) energy left it looked like," witness Pat Osborne said. "He looked to the left and looked to the right and just pushed off."

Pat McGarey said that he watched the climber from his office on the 30th floor.

"He appeared to be yelling or screaming and at some point he just sprung away backwards from the building -- so clearly a jump and not a slip," McGarey said.

Authorities said that the man's drivers license and a note with some sort of political statement were found next to his body

"At this point, we really don't know what was troubling this young man," Evans said.

The victim's identity has not been released.

The accident is under investigation.

The tower stands 901 feet tall, and was designed by the internationally acclaimed architectural team of Philip Johnson and John Burgee.

The tower, with its adjoining park and dazzling water-wall, quickly became a popular landmark and tourist attraction after its construction in 1983.

It is currently the tallest building in the nation located outside a downtown area.