Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Fahrenheit 2777: 9/11 has generated the mother of all conspiracy theories
Scientific American ^ | June 05, 2005 | Michael Shermer

Posted on 06/05/2005 6:22:17 PM PDT by demlosers

Noted French left-wing activist Thierry Meyssan's 9/11 conspiracy book, L'Effroyable Imposture, became a best-seller in 2002.

But I never imagined such an "appalling deception" would ever find a voice in America. At a recent public lecture I was buttonholed by a Michael Moore–wannabe filmmaker who breathlessly explained that 9/11 was orchestrated by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Central Intelligence Agency as part of their plan for global domination and a New World Order. That goal was to be financed by G.O.D. (Gold, Oil, Drugs) and launched by a Pearl Harbor–like attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, thereby providing the justification for war.

The evidence was there in the details, he explained, handing me a faux dollar bill (with "9-11" replacing the "1," a picture of Bush supplanting that of Washington) chockablock with Web sites.

In fact, if you type "World Trade Center" and "conspiracy" into Google, you'll get more than 250,000 hits. From these sites, you will discover that some people think the Pentagon was hit by a missile; that U.S. Air Force jets were ordered to "stand down" and not intercept Flights 11 and 175, the ones that struck the twin towers; that the towers themselves were razed by demolition explosives timed to go off soon after the impact of the planes; that a mysterious white jet shot down Flight 93 over Pennsylvania; and that New York Jews were ordered to stay home that day (Zionists and other pro-Israeli factions, of course, were involved). Books also abound, including Inside Job, by Jim Marrs; The New Pearl Harbor, by David Ray Griffin; and 9/11: The Great Illusion, by George Humphrey. The single best debunking of this conspiratorial codswallop is in the March issue of Popular Mechanics, which provides an exhaustive point-by-point analysis of the most prevalent claims.

The mistaken belief that a handful of unexplained anomalies can undermine a well-established theory lies at the heart of all conspiratorial thinking (as well as creationism, Holocaust denial and the various crank theories of physics). All the "evidence" for a 9/11 conspiracy falls under the rubric of this fallacy. Such notions are easily refuted by noting that scientific theories are not built on single facts alone but on a convergence of evidence assembled from multiple lines of inquiry.

No melted steel, no collapsed towers.

For example, according to www.911research.wtc7.net, steel melts at a temperature of 2,777 degrees Fahrenheit, but jet fuel burns at only 1,517 degrees F. No melted steel, no collapsed towers. "The planes did not bring those towers down; bombs did," says www.abovetopsecret.com. Wrong.

In an article in the Journal of the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society and in subsequent interviews, Thomas Eagar, an engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explains why: steel loses 50 percent of its strength at 1,200 degrees F; 90,000 liters of jet fuel ignited other combustible materials such as rugs, curtains, furniture and paper, which continued burning after the jet fuel was exhausted, raising temperatures above 1,400 degrees F and spreading the inferno throughout each building. Temperature differentials of hundreds of degrees across single steel horizontal trusses caused them to sag--straining and then breaking the angle clips that held the beams to the vertical columns. Once one truss failed, others followed. When one floor collapsed onto the next floor below, that floor subsequently gave way, creating a pancaking effect that triggered each 500,000-ton structure to crumble. Conspiricists argue that the buildings should have fallen over on their sides, but with 95 percent of each building consisting of air, they could only have collapsed straight down.

All the 9/11 conspiracy claims are this easily refuted. On the Pentagon "missile strike," for example, I queried the would-be filmmaker about what happened to Flight 77, which disappeared at the same time. "The plane was destroyed, and the passengers were murdered by Bush operatives," he solemnly revealed. "Do you mean to tell me that not one of the thousands of conspirators needed to pull all this off," I retorted, "is a whistle-blower who would go on TV or write a tell-all book?"

My rejoinder was met with the same grim response I get from UFOlogists when I ask them for concrete evidence: Men in Black silence witnesses, and dead men tell no tales.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 911conspiracy; conspiracy; democraps; loonietunes; tinfoilhats
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 241-247 next last
To: demlosers
"Men in Black silence witnesses, and dead men tell no tales."

So therefore, Michael Moore has been silenced and he (being dead} tells no tales???

"Liberal Logic"...an oxymoron.

101 posted on 06/06/2005 12:15:54 AM PDT by Positive (Nothing is sadder than to see a beautiful theory murdered by a gang of brutal facts.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Radioactive
"If it was, have the government release the tapes of the cameras that video taped the whole incident."

A series of security photos details the September 11 airliner attack on the Pentagon. CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports (March 7)

Play video

(QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

102 posted on 06/06/2005 12:16:39 AM PDT by endthematrix (Thank you US armed forces, for everything you give and have given!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Radioactive
"And don't you find it interesting that we no longer have code red or yellow or orange days anymore since the election? "

Oh, you've sipped too much of the KoolAid FRiend...Listen, I'm as kooky as they get - There are such things as conspiracies. Please just reread what you've been posting back to your self SLOWLY. You are certifiable.

103 posted on 06/06/2005 12:23:36 AM PDT by endthematrix (Thank you US armed forces, for everything you give and have given!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: demlosers

BUMP


104 posted on 06/06/2005 12:32:20 AM PDT by AnimalLover ( ((Are there special rules and regulations for the big guys?)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Radioactive
I too wish they'd release everything. I saw a crash site in Cerritos, CA DC 9(?) and wings don't fold into the fuselage when they strike solid objects. Just saying what I think, fire away!
105 posted on 06/06/2005 12:39:55 AM PDT by investigateworld ( God bless Poland for giving the world JP II & a Protestant bump for his Sainthood!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Right Angler
Are you posting from west or east of the Rockies?

Ha ha ha ha haaaaa! Home run!

106 posted on 06/06/2005 12:54:09 AM PDT by Dont Mention the War (John Bolton for White House Press Secretary!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]

To: DugwayDuke

Every single one of those conspiracy theories found their advocates here on FreeRepublic.

Yes, I have seen conspiracy theories come from both sides of the aisle. My ultra-right-wing friend sent me a DVD from some guy who claimed it was all orchestrated by the government. I can't remember the name though. i threw it away.


107 posted on 06/06/2005 1:06:12 AM PDT by moog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: demlosers
My rejoinder was met with the same grim response I get from UFOlogists when I ask them for concrete evidence:

I did a google search and got 4 millions sources of info and over 200,000 photos. UFO's MUST be real because everything you see on the internet is true. My fairy godmother taught me that.

108 posted on 06/06/2005 1:09:19 AM PDT by moog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: demlosers
Here in S.F., someone uses public access TV to show videos created by Alex Jones, who mixes actual investigative reporting by the likes of The Third Terrorist author Jayna Davis and mixes it with unprovable speculation like the "NWO." It's actually pretty darn entertaining to watch that stuff.

Back in the days of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," I used to look forward to Lyndon LaRouche paid political announcements because it was like watching a movie where the hero somehow gets on national TV and sputters about an unbelievable yet very real conspiracy. Watching LaRouche talk about how Queen Elizabeth was the biggest drug dealer in the world and how the Soviets made him #2 on their assassination list behind Reagan was like reading a thriller, albeit a pretty silly one.

Every so often nowadays, LaRouchies hand out circulars that look like newspapers in the Financial District, and just about all of them are young people, college-age and upward. Unfortunately for them, they really seem to believe his carpola. I literally laughed in the face of one LaRouchie who, when challenged to back up his claim that LaRouche was exonerated of the fraud charges for which he was sent to federal prison, said that Clinton pardoned him.

109 posted on 06/06/2005 1:26:32 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee (Freeping since March 1998. This is my blessing. This is my curse.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Radioactive
So why should we believe whatever the government tells us?

Because George Bush is president and "the adults are in charge?"

110 posted on 06/06/2005 1:53:10 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: GLDNGUN
The funny and sad part is that you think you "in the know", while the rest of us are naive sheeple being led around.

That's right. Unquestioning, naive sheep.

Baaaah!

111 posted on 06/06/2005 1:56:24 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: pbrown
CNN really loves this government. If it were true...they would still be showing it on cnn.

You really don't understand how the media is controlled, do you?

112 posted on 06/06/2005 1:57:59 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: Radioactive
If it was, have the government release the tapes of the cameras that video taped the whole incident.

They still haven't released the tapes from the OKC bombing.

Why should they start now?

Of course, that happened under Clinton, so a conspiracy in that case is more believable to some folks.

113 posted on 06/06/2005 2:04:07 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: L.N. Smithee
...unprovable speculation like the "NWO."

Thers plenty of proof of a New World Order.

Some folks just refuse to look at the facts.

114 posted on 06/06/2005 2:05:37 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 109 | View Replies]

To: demlosers

bttt


115 posted on 06/06/2005 2:12:23 AM PDT by thegreatbeast (Quid lucrum istic mihi est?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tempestuous

The guy wasn't MM himself, he was a MM-wannabe; a filmmaker.


116 posted on 06/06/2005 2:15:35 AM PDT by stands2reason (It's 2005, and two wrongs still don't make a right.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: lodwick

Forgot your sarcasm tag.


117 posted on 06/06/2005 2:17:59 AM PDT by stands2reason (It's 2005, and two wrongs still don't make a right.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Sonny M

Oh, like having Howard Dean make the Dems look like idiots is the secret plan for Hillary's election?

But if there was a sensible moderate Dem as chairman, it would be a conspiracy to get Hillary elected.


118 posted on 06/06/2005 2:22:51 AM PDT by stands2reason (It's 2005, and two wrongs still don't make a right.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Radioactive; Kath
RadioA:

Here you go - you'll like this site. Trust me. Now go away.


119 posted on 06/06/2005 2:23:15 AM PDT by Tunehead54 (In memory of our bravest in armed service to our nation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: demlosers
In fact, if you type "World Trade Center" and "conspiracy" into Google, you'll get more than 250,000 hits.

That's impressive, but please also note that if you type "moose" and "cheese" into Google, you'll get over 400,000 hits.

120 posted on 06/06/2005 2:24:00 AM PDT by Fresh Wind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 241-247 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson