But, as for the Pentagon, I've seen crystal clear high-resolution prints of those photographs that are in the clip on that website I linked (and more of them). They are indeed eerie how minimal the damage seems, but perception can be a very capricious thing.
The problem is that Flight 77 never arrived in Los Angeles, and I can't think of a better explanation for where it might've gone.....
Good point. I have been in security seminars where they show a scenario of a guy walking up to a cashier and pulling a gun, clearing out the register and walking away. 10 seconds later you are asked to describe the individual. The answers are as varied as the people giving them. Relating that to this case, most people when they think of an airliner in flight, they think of it at final approach speed. Approach speed is somewhere in the neighborhood of a lumbering 125 to 140 knots. This 757 was apparently at treetop level for the last mile or so at approximately 3 times that speed. (757s list a maximum speed of 494 knots and a cruising speed of 459 knots)
If you're sitting in traffic and a 757 happens to pass by at 400+ knots and snaps of the light post next to the car in front of you, I'm guessing one might think they just saw a missile pass by.