Here is the detailed report of airborne witnesses Faret & Wendell which they prepared after their interviews by the FBI and NTSB because "we felt that they did not capture the detail we expressed, or the certainty of our facts." It accordingly appears that NO government agency (including the FBI, CIA & NTSB) has this report clearly stating the the huge fireball exploded at 7500 feet, NOT at 13,800 feet where the 747 became disabled at 8:31:12
The ATC tape transcript documenting that the first radio report of the huge fireball was timestamped at 8:31:50 - 38 seconds after the initial event disabled the 747 at 13,800 feet..
When the FBI decreed that none of the witnesses would be allowed to testify at the NTSB's first hearing (in Baltimore), the NTSB made tentative plans to have Elizabeth Loftus, "a psychologist who has written extensively about eyewitness testimony", appear at the Baltimore hearing to explain the unreliability of witnesses' observations and recollections as well as the problems arising from "tainting" (input from other sources). Brain Often Blurs What Eyes See
The public was further confused thereafter by "zoom-climb" videos prepared first by the CIA/FBI and NTSB. CIA & NTSB "Explanation" Videos
In summary, it's clear from the detailed report of Faret & Wendell that the disaster did not unfold as we all (the public, government, press and conspiracy theorists) thought it did. Not only was Flight 800 not the victim of a missile attack, it would be impossible for anyone to conjure up a palatable "missile(s) shootdown" scenario that would not be in obvious conflict with the report of those 2 airborne witnesses.
Quoting:
" A short "pin flash of light " appeared on the ground (perhaps water). Very shortly thereafter the white light exploded instantaneously into a huge red-orange ball. My initial thoughts were "who's shooting fireworks tonight. " The magnitude of the fire ball, and altitude, quickly (less than a second) ruled that out. Immediately thereafter a large fire ball emerged from the bottom of the initial fireball, accelerating straight down, as if it had just started to fall. Like a teardrop it drew with it a tail of fire down to the water surface. We watched intently as the descending fire fell closer to the water.
So where are the photos of the wreckage reassembled in the hanger so we can take a look for ourselves? Various zoom ed photos of what is left of the alleged miscreant fuel tank? the wiring? Replays of the Radar tapes? Cockpit recorders, ATC tapes? A copy of the "final report" with documentation?
You mean similar to you spam posting this on every thread that you post? Verbatim?
In summary, it's clear from the detailed report of Faret & Wendell that the disaster did not unfold as we all (the public, government, press and conspiracy theorists) thought it did. Not only was Flight 800 not the victim of a missile attack, it would be impossible for anyone to conjure up a palatable "missile(s) shootdown" scenario that would not be in obvious conflict with the report of those 2 airborne witnesses.
What makes your pilots more believable than the witnesses that saw a streak going upwards? Or the co-pilot, Nasir Aziz, who was told all he saw a meteor? Nothing.
Even your pilots put the plane within range of a missile.
Also, if TWA 800 was downed by a terrorist missle wouldn't they be crowing about it?
Thats not what it says
". It has apparent that some aviation experience is required in reading this report. There is one fact that bothers us, however. No mention is ever made of the fact that the explosion was at 7500 feet! We do not dispute the fact that something happened at 13,800 feet, but what happened after that. There is 5000 feet unaccounted for. We would like to emphasize
They also stated that approached the site (according to their report) 5+ minutes after the explosion had happened
Sven thought it could have been a marker beacon on a life raft. This was about 5+ minutes after the explosion. We approached the black-gray smoke cloud on the west side. We were at 7700 feet and were at the top edge of the cloud.
Hardly credible
Since I made a typo in the original, here is a corrected version of the Swordmaker timeline:---------------------
Let's see if we can construct Asmodeus' oft demanded timeline that our math seems to indicate occurred rather than his wacked out theory.
20:31:00 - Plane flying normally, altitude 13,400 ft., climbing at 33 ft/sec.
21:31:04 - Possible ground-to-air missile launch. Rate of climb accelerates to Mach 2.1.
21:31:07 - Mike Wire notices flare like object rising over house and arcing to left. in the next 8 seconds many more people notice streak, firework, etc.
21:31:10 - Major Fred Meyer sees "meteor like" object flash acorss his field of view.
20:31:12 - ~13,800 ft. - 0 sec. Last transponder return, everything normal, Aircraft climbing at 33 ft./second.
20:31:13 - ~13,840 ft. - ~1 sec. Missile strikes TWA800 on left side at approximately seat row 16-17 transects the passenger cabin spewing partially burned solid rocket fuel (and leaving a red residue on seats in this area), taking out passengers and seats in rows 17-18 and exits aircraft through right side. VDR ends in loud, strange sound. Bright white Ordnance type explosion occurs just after missile exits thin walled cabin. Blast places massive overpressure on nose of aircraft and opens wide gap in side of aircraft. Parts of missile continue on momentum at speed approaching MACH 2 at a vector 190 degrees from north, ejecta from aircraft including seats, passengers, luggage to eventually land in "crosswind blast debris" field. The blast imparts a slightly more eastward vector for the ejecta which combined with the ejecta's already present eastward momentum results in the ejecta coming to rest about 175 degrees from the point of ejection.
20:31:14 - ~13,880 ft. - ~2 sec. 400+ MPH winds acting on the gaping holes in aircraft fuselage causes the "unzip" of the aluminum skin of the nose. Windforce bends the nose up and breaks the "keel" of the fuselage. Signals to control surfaces and engines cease when wires are broken and engines revert to idle. Drag is no longer being counteracted by the thrust of the engines. The plane slows drastically.
20:31:15 - ~13, 900 ft - ~3 sec. Drag pulls the nose up and away from the rest of the fuselage and breaks loose on the right first and falls away to the left where it is still partially attached, twisting the aircraft toward the left and starts to fall pulling the left wing down, changing the vector of lift imparting a strong leftward force on the aircraft. Unbalanced drag toward the left is enormous. This accounts for the sudden leftward change in aircraft vector.
20:31:16:49 - ~13,890 ft - 4.49 sec. First post IE radar return. - The nose swings under and to the right and breaks completely loose and continues on a momentum driven ballistic fall slightly to the right (about 3 degrees) of the original aircraft vector. The noseless aircraft losing both the balance necessary for proper flight AND the thrust of the engines overcoming drag, pitches rapidly up and stalls. it may climb a very small amount during the pitch up before stall.
20:31:17 - ~13,860 ft. - ~5 sec. Gravity's inexorable pull starts the plane on its final trajectory. Drag is slowing the forward velocity and the uncontrolled aircraft is on either a ballistic fall or a somewhat aerodynamic fall.
20:31:21:13 - ~13,500 ft. - 9.13 sec. Second post IE radar return. - Uncontrolled plane pitches and yaws, lift occasionally pulls the plane in different vectors... this time a strong rightward vector. Drag continues to rip and rend the airframe just in front of the wing.
20:31:25:72 - ~12,300 ft. - 13.72 sec. Third post IE radar return. - More gyrations... now vectored back to the right.
20:31:30:37 - ~10,900 ft. - 18.37 sec. Fourth post IE radar return. - Falling steeply now. Much of the forward momentum is gone due to drag. Structural damage is weakening the Center Wing Tank's integrity and wings are no longer as strongly attached to the remaining fuselage.
20:31:32:?? - ~10,050 ft. - ~20 sec. Terminal velocity achieved of ~450 ft./second.
20:31:34:97 - ~9,100 ft. - 22.97 sec. Fifth post IE radar return. Stress is taking its toll on the wingroots. The Center Wing Tank structural members are buckling under the whipping of the plane rolling and pitching. Fuel is now leaking into the area around the Wing roots from the full wing tanks.
20:31:36:?? - ~8,500 ft. - ~24 sec. The aircraft takes a VERY sharp turn to the right (South) and one of the wing's fails, breaking away from the fuselage. The aircraft with only one wing starts to spin rapidly, spewing jet fuel and agitating it into the atmosphere, mixing it with air.
20:31:39:64 - ~7,000 ft. - 27.64 sec. Sixth post IE radar return. - Center Wing Tank explodes from spark caused by MECHANICAL breaking of metal. Volatile air-fuel mix surrounding aircraft ignited into Massive Fireball, Hot fireball begins to RISE, while burning plane falls through bottom of Fireball still spewing liquid fuel which ignites on exit from wingtanks.
8:31:43 - Elmer's "Streak of light" crippled plane appears.
20:31:44:29 - ~4,900 ft. - 32.29 sec. Seventh post IE radar return. - Still falling at 450 ft. per second.
20:31:47 - ~3,680 ft - End of streak - Elmer Asmodeus's mythical "Eyewitness Myth" Explosion of Massive Fireball at 5500-7500 feet.
20:31:48:94 - ~2,800 ft. - 36.94 sec Eighth post IE radar return. - Shortly after the Flight TWA800 falls below the radar horizon and no further radar returns are received.
20:31:55 - ~43 splashdown.
Total Elapsed time from Initiating Event (the missile strike) = ~43 seconds. Plus or minus 2 seconds.
959 posted on 09/04/2002 6:19:00 PM PDT by Swordmaker
As you can see the "massive explosion" at that altitude is easily included in all of the known facts and matches what was reported without excluding an initiating event at 13,800 feet.
