TWA Flight 800: By the numbers

WND ^ | July 15, 2003 | Jack Cashill

[Nachum]

Editor's note: This week marks the seventh anniversary of the downing of TWA Flight 800. Author Jack Cashill, whose book with James Sanders, "First Strike," presents a compelling case for terrorist involvement in the tragedy, today presents an index of facts surrounding the event and its aftermath. © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

7
Come July 17, the number of years this crime has gone unsolved.

270
The number of eyewitnesses that the FBI admitted saw what appeared to be ascending streaks of light.

34
The number of eyewitnesses interviewed by analysts from the Defense Intelligence Agency's Missile and Space Intelligence Center whose descriptions "were very consistent with the characteristics of the flight of [surface to air] missiles."

1
The number of eyewitnesses the New York Times interviewed.

0
The number of eyewitnesses that the New York Times interviewed who had seen an ascending streak.

1
The number of witnesses, according to the CIA, who saw the crippled and ascending TWA 800 that merely looked like a missile ("the man on the bridge").

1
The number of interviews the CIA fully fabricated ("the man on the bridge").

3,200
The number of feet the CIA claimed the noseless plane climbed.

1,700
The number of feet the NTSB claimed the noseless plane climbed.

750
Of the roughly 750 total FBI eyewitnesses the number who did not see the noseless plane climb at all, including other airline pilots.

12
"Or less." The number of total eyewitnesses that, a year later, the New York Times was reporting had seen the crash.

0
The number of Freedom of Information Act requests to which the NTSB has responded to show its climb calculations.

0
The number of ships or subs the Navy claimed were within 185 miles of the disaster.

4
The number of Navy ships or subs the FBI, in its final report, admitted were in "the immediate vicinity" of the disaster.

7
The number of days it allegedly took the Navy to find the black boxes in 130 feet of calm water off the Hamptons.

7
The number of hours it actually took the Navy to find the black boxes of a crashed Turkish airplane in 7,200 feet of water earlier in that year off the Dominican Republic.

4
The number of seconds missing at the end of both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.

3
The number of satellites in position to record the disaster.

3
The number of satellites reportedly broken at that very moment.

0
The number of times the New York Times used the word "military" or "satellite" in the first two months of reporting on TWA 800.

5
The number of minutes it took the Department of Defense to alert Russia that one of our satellites had spotted a Ukranian missile accidentally downing one of its aircraft in October 2001.

5
The number of different official explanations authorities gave for what the FAA radar technicians had seen "merge" with TWA Flight 800 on the night of July 17.

116
The number of pieces of "suspicious" debris, many of which had tested positive for explosive residue in Long Island, that were sent to the notorious FBI lab in Washington.

116
The number of pieces of suspicious debris that were never heard of again.

150
Roughly the number of airline pilots I have communicated with since the book came out.

3
The number who believed that mechanical failure had destroyed the airplane.

200
The number of (local) TV and radio interviews I have done since the book came out.

190
The number of interviewers who were largely or completely supportive.

100
The number, roughly, that had actually read the book.

27
The number of mainstream media reporters and producers I have talked to since the book came out.

1
The number who were largely or completely supportive.

1
The number who had read the book.

3
The number who said, "Clinton would never do anything like that."

3
The number of pages Michael Isikoff of Newsweek volunteered to read.

3
The number of whistleblowers arrested for trying to undo the cover-up.

2
The book's highest spike on Amazon.com.

0
The number of mainstream articles, reviews or interviews on the book.

2
The number of times Sen. John Kerry referred to the destruction of TWA 800 as a terrorist act on national TV.

0
The number of references to TWA Flight 800 in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligent Report in 1996 and 1997, on which committee Kerry sat.

230
The number of good souls whose memories deserve much better than seven years of deceit.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Order Cashill's stunning book, "First Strike: TWA Flight 800 and the Attack on America" -- now on a special sale -- at ShopNetDaily.

[AGreatPer]

Great post. Thank you.

[Support Free Republic]

A Recall AND a Fundraiser? I'm toast.

Let's get this over with FAST. Please contribute!

[beaversmom]

I'll always remember right after 9/11, Stephanopolus talking to Jennings referred to it as the "bombing of TWA Flight 800". This ain't proof positive but I really believe he let the truth slip out.

[beaversmom]

Anyone read Jack Cashill's book on the subject? Does it make a good case? Sounds like it might be an interesting read.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[marron]

1 The number of interviews the CIA fully fabricated ("the man on the bridge"). 3,200 The number of feet the CIA claimed the noseless plane climbed.

This is the same CIA that rejected Czech intel's information on Atta's meeting in Prague, and the same CIA that is throwing mud on British intel's report on Niger. Where is McCarthy when you need him?

[gracex7]

Thanks for posting this article. I wonder how much our gov'ts refusal to tell the truth about TWA 800 and OKC encouraged OBL and his ilk.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

bump

[ladyinred]

I read the book, It was incredible and credible at the same time. Also, interestingly, I am reading Dick Morris's new book and he starts counting off the terrorist attacks leading to 911 that happened under Clinton that he did nothing about, and guess what he names? TWA flight 800.

[ALASKA]

Anyone read Jack Cashill's book on the subject? Does it make a good case? Sounds like it might be an interesting read.

I did, and it is a very good read. Convincing, and completely believable. It only makes sense that the government would not want the public to know the truth if TWA 800 was shot down by terrorists or accidently by the military. If terrorism, no one would want to fly and our society would be crippled. If it was the military by accident, how could they admit it?

[StACase]

And on November 12, 2001 an air liner went down shortly after take off in New York, and the same crowd is telling us it was caused by turbulence.

[Bobby777]

Flight 587? ... I never bought the official story on that one ... just a little too close to 9/11 and in New York ...

[eno_]

New York, 9/11, the subsequent discovery of the shoe bomber, the previous AQ experiments with small improvised explosives on planes, the UNGA in town, Dubya in town, witnesses claiming to have seen fire/explosions on board, etc.

Plus this: The plane lost both engines and the vertical stablizer. Which is more likely: a) The vertical stabilizer falls off and the plane falls like a brick; or b) An explosion severs hydraulics (it was not a FBW frogbus, but an older model) the plane gets sideways at 350kts, and big surfaces get ripped off?

[Mr. K]

you forgot-

1 The number of video tapes of a streak rising upwards and then an explosion (this 'coctail party' video was shown on national TV)

1 number of people (including myself) who I personally know to have seen this video on TV

0 number stations owning up to showing such this video

[Maria S]

Hillary Clinton, during one of her recent rants, was complaining about the lack of funding for additional security to fight terrorists. Among other things, she mentioned the need for additional security to prevent a terrorist from using a shoulder-held rocket launcher to take down an airliner. This little lady is on the ball, folks!

[sport]

Bump

[eno_]

Turbulence, old engine, bird strike, cheese, moose, and excessive showering were all leaked as "causes."

[eno_]

Unless you are being sarcastic, nope.

Nobody "claimed" 9/11, or the '93 WTC bombing.

[sport]

Mr. K, if I may piggy-back off your post, forgotten also was the video tape a pilot who lived in Florida made of the inident that was seized by the fbi.

[Bobby777]

exactly ... more than likely it was a shoe bomber-type ...

[UCANSEE2]

But if it was terrorism-wouldn't someone have claimed responsibility for it? After all, that's the whole purpose.

What makes you think they didn't? Just because the carefully controlled media didn't let you know about it?

You believe that the people of Iraq were not shown the same TV programs that we watched here in the US during the most recent war. Yet, you think that is because we are the only ones shown the 'truth'?

Just because the US public was not 'informed' about the truth of TWA900 doesn't mean the truth wasn't out there.

[JohnnyP]

I heard Michael Medved talking about terrorism today (08/13/03), and said that "TWA 800 was probaly shot down by a surface to air missile, and it was covered up by the Clinton Administration".

Glad to have him aboard. Who's next, El Rushbo?

[Triple]

Not only encouraged, but challenged OBL to strike in more devastating ways. - IMO

BTW - 9/11 was done in such a way that it could not be 'covered-up.'

[armymarinemom]

Does anybody remember if OBL made any statements prior to this happening. He usually publishes videos a few weeks prior to a strike then never announces responsibilty.

[Nachum]

Not to my knowledge, but there were some artest drawings from an egyptian calender which show a plane flying into the WTC buildings.

[HighWheeler]

1355 - number of 747 middle tanks that have not self-exploded in the history of the plane.

0 (Zero) - Number of times the 747 has been grounded due to self-exploding tanks.

0 (Zero) - Number of feet a 747 is capable of flying forward with the entire front section missing.

0 (Zero) - The amount of credibility I give to the Clinton-controlled CIA, FBI, NHTSA, and any other government dept. under that lying POS.

[Tymesup]

0 (approximately) - the probability the US Navy would be in the immediate vicinity at the time of the crash.

1 - The number of modifications to the Death on the High Seas Act, permitting families of the survivors to collect on the disaster, signed by Bill Clinton.

[bmwcyle]

She just knows the inside story and is using a statment to fool you. You took the bait quiet well. Now that the hook out of your month. If the truth ever came out Hillary would sink with it. There is an old saying, "Satan will speak the truth to get his own way". Hillary just used the truth in that wasy. Now you need to stop being so foolish.

[1Old Pro]

But if it was terrorism-wouldn't someone have claimed responsibility for it?

And alert the U.S. intelligence agencies? Naw, they knew they had bigger and "better" attacks planned and didn't want to do anything to attrack attention, like taking credit.

[null and void]

0
The nunber of 747's grounded because of the danger of center fuel tank explosions...

[Maria S]

Great looking exercise bike on your web page.

[Lazamataz]

I'll always remember right after 9/11, Stephanopolus talking to Jennings referred to it as the "bombing of TWA Flight 800". This ain't proof positive but I really believe he let the truth slip out.

A fellow on the Neal Boortz show credibly claimed he was an insurance investigator sent in to inspect the recovered fuselage. He insisted there was no missile, that it was a spontaneous spark in the center fuel tank.

Then, Neal said, "So, the explosion, the plane at 14,000 feet"... and the guy goes "You mean, you mean 14,000 when the plane was hit...?"

[Lazamataz]

The nunber of 747's grounded because of the danger of center fuel tank explosions...

Well, you see, the one thing they didn't mention is the spark in the center fuel tank was caused by the impact of a missile.

And how often does that happen?

[null and void]

About fifty times less, thanks to the Russians and Brits...

[null and void]

Interesting that they said composite parts fail all the time, but kept the entire A300 fleet in the air. Missed a perfectly good change to stick it to the frogs, too...

[null and void]

change=chance *sigh*

[Nachum]

The interesting thing about the NTSB is that its investigators were pulled off the investigation of Fight 800 by the Klinton administration. The case was given to the US military to "investigate". It is well known that the only people in the US qualified to the investigating of a plane crash are the crew of investigators from the NTSB. They were specifically not allowed to do any investigation on this case. It was the FBI, CIA, and US military that was only allowed.

In addition, it was only the military that was allowed in the waters to dive for the wreckage of the plane and only the FBI, CIA, and the military that was allowed to chemically test for explosive materials and residue on the wreckage of the plane. An couple of investigators actually snuck into a hanger and scraped explosives residue off of a seat from the wreckage. These people were immediately arrested and there evidence impounded.

There are numerous tapes of the radars scanning the sky at that moment in New York also. The FBI impounded every tape that was known to exist. A retired Airlines pilot by the name of Dick Russell was sent a copy of the tape and he talked about it on the old Ray Breigm show on ABC in Los Angeles. The FBI came to his house and demanded the tape. He gave them a copy of his copy. He had also sent a copy of that tape to some investigors in France who were searching on behaof of some of the French victims of the flight. A few stills from the tape were published in Paris Match magazine.

[wtc911]

The only number that counts to me on this(except the dead) is 2....that is how many people whom I have known for over 25 years who witnessed the rising arc then the small explosion then the bigger one. Both of these people are sober minded middle-class family types with no axe of any kind to grind. To me their tesimony is the next best thing to having seen it myself.

[Nachum]

There were many witnesses who saw the streak of light moving towards the plane. There were not only many who witnessed the explosions from the shore, but there was a helicoptor pilot in the sky who also witnessed it. He was a former Viet Nam vet who something like- "I know outside ordinance fire when I see it".

[Hatteras]

Neil Boortz talked yesterday about the guy arrested tring to sell the missle to the undercover FBI agent the other day. He pondered how people would react to the thought of having an airliner shot down while landing or taking off in the United States. I couldn't stick around to hear his follow up after the commercial break but he never mentioned TWA Flight 800. That was the first thing to cross my mind.

[Mat_Helm]

This was to big to be covered up for so long and not have someone talk to the new administration to tell them the truth. Why would the Bush administration hold the same information back and not let the truth be known? Was this another reason for attacking Iraq after Afghanistan? Is Iran invloved because they were paying back the US after the Navy shot down the Iranian Airbus in the Gulf? The missles that were attempted to be smuggled into New Jersy have a range up to 12,000ft, were these to be used on the next TWA800 coverup? Did the same group that smuggled these have any connections 7 years ago? Can they be traced to possible shooters in the country under investigation now?

[Nachum]

Why would the Bush administration hold the same information back and not let the truth be known?

I believe it was because it was our intelligence agencies and military that were also complicit in the cover up. It would open up a can of worms so large that the fall out would taint the Bush administration also.

[Tymesup]

1 - The number of expected fuel tank explosions over the next twenty years, according to a study completed within the last few years.

0 - The number of fuel tanks recommended to be modified because of this risk.

[null and void]

Bump

[Quilla]

I feel President Bush truly loves our country and will do everything in his power to protect us from evil both at home and abroad. The worst possible scenerio for America would be a Hillary presidency (evil: at home and abroad). If TWA 800 was indeed shot down (as George Stuffinenvelopes breathlessly and without rehearsal stated on 9/11), the truth will be revealed. The day Hillary declares her candidacy, the truth will hit the fan.

[Tymesup]

0 - The number of Concorde flights after one suffered a mechanical mishap.