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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
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To: AntiGuv
There is no doubt in my mind that the towers were hit by aircraft.

I just find it amazing that there were people who knew it was going to happen and nothing was done.

81 posted on 06/05/2005 9:30:05 PM PDT by Radioactive (I'm on the radio..so I'm radioactive)
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To: Radioactive
Barbara Olsen was on AA77. She described that the flight path was into Washington DC. She described that the flight path was not typical for Reagan National. Her remains were later recovered from the Pentagon. Eyewitnesses saw an airliner heading in the direction of the Pentagon at a shallow angle and a low altitude. Eyewitnesses saw an American Airlines airline first strike a light pole and then strike the Pentagon. An analysis of the light-pole shows it was struck by an aircraft that then hit the Pentagon. When an aluminum aircraft filled with fuel strikes solid limestone at high rates of speed, it collapses, disintegrates, and partially vaporizes.
82 posted on 06/05/2005 9:30:09 PM PDT by Kirkwood
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To: Radioactive

Oh, I rooted around a bit and found that Flight 800 was evidently thought to have climbed about 3000 feet after losing its forward section, but that this is under dispute (a CIA video showed about 3000 ft, the NTSB concluded about half that).


83 posted on 06/05/2005 9:31:56 PM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: Sonny M

Everything you say is true and it is so easy to create and believe a fantasy.

One day I was at McDonalds complaining to myself that you can only get Coke not Pepsi at McDonalds when I came up with a conspiracy for fun. McDonalds only buys from Coke, Coke is the main softdrink in China, Coke is also headquartered in Atlanta which is also where Ted Turner created CNN so therefore there must be a Coca-Cola McDonalds Ted Turner Cnn Chinese Communist Conspriracy.

Think about it, McDonalds colors is Red and Yellow the same as Red China and is big M on the flags and signs really for McDonalds or was Ray Kroc a fan of Mao? Coke's color is mainly Red the same as the Communists, while rival Pepsi was Red,White and Blue same as the USA's. Coke tells us "Drink Coke", "Coke is it" which is more orders than requests while Pepsi focused on choice and free will in "Choice of a new generation" or "Take the Pepsi Challenge". Coke created the "Teach the World to sing in perfect harmany" commercial which implies One World Government and Socialist Equality. Communist countries that had Pepsi as primary western soft drink import threw off their communist rulers such as Russia while countries that mainly imported Coke remained loyal to communisim such as China.

Then there is what has happened to people who worked for Pepsi. Richard Nixon was a lawyer for Pepsi at one time, Watergate. Michael Jackson made a commerical and his hair mysteriously caught fire and now he is under investigation for sex with boys. Michael J. Fox did the diet pepsi commercials and now he has been struck with Parkenson's. On the other hand Coke's people has had little problems in life, Cosby and Elton John seem to suffer little from endorsing Coke.

Oh I could go on but like I said I created it for fun but I am surprised at how easy events seem to make it true. Like the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon it is easy to find relationships.

Besides I don't drink soda anymore, just rainwater and grain alcohol to protect my precious bodily fluids.


84 posted on 06/05/2005 9:35:49 PM PDT by Swiss
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To: Radioactive

I could care less whether you believe me or not. Who are you to me. Someone joining the other nuts out there on 9/11 silly theories. I have known this man all my life and he is no liar. So wallow in your silliness. I could care less bucko.


85 posted on 06/05/2005 9:40:02 PM PDT by Kath (Luvya Dubya)
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To: demlosers

I know a guy who actually believes this crap. He also listens to Alex Jones, and visits fromthewilderness.com, and whatreallyhappened.com regularly. In effect, he has lost his mind.


86 posted on 06/05/2005 9:56:18 PM PDT by vpintheak (Liberal = The antithesis of Freedom and Patriotism)
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To: LdSentinal
Oh yeah?.He could not have seen the plane hit the pentagon because it was not a plane that hit.

Ask yourself this question...how did a 757 fly 530 MPH 2 feet above the ground...an impossible stunt...without damaging any automobiles on the highway next to the pentagon....and no damage to the lawn in front of the pentagon.

And where are the wings?......And where are the engines?.....And where are the 5300 gallons of jet a fuel?...........And why is it that a 757 was 45 minutes out of it flight path and the military did not act?

Remember Payne Stewart?......His private jet was 12 minutes out of its flight path and the military had 2 jets flying right next to it until it hit ground.

Why was a Boeing 757 allowed to be so far out of where it should be and penetrate the no fly zone in Washington?

There is just too much BS from the government here to be believed.

I think your friend did see something hit the pentagon...and obviously it did...but it was not a Boeig 757 as we were told.

And don't you find it interesting that over 75% of New Yorkers do not believe the government account of what happend on 9/11?

Flight 87 that crashed in the Bronx...it was blown up...no way did the tail section fall off.

And why is it that every time something like this hapends there are people who do not believe what they are being told by the government?

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

And don't you find it interesting that we were told that the government would find out who was sending anthrax in the mail...and yet we still do not know who did it?

Flight 800....nobody in New York believes the FBI & CIA story on the fuel tank blowing up.

Nobody........So why should we believe whatever the government tells us?

87 posted on 06/05/2005 9:58:09 PM PDT by Radioactive (I'm on the radio..so I'm radioactive)
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To: Snickersnee
Keep on believeing what the government tells you.

Just don't pay attention to the facts.

And by the way...your comments do nothing to make anyone believe that what you think is right is right...it just makes you look foolish.

88 posted on 06/05/2005 10:00:26 PM PDT by Radioactive (I'm on the radio..so I'm radioactive)
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To: Kath
Aha! He must have known that the plane was going to fly into the Pentagon! He "stayed home with the kids" just long enough so he wouldn't get injured (or worse). Hmm, that's the same thing Bush did, went to Florida to read to the kids so he wouldn't be in the White House when the plane hit. (He left Laura there, but he's a Republican, so he doesn't care about her).
DANGER: PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH IS SARCASM.
89 posted on 06/05/2005 10:00:56 PM PDT by graycamel
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To: sinkspur
Ydeah...Rush thought that anyone against the patriot act was a kook too until the government used the patriot act against him with his drug use.

Ask Rush now what he thinks of the patriot act and the supposed kooks who are no longer kooks.

Your acerbic comments do nothing to bolster the argument that you have in regards to this subject.

Typical of a lesser intellect.

If the facts are there then pay attention.

Don't just accept what you are being told.

Hitler, Stalin and many other dictators have come to power because of people like you throughout history who bought hook line and sinker the lies that were told.

90 posted on 06/05/2005 10:06:03 PM PDT by Radioactive (I'm on the radio..so I'm radioactive)
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To: Radioactive
The only thing radioactive about you is your brain.

Despite the fact that many, many people saw a PLANE hit the Pentagon, you want to ignore all the eye witnesses, because you THINK you know how the crash site should have looked. If you could produce ONE eye witness who said he/she saw something other than a plane hit the Pentagon, no doubt you would be screaming for all of us to listen to an eye witness. You can't, so you simply ignore what the eye witnesses did see, since it doesn't fit your "theory".

The funny and sad part is that you think you "in the know", while the rest of us are naive sheeple being led around. YOU are the one being led around. YOU are the one who chooses to entertain absurd conspiracy theories and let complete morons fill your head with patently crazy, idiotic ideas. MOST of us have the common sense to see right through such incoherency. YOU are devoid of even that level of logical thinking. Obviously this is not the first time for you to pollute your mind with fantastical theories disguised as "the truth". You are well on your way to being completely unable to distinguish fact from fiction, fantasy from reality. Congratulations.

91 posted on 06/05/2005 10:09:25 PM PDT by GLDNGUN
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To: Radioactive

Are you posting from west or east of the Rockies?


92 posted on 06/05/2005 10:13:57 PM PDT by Right Angler
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To: GLDNGUN
The moderator must be asleep at this hour, or he'd certainly cancel several people's subscriptions tonight.

Let me check my calendar to see what the moon phase is, It must be full. (I'm checking right now)

I'm back. No, it's the new moon, but that's almost the same thing since it should have a similar effect, except in the daytime instead of nighttime.

greycamel leaves "chatroom".
93 posted on 06/05/2005 10:15:08 PM PDT by graycamel
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To: Radioactive
And why was that report squashed by the request of the federal government?

CNN really loves this government. If it were true...they would still be showing it on cnn. Hello...they HATE the government and would love to bring it down.

94 posted on 06/05/2005 10:22:12 PM PDT by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: pbrown
Ok, this is one weird thread and I'm out of tin-foil. I can't believe that it is actually be debated.

Bye all.

95 posted on 06/05/2005 10:28:00 PM PDT by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: Radioactive
Take a look at photos of the Empire State building when it was hit by a B-25. The B-25 wings folded back and the impact caused a small round hole. Aircraft are not solid objects. When they hit things that are solid, like a limestone building, they do not make holes outlined in the shape of aircraft in that limestone. Aircraft disintegrate into a collection of small pieces. Ask yourself why you can't believe in the immutable laws of physics and why you want to believe that stone buildings are made of mush like your brain.
96 posted on 06/05/2005 10:32:18 PM PDT by Kirkwood
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To: Radioactive
>>>...Flight 87 that crashed in the Bronx...it was blown up...no way did the tail section fall off.

They found the verticle stabilizer in the bay. It was complete and it did break off.

Without the verticle fin, it would spin, breaking off a bunch of parts. (Airliners are not built to spin.) Built by the French, you know.

97 posted on 06/05/2005 11:32:01 PM PDT by Dan(9698)
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To: Figment
What about the thousands of eyewitnesses that saw the plane hit the Pentagon?

They were all Jewish Freemasons looking exactly 19.5 degrees above the horizon.

98 posted on 06/05/2005 11:47:24 PM PDT by uglybiker (A woman's most powerful weapon is a guy's imagination.)
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To: lodwick

LOL!


99 posted on 06/05/2005 11:55:47 PM PDT by endthematrix (Thank you US armed forces, for everything you give and have given!)
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To: AntiGuv
Which plane are you referring to here? It doesn't sound like Flight 800.

These are just more of his "facts." Flight 800 was claimed to have climbed an additional 3000 feet from the event altitude of 13,800 ft. He is just confabulating the 3000 to the 13,800.

It is similar to his claim in this thread that there was no damage on the freeway... ignoring the clipped off light stanchions indicating an aircraft with a wingspan of ~100 to 125 feet passed over the freeway at an altitude of less than 25 feet.

He ignores the jet engines found inside the pentagon; he ignores the split hub wheels (which, not so strangely, are exact matches for the wheels on 757s); he ignores the 757 impeller housing found almost complete in the Pentagon; he ignores the gouges in the lawn and the twisted aluminum skin from a 757 found on the lawn of the Pentagon. He chooses to ingore the physics of what happens when an aircraft with a light aluminum skin, made of aluminum struts and members, impacts a 6ft, steel reinforced concrete building recently reinforced to withstand the impact of a near nuclear strike (the area struck was just completed). He ignores the personal affects of the passengers found inside the Pentagon, intermixed with the remains of office equipment, plane parts, and pieces of human bodies... that were identified by DNA as remains of the some of the passengers on the 757.

I have previously posted photographs on FR of the aircraft parts lying in situ in the Pentagon before removal. I have posted photographs of the knocked over light stanchions.

100 posted on 06/06/2005 12:01:00 AM PDT by Swordmaker (tagline now open, please ring bell.)
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