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911 Conspiracy Debunked

Once it became clear that an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center was not a tragic accident, everyone in the world had one question that they wanted to have answered: why? Why would someone do this to hurt so many people and how could it happen?

The conspiracy theories regarding September 11 started almost immediately. Over 600,000 different websites were online to discuss the different conspiracies of 9/11 in just three years. There have even been over 3000 books published on the subject and most of them reject the official word that has come from the US government: that hijackers associated with Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden flew the passenger planes directly and purposely into the buildings.

Healthy skepticism is one thing, but paranoia that is created through facts that are misleading at best is unhealthy for a society. Here are some of the most popular 9/11 conspiracy theories, completely debunked for your consideration.

1: Flight 175 Had A Pod

In numerous films and websites, it is claimed that there is an object attached to the fuselage near the base of the right wing of United Airlines Flight 175. Because this is not part of the stock Boeing 767 design of which this airplane was, the theory is that this pod was a missile or a bomb that was deliberately fired into the building. Some even say that this is direct evidence that the government sanctioned the terrorist attack.

In reality: The director of the space photography laboratory at Arizona State University has examined many high resolution images of the airplane in question. His expert observation is that these photographs reveal a pod. What people are seeing is part of the right bearing of the airplane, which is part of the bulge that is in place to contain the landing gear. The shadows and light from the photograph make it appear that the fairing has an exaggerated look. Light glints tend to create enlargements on film.

2: The Air Force Was Ordered To Stand Down On September 11

With 28 Air Force bases within proximity of the hijacked flights, the fact that not a single fighter jet was scrambled to protect the skies of New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC seems almost improbable. One writer says that this is clear evidence that the Air Force was to stand down on 9/11, while other theorists say that the best case scenario is that the US military failed to do its job.

In reality: On September 11, 2001, there were only 14 fighter jets on alert in the entire lower 48. There was no computer network or alarm that was automatically sounded to alert the North American Air Defense Command that the planes had been hijacked. According to the public affairs officer from NORAD, the civilian air traffic controllers had to actually pick up their phone and dial them to notify them of what was going on. The terrorist turned off the plane transponders so that they could be tracked so NORAD was notified of the incident after it had already occurred. NORAD’s radar looks for outward threats, not inward threats, so they had no means of being able to identify any specific aircraft.

3: It Wasn’t A Civilian Aircraft At All

In a life phone interview, a Fox News employee reportedly says that he saw a plane crash into the south tower and that it did not look like a commercial plane. This is because he didn’t see any windows on the sides of the plane. The reporter’s words are apparently backed up by videos and low resolution images that don’t show any windows on the airplane as it strikes the south tower.

In reality: The employee in question was 2 miles away from the World Trade Center and never saw the plane strike the building. All he saw was a plane fly over briefly and then he heard the explosion of the building. Debris recovery that happened at the World Trade Center site found pieces of fuselage that had windows in it and the trajectory of the debris confirmed that it was the plane that many suspected to be a military cargo plane or a fuel tanker.

4: Interception Is Standard Military Protocol

The fact that no aircraft were able to respond to the commercial jets that would eventually crash and kill so many is seen as a promotion of American propaganda. The claim is that the standard operating procedure for several decades of the Air Force is to scramble a fighter plane to intercept a questionable off course airplane to determine what threat it might hold.

In reality: Between 1991-2001, NORAD only moved to intercept one civilian plane over North America. That plane was the Learjet which was owned by professional golfer Payne Stewart and it flew on autopilot with a depressurized cabin and cockpit for several hours while remaining in transponder contact. Even in this intercept, it took an F-16 aircraft 82 minutes to reach the off course Learjet. Until the events of 9/11, domestic interceptions were not a part of any standard operating procedure whatsoever.

5: Concussion Bombs Were Detonated In The World Trade Center

Before the twin towers fell, pictures from inside the building show that there was extensive damage on the lower floors after the aircraft hit the building. How could the impact of a jet cause damage that was 80 stories lower than the impact site? The theory is that other explosives were detonated in the lower levels of the towers at the same time the planes crashed to create the conditions that were observed.

In reality: When the aircraft hit the World Trade Center, it sliced through the utility shafts that were in the tower’s core. This created a natural conduit for burning jet fuel to drop to the bottom floors of the tower. This would have disrupted elevator service, caused damage throughout the building as the burning jet fuel hit each floor, and even made elevators drop straight down the shaft. Eyewitness testimony from the lobby says that some of the elevators slammed right down to the ground floor after that jet impact, causing the “questionable” damage.

6: Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel

It is true that steel melts at 2750°F and that jet fuel burns at 1500°F at maximum. The fact that “experts” were brought onto national TV to tell the American public that the load of fuel from the aircraft was responsible for the structural fire is viewed as an outright lie. It is seen, in fact, as evidence of controlled demolition efforts.

In reality: There are numerous pictures of steel from the collapsed World Trade Center buildings to show that they didn’t melt. What you do see is a lot of steel that is twisted, bent, and warped. This happens in a structural fire because the metal tries to expand at both ends. When it can no longer expand, the steel begins to sag and alter its shape and this creates damage in the surrounding structures. This means it begins to lose strength in hot conditions because of the natural physics of expansion and contraction. The jet fuel is estimated to have burned itself out in 10 minutes and the towers were standing after 10 minutes. It’s the other items that ignited which helped to further weaken the structure of the building.

7: The Holes In The Pentagon Are Too Small

There were two holes immediately visible in the Pentagon after impact occurred. There was a 75 foot entry hole in the exterior wall and then a 16 foot hole in the middle ring of the Pentagon. These two holes are seen as being too small for a commercial jet to have made. How could a plane that is 125 feet wide be able to create a hole that is only 16 feet wide?

In reality: A plane coming down at high speeds and impacting a solid concrete building isn’t going to leave a cardboard cutout of itself as it plows through. The impact is going to destroy the weak points of the airplane and the building. The strongest components of the building will repel the weakest components of the airplane, causing them to shear off. What remains of the plane is what can actually be stronger than the concrete. By the time the aircraft reached Ring C of the Pentagon, it would have been closer to a liquid state than a solid state.

New theories about 9/11 come up all the time. From the blast resistant windows of the Pentagon to theories that the people on board these planes were kidnapped by the government for experimentation and that military craft crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon instead, most of these theories are easily debunked. September 11 was a terrible day for the world, one that will always be remembered, and the fact that so many are using these events for personal gain and fame should be evidence in and of itself that these are all hoaxes that deserve to be debunked.