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Along with the collapse of the twin towers, the
spectacular impact of the second plane with the South Tower was the best recorded
and most photographed of the events of September 11th. The first plane was
caught only fleetingly in one or two brief, though revealing, seconds of documentary
footage, while the attack on the Pentagon remains a conundrum of contradictory
material evidence and even more contradictory eyewitness reports. Still less
is known of the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. In the case of the second
plane however we are faced not with a dearth of evidence but with an abundance
of it. The incident was captured by scores of photographers and video camera
operators, professional and amateur, drawn to the scene by the earlier attack
on the North Tower. The photographs and video footage they captured have entered
public consciousness as perhaps the defining images of 9-11, for it was these
images, together with those of the collapse of the towers, which were beamed
around the world and replayed constantly on TV in the days that followed.
The images of the second impact therefore represent
a treasure trove of evidence for the 9-11 investigator, yet this is not altogether
reflected in the amount of attention and analysis they have so far received.
It is almost as though their very familiarity, borne of exposure to countless
replays, has dulled our investigative curiosity. Whatever the reason, it is
certainly the case that almost three years after the event, there still remains
some important, but largely overlooked, evidence that casts valuable light
on the true nature of this incident. There is so much in fact that it is difficult
to know where to start.
Perhaps as good a place to start as any is with
the scar that the second plane created in WTC2's facade and the official attitude
towards it. Because the South Tower burned so intensely and because it collapsed
only an hour after the impact, there are very few photographs in the public
domain that provide a clear view of the scar when it was not obscured by thick
smoke. There are some however and one of the best available is reproduced
below.
As in the case of the first plane's impact with
WTC1 (discussed here), official nervousness and
lack of candour concerning the second plane and the scar it created is evident
in FEMA's 'World Trade Center Building Performance Study', available in PDF
format from www.house.gov/science/hot/wtc/wtcreport.htm.
Section 2.2.2.1 of Chapter 2 of the report concerns itself with the initial
damage sustained by WTC2 and depicts the scar in following diagram:
Comparing this diagram with the photograph above,
it becomes immediately apparent that FEMA's depiction of the scar is wildly
inaccurate, in terms of both its size and shape. Using the vertical pillars
of the box columns as a guide — these are clearly visible in the photograph
and depicted also in the diagram — it is a straightforward enough task to
confirm that the real scar measured about 37 pillars across. According to
FEMA however the scar measured a mere 23 pillars in width, less than two-thirds
of the true figure. It is clear also that FEMA's rendition of the shape of
the scar is way off the mark.
Using the photograph above as a reference, I have
redrawn the scar to create an approximation of how FEMA's diagram would have
appeared had that organization been motivated by honesty and accuracy in this
matter. My revised version of the diagram is shown below:
How different it is. Apart
from the greatly increased size, note how the right 'engine hole' suggested
by the FEMA diagram has all but disappeared. By superimposing a to-scale outline
of a Boeing 767 over the revised scar (below) we get further insights into
why FEMA elected to be so grossly misleading in this matter.
To the left of where the left engine struck for
instance is a somewhat larger hole. In FEMA's shrunken rendition of the scar
this larger hole is clearly intended to be inferred as the hole caused by
the left engine. The revised diagram shows also a large and anomalous cavity
immediately below the plane's fuselage, yet this portion of the scar does
not feature in FEMA's diagram at all. In the photograph it can be seen that
this area of the scar is filled with debris from the plane; FEMA chooses to
present this area as an undamaged part of the building. This rather interesting
debris will be looked at more closely later.
Whatever it was that hit the South Tower, it seems
that FEMA is keen to misrepresent the impression it made on the building.
From this we may reasonably infer that FEMA is keen to misrepresent the nature
of the plane itself.
So what did hit the South Tower? To answer this
question we must look closely at all the photographic and video evidence that
is available. Examination of these images shows there is good reason to believe
that the plane was something other than United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing
767 that had departed Boston's Logan Airport at 08.14 earlier that morning.
Take for instance the speed of the
plane. Analysis of the video footage suggests that the plane was travelling
at 590 mph when it hit the building. This is not far off the top cruising
speed of a 767, but a regular 767 can only achieve such speeds when it is
flying at high altitude. At sea level, where the air is much denser and offers
far greater resistance, 590 mph is far beyond the capability of a 767. This
casts doubt on whether the plane was powered by the Pratt and Whitney engines
normally used on 767s and suggests a power plant of a type more usually found
on military aircraft.
Close scrutiny of the photographs
and video footage reveals other anomalies. Those in which the underside of
the plane is visible show that it is carrying an anomalous device beneath
its right wing root and that equally anomalous pipe work connects this device
with the tail section of the plane. The device (or 'pod'
as it has become known) also has a nozzle sticking out at the front. Footage
captured by CNN and ABC (below) show these features particularly clearly.
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Enhanced still
from CNN
video showing 'pod', pipe work and burst of flame from nozzle.
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Still from ABC
footage showing plane from different angle with 'pod' clearly visible.
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As the plane's nose touches the building we see
the apparatus come into action. At this moment a bright burst of flame is
emitted from the device's nozzle. The CNN clip captures this with great clarity.
There is another interesting piece of evidence concerning the burst of flame
that unfortunately I am unable to reproduce here because it is too faint and
subtle to survive the digitization process. It is available however to anyone
who has a sharp analogue (eg VHS) copy of the CNN clip. In the frame immediately
before that in which the the burst of flame occurs, the nozzle can be seen
to emit a burst of grey vapour. This vapour then ignites to form the flame.
It would seem that this burst of vapour is the device's own fuel supply priming
prior to ignition. It would seem also that the production of the brief burst
of flame is the device's sole purpose. You clearly need some rather specialized
equipment reliably to produce a burst of flame from the front of an aircraft
flying at almost 600 mph.
But what is it for? In
an earlier article I suggested that the device was
a form of ignition system, a hi-tech flame-thrower of sorts. I associated
the device and its burst of flame with the massive fireball that resulted
from the impact. I postulated that the plane itself was filled with fuel and
that the burst of flame, produced by the device, ensured that this vast, flying
reservoir of fuel exploded in a timely and suitably photogenic manner. There
are however problems with this interpretation. I can see no reason for instance
why such an ignition device, if one were needed, had to be placed so conspicuously
on the exterior of the plane. It seems to me that a rather less eye-catching
mechanism for achieving the same purpose could have been situated inside the
plane. While not wholly discounting my original interpretation, I have nonetheless
had cause to rethink the issue of the device's purpose on the basis of additional
evidence that I shall look at later in this article.
For the time being I would like to take issue with
the notion, which has gained some currency of late, that the plane fired a
missile at the building prior to impact. As far as I can see the photographic
and video evidence offers little to support this hypothesis. Unlike in the
case of the first plane, there is no telltale explosion immediately before
impact; all we see is a small burst of flame emanating from the device's nozzle.
And as far as I am aware, missile launchers don't normally require lengths
of tubing leading to the rear of the plane. Some support for the 'missile'
theory has been drawn from a piece of footage taken by a German TV camera
crew at the scene, the relevant stills from which are reproduced below.
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Stills from German
TV footage clearly showing the nozzle and the burst of flame. Does
it also show a missile?
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It certainly provides a fine view of the nozzle
and the burst of flame, but does it show more than this? The second of these
frames has been cited in some quarters as evidence of a missile being fired,
but examination of this frame, in the context of those immediately before
and after, shows that this is not the case. The apparent 'projectile' is simply
a ghostly, superimposed image of the device's nozzle as it appears in the
third frame. If you look closely you can also see a faint image of the plane's
airframe, positioned exactly as it is in the third frame. This effect is a
consequence of 'interleaving', whereby two adjacent frames are superimposed
one over the other in order to create a new, intermediate frame. The digitized
version of the German footage contains several other examples of this process,
which helps make movie clips with a low frame-rate play more smoothly.
But what do the real sceptics say? Even within
the 9-11 investigative community there is some resistance to accepting the
existence, let alone the implications, of the anomalous forms seen on the
underside of the second plane. For some, it is all too fanciful and incredible
to be given serious consideration; we shouldn't even discuss it for fear of
alienating the wider public. When they get down to the nitty gritty, the sceptics
put forward three substantive objections.
The first is that the alleged device is simply
a reflection (from the right engine perhaps), or some other trick of the light.
This objection can be dismissed on the grounds that the 'pod' is visible from
several angles (see for instance the two stills from the CNN and ABC footage
above) and in each instance it is located in precisely
the same place on the plane. Also, the device catches the sunlight at the
same moment as the engines and casts its own shadow. We are looking at a physical
object here, not a transient optical effect resulting from the chance interaction
of camera angle and sunlight.
The second objection is that the device and the
piping are simply aspects of the plane's paintwork and form part of the United
Airlines livery. In response to this I would simply draw your attention to
the following image. Those drawn to the 'trick of the light' theory may also
wish to look at it closely. It is an enhanced
still from the CNN clip showing the plane in the latter stages of its penetration
into the building.
Note that, just like the engines,
the anomalous device is leaving its own, slightly smaller, scar in the facade.
Note too how the enhancement highlights the anomalous pipe work attached to
the tail-section of the plane. Whatever the objects are they are clearly something
more substantial than paintwork or a trick of the light.
The third objection of which I am
aware is that the objects are in fact standard features of a Boeing 767. Anyone
tempted to pursue this line might be advised carefully to ponder the significance
of the Boeing Corporation's response when asked by Spain's La Vanguardia newspaper
for its comments on the objects. La Vanguardia's edition of 22nd June 2003
(English translation available here)
reports that:
"...a spokesman stated that Boeing was unable
to offer an opinion "for security reasons" and because it had not officially
participated in the investigation of the attacks".
A rather curious response for a company that believed
it was looking at regular and identifiable items of its own equipment.
Sceptics might also be well advised to take a much
closer look at that photograph of the scar, blow it up a little and see what's
to be found nestling inside. To assist in this exercise and help us get our
bearings, I've superimposed a scaled image of the plane penetrating the building
over the scar and circled in red the impact points of the two engines and
the 'pod'.
By removing the superimposed plane but retaining
the circles, we are left with an accurate indication of where these three
objects struck the building. Examination of these particular parts of the
scar reveal some very interesting details indeed.
In the image below I have included enlarged details
of those parts of the scar that correspond with the impact points of the engines
and the 'pod'. The details have been sharpened a little and the brightness
and contrast increased to aid clarity.
Firstly, we can see that just where the left engine
struck, an object looking suspiciously like an engine is sitting, largely
intact, just a few feet inside the building. A similar object is to be seen
very close to where the right engine struck. This is perhaps what you might
reasonably expect, were it not for the fact that an engine, purportedly from
the plane, was found at the junction of Church Street and Murray Street immediately
after the attack.
The area of the scar where the 'pod' struck reveals
yet more evidence about the plane that hit the tower. This is the part of
the scar that FEMA prefers not to acknowledge. Here we can clearly see a rather
interesting collection of pipe work. Not solid, rectangular sections of the
building's own box columns, but hollow, tubular pipe work. Several sections
of pipe work in fact, of differing sizes and welded together. To its right
we can also see a mangled collection of other curious objects, including what
looks like a support bracket and other bits and pieces. I would suggest we
are looking here at remnants of the pipe work attached to the plane's underside
— perhaps from near the tail-section — and the devices used to attach it to
the plane.
There are some conspicuous absentees from the scar.
Although the engines and parts of the underside apparatus survived the impact
rather well, nothing of the plane's airframe seems to have done so. The wings,
tail and fuselage have totally disappeared, as if vaporized. It is notable
from videos of the impact that the plane appears to 'melt' into the building
as it strikes and, interestingly, this same word was used by several eyewitnesses
to describe the impact of the plane at the Pentagon. Here too, virtually no
debris from the plane was found and it is tempting to wonder whether the two
incidents are related, particularly on the matter of the composition of the
planes.
The photograph reveals other anomalies too. Notice
that the points where the engines struck form rather narrow parts of the scar.
Yet to the left of the left engine hole and to the right of the right engine
hole are much larger impressions, corresponding to the 'official' engine holes
implied in FEMA's diagram. What caused these larger holes? They are perhaps
suggestive that explosive devices were in carried in the plane's wings, the
purpose of which were to create these artificial 'engine holes'. Scrutiny
of full-length versions of the CNN clip shows these secondary explosions erupting
either side of the engines, shortly after the plane has passed through the
building's facade. And what are we to make of that strange, isolated outward
bulge to the right of the main scar and near to the building's edge? It seems
to have been caused not by the impact of the plane but by an explosive charge
inside the building, forcing the vertical pillars to bend outwards.
Far from being fanciful and incredible, I believe
the objects visible on the underside of the second plane are demonstrably
real and their remnants are available for all to see within the scar of the
South Tower. I believe also that these objects represent perhaps the strongest
and most compelling evidence in our possession that the true nature of September
11 was something radically different from the scenario suggested by the official
account.
There is further evidence concerning this particular
attack that helps us gain a more complete understanding of what really took
place. Several pieces of video footage, particularly
those that give a clear view of the northern and eastern walls of the South
Tower, show a very interesting event that occurred immediately after the impact.
Out of the NE corner of the building there
emerges a missile-shaped object that is propelled northwards across the plaza.
One of the best videos that captures this event was that taken by the Gamma
Press and a copy may be downloaded here
(1.8 Mb). Webfairy has also produced a shorter, edited version of this clip,
focusing on this 'missile' event, which is available here
(108 Kb). The two images below — the first a still from the Gamma Press video
and the second a photograph taken by an AP photographer at the scene — clearly
capture the emergence and flight of this object.
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'Missile' emerging
from NE corner of WTC2
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'Missile' in flight
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What is this object and where did
it come from? While proponents of the view that the plane fired a missile
prior to impact might argue that this lends further support to their argument,
there is much to suggest that this not the case. Firstly, the object appears
too large to have originated from the plane. Judging by the still above and
the photograph of its exit hole (below), the object was at least the height
of one storey in diameter, far larger than anything seen attached to the plane.
Secondly, the object emerges out of WTC2 in a seemingly pristine state. Had
it been fired from the plane it would, by the time it emerged from NE corner,
already have passed through four walls of the building. To do this without
detonating or losing its immaculate torpedo-like form is, I would argue, implausible.
I would argue indeed that the object
is not a missile at all, at least not in the usual sense of the word. This
is because, although the object has a missile-like appearance, it simply does
not behave like one. It does not detonate and explode for instance; there
are no reports of a large secondary explosion in the vicinity of the plaza
that could be attributed to this 'missile' and there is no video evidence
that suggests this either. Also, if you follow closely the course of the 'missile'
as it flies across the plaza (you need the full-length version of the Gamma
Press video to do this) it can be clearly seen to disintegrate in flight,
leaving by the end only a rather small, dark core object to complete the trajectory
to its (non-explosive) resting place somewhere to the north of the tower.
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Exit hole in NE
corner of WTC2
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Engine found in
street
after WTC2 attack |
So if the object is not a missile,
what is it? The official account of course would have us believe that the
object is one of the plane's engines, smashing its way through the building
and coming out the other side. This explanation however can be readily disproved;
both the plane's engines can be seen sitting largely intact just inside the
scar in the building and, in any case, those stills and photographs show something
far bigger than a Pratt and Whitney engine emerging from the building. Nonetheless,
I believe this explanation is not quite as far off the mark as we might think.
Parts of an aircraft engine were of course
found in the vicinity after the attack on the South Tower, at the junction
of Church Street and Murray Street. The Naudet Brothers' documentary '911'
records the discovery of this debris shortly after the impact. These engine
parts had to come from somewhere.
It is interesting to note that the
trajectory of the 'missile' northwards across the plaza corresponds rather
neatly with the point where this debris was found, suggesting that the arrival
of the debris was indeed intimately connected with the 'missile'. The diagram
below illustrates this.
I would suggest that the object that emerged from
the NE corner of the South Tower was in fact a canister containing items of
appropriate 'debris', which was propelled from the building to lend credence
to the notion that a regular passenger jet hit WTC2. And if this canister
did not originate from the plane we must conclude that it was already planted
in the corner section of the tower before the attack, to be fired out at the
requisite moment. That it was a pre-planted device is strongly suggested both
by its pristine condition when it emerges and its exit from the exact corner
of the building.
If this is the case then it raises some rather
tricky technical issues. Not least is the timing and co-ordination of the
sequence. The timing of the object's emergence from the tower was in precise
accordance with the impact of the plane and it was preceded by an equally
well-timed salvo of explosions across the face of the east side of the tower,
as the video clips clearly show. If, as I believe, these too were caused by
pre-planted explosives then the co-ordination seems too impeccable to have
been the work of a human operative pushing buttons. We are surely witnessing
here the workings of an automated system, with the trigger being the plane
itself.
Several commentators have noted the apparent differences
between the first and second planes in the manner in which they approached
their respective targets. While the first plane approached WTC1 with smooth,
seemingly pre-programmed precision, there is by contrast something distinctly
erratic about the second plane's arrival at its target. It approached at an
extraordinarily high speed and had to perform a sharp bank to left in the
final seconds in order to avoid missing the tower altogether. These observations
have led some to conclude that the first plane was flown using cruise navigation
technology while the second was under some form of remote, manual control,
perhaps using the Global Hawk system.
This of course has important implications for the
theory that the 'missile' emerging from the NE corner of the tower was already
in situ prior to the impact of the plane. If the exact point of impact could
not be determined in advance, there would surely need to be several such 'missiles'
and other explosives planted on several floors, to ensure that those in the
appropriate position were activated when the impact came. It is quite possible
however that the approach of the second plane was not as erratic as the footage
suggests. It is possible that the plane was targeted with the same deadly
accuracy as the first and its banking manoeuvre was no more than an intentional
final flourish to further reinforce the impression of a manually piloted plane.
If this is the case then the strategy was misjudged, for it was this manoeuvre
that enabled the waiting media to record for posterity the mysterious apparatus
on the underside of the plane.
In any event, the issue of the 'missile' ejected
from the corner of WTC2 has given me cause to rethink my interpretation of
the 'pod' and the burst of flame it produced. I now consider it possible (and
I am prepared to put it no more strongly than that) that the burst of flame
played a crucial role in setting off the sequence of explosions — and the
ejection of the 'missile' — that followed the impact. On the morning of September
11 the southern wall of WTC2 may have been scanned by infrared sensors wired
to a computerized detonation system. The heat from the burst of flame may
have triggered the activation of this system, ensuring the timely eruption
of the dazzling pyrotechnic display that followed. Since we know that over
the weekend prior to 9-11 the South Tower was subjected to a prolonged 'power down' during which much intensive and undocumented work took place, there
was certainly ample opportunity to install such a system. I may be straying
well into the realms of science fiction here, but it is nevertheless a result
only of the examination and analysis of all the rather excellent evidence
that is available.
To those seeking a safe and mundane explanation
of events at WTC2, a mild variation perhaps on the official account, I must
extend a big apology. I just cannot deliver on this occasion. It may indeed
be asking a lot of the general public to accept it, but I believe the evidence
is there for anyone who cares to look: the attack on the South Tower was one
of the most fantastical and audacious pieces of theatre ever set before the
viewing public.
The impact of the second plane, along with the
collapse of the towers, was above all a televisual event. It was timed and
planned to make an indelible impression in the minds of the millions who watched
the event over and over again on TV. If the idea of a remotely-controlled,
lookalike 767 filled with fuel, which triggers the scattering of fake debris
before creating a carefully contrived, spectacular explosion sounds just too
far-fetched to you, then perhaps you are not thinking about it in the right
way. For I suspect that if I were describing instead the making of the spectacular
finale of a Hollywood blockbuster you would simply smile knowingly at the
ingenuity of the film industry and think no more about it. The only difference
is that on this occasion the action was played out live (with no retakes)
and appeared in the TV shows scheduled as 'news'.
Extravagant film stunts and elaborate magic tricks
can be totally convincing. 'How did they do that?' we ask ourselves, thoroughly
perplexed. But implicit in the question is at least the knowledge that 'they'
are 'doing' something. Movie-makers and conjurers always have the courtesy
to announce themselves as such. But when their skills are used to create illusions
that are presented to us as stone-cold reality, how well-equipped are we to
see through the illusion? The answer is that we are not very well-equipped
at all. Because of this humanity is being guided, slowly and remorselessly,
towards an unknown and most probably very undesirable fate.
— Leonard Spencer
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Here are four views of the impact of the South Tower showing that most of the jet fuel burnt up outside the building, not inside.
 From the south. | ||
 From the east. |
 From the northeast. | |
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The two plane impacts (first the North Tower then the South Tower) were
quite different in one respect: The North Tower impact occurred without
warning was not meant to be recorded on video (although it was, in the Fireman's Video) whereas the South Tower impact was designed as a media spectacle.
It was timed to occur approximately fifteen minutes after the first
impact, when many video cameras (in particular, those of CNN) would be
trained on the Twin Towers. The plane probably had in its storage areas
(or in an external fuel tank attached to its right side) additional jet
fuel (even more than in its nearly-full fuel tanks), which was ignited with the help of a flame-production device or an incendiary missile
to cause a huge fireball of stunning magnitude — broadcast live on CNN
(and captured by many other cameras) and intended to produce shock and awe in the American public.
We've all been making the assumption that the fireball was produced by the jet fuel exploding. Might it actually have been more than jet fuel?
How about napalm? How about a fuel-air bomb? How about something
special that the U.S. Army special operations boys might have come up
with for this special occasion?
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| Background to this page: The South Tower Impact appeared on this website in 2002. Approximately mid-2004 I added to it a link to a page entitled Fireball: http://www.the-movement.com/essays/fireball.htm Sometime prior to 2005-12-24 that page became unavailable. A check of the Wayback Machine reveals that all copies except for one are also unavailable, and the one that is has no images of fireballs. Fortunately I saved the page, and in order to preserve an interesting document (and to counter ongoing attempts to remove incriminating 9/11 evidence from the web) I reproduce it here in full. I am not aware of the name of the author. Half of America (the intelligent half) now knows that the 9/11 attacks could not have been carried out by a ragtag bunch of Arabs, and that whoever planned and executed this operation must have had the help of (or were part of) the U.S. military and the secret agencies, and that this operation must have been directed by individuals at high levels in the U.S. government. The evidence of this (persuasive evidence) was available already in 2002, but most Americans did not want to know about it (and many are still afraid of finding out). The conseqences of not demanding a real investigation into the events of 9/11, and thus the consequences of allowing the 9/11 murderers and traitors to remain in power, are now starting to dawn on even the dumbest American (well, maybe not all of them). A bit late. As to why the attacks of 9/11 occurred, the short answer is that it was to further the multi-generational program of the capitalist power elite for world domination (and where there are a few masters there are also many slaves). |
This is a special effects fireball.
Here is another one. You could lose your eyebrows if you weren't careful.
Could this be another one?
"Here's how your average fuel-air bomb works: A warhead containing a canister of aerosol liquid such as ethylene oxide or an explosive powder is dropped on a target. "A small initial explosive charge bursts this canister at a predetermined height, allowing the contents to form a concentrated explosive vapor cloud. This cloud is then ignited by a second, larger charge, to generate an intense fireball and blast overpressure. . . ."
Here's a fireball from a plane NASA crashed in the desert which is a little smaller:
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/CID/HTML/index.html
Several correspondents have sent this photo to me before, I've thought most of the objects on the side and base of the plane could simply be the sun shining on the fuselage. However:
and should be compared with the images above.
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