Random 9/11 Conspiracy Theories (19 items)

• (#8) 'Thermite Destroyed The World Trade Center'

  One of the key points of September 11th controlled demolition conspiracy theories is the use of thermite to cause the detonation. Various other sites call this "nano-thermite" or "thermite paint" or "thermite straps" - most of which are either theoretical or are only in research stages.

  The purpose of thermite is to use heat to cause an extremely quick-burning and high-temperature exothermic reaction - exactly the type of thing that could be set off by burning jet fuel. Iron microspheres were found in the detritus of the WTC, which theorists say could only be caused by thermite reactions.

  However, iron microspheres aren't evidence of a thermite reaction - only of a reaction involving heat and iron. And much of the WTC was iron, including a large part of the structure. Such spheres are the natural byproduct of the softening and melting of iron, and were expected to be found in the rubble. Beyond that, nobody has actually proven how a thermite reaction would cause the collapse of the towers, nor has anyone admitted to planting any sort of thermite device.
• (#10) 'The Pentagon Was Hit By A Missile, Not Flight 77'

  This is an extremely popular conspiracy theory, but putting aside the usual questions about theories like this (Who fired it? Where did it come from? Why did nobody see it before it hit?), this is based on a simple bit of misinformation - that the exterior of the Pentagon didn't "look" like it was hit by a plane.

  Except it did. Pictures of the crash site clearly show the hole where the plane's fuselage hit the building, and corroborating evidence shows how all five layers of the Pentagon were damaged, not just the outer wall. The damage done to the building simply couldn't have been done by any rocket that wouldn't have destroyed the entire building. Not only that, but the front lawn of the Pentagon was scattered with huge amounts of wreckage that corresponds to the pieces of an airplane. Such wreckage was also found in the building itself - all of it matching up perfectly to a 767 jet plane.

  There's also the matter of the missing plane and the missing passengers. If a projectile was fired at the Pentagon, what happened to Flight 77 and its passengers? Unless you believe all of these were faked in a massive conspiracy that has no paper trail, then you have to stick with the "original story" - that the Pentagon was hit by Flight 77.
• (#17) 'September 11th Was A False Flag To Start The Iraq War'

  Members of the Bush administration, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and President Bush himself, have all been accused of planning September 11th as a "new Pearl Harbor" to galvanize support for a conflict in Iraq. While the description is real, it's been taken out of context by conspiracy theorists.

  The line, used in a report by conservative think tank Project for a New American Century, says that only an event on the level would allow for the societal transformation they were seeking. It's more a statement of fact than a wish. As it stands, the wheels to invade Iraq were already turning, September 11th just made them turn faster. The strikes were seized on as an opportunity to do what Bush sought to do anyway - invade Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein - not a reason to do it in the first place.
• 

  (#2) 'The Government Allowed It To Happen'

  An alternative version of the strikes being an inside job held by some conspiracy theorists is that the government didn't actively plan them, but knew they were going to happen and allowed them to. This theory has little to corroborate it other than certain coincidences and failures of intelligence.

  The most damning piece of evidence is that the Bush administration was given a memo several weeks before the incident claiming that Osama Bin Laden was planning a strike in the United States, but even that document (which was declassified in 2004) had no concrete information on where or when it would take place - only that it might.
• (#18) 'Conspiracy Theories About September 11th Are Themselves Government Disinformation'

  Conspiracy theories almost always beget other conspiracy theories. So it's not surprising that many September 11th truthers believe that much of what the movement holds as factual is actually disinformation pumped out by the perpetrators of the strikes.

  They believe that by filling the movement with outlandish nonsense, the plotters obscure the real research going on into what "really" happened that day. Furthermore, they posit that many truthers are actually paid shills working for the government to spread lies and discredit actual truth-seekers. Essentially, this is an argument between truthers over who is actually right. "Anyone who disagrees with me is a paid shill" is a common sentiment among conspiracy theorists, and applies to everyone - even their fellow theorists.
• 

  (#4) 'WTC 7 Was Destroyed By A Controlled Demolition'

  People watching the aftermath of September 11th were shocked when World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed, despite not being hit by either of the planes. A conspiracy theory started almost immediately that the building had been wired with charges and destroyed on the order of building owner Larry Silverstein, who ordered it "pulled."

  While WTC 7 wasn't hit by a plane, it was hit by a large amount of detritus, including the perimeter columns of one of the Twin Towers, which tore a massive gash in the side of the structure. Building 7 also had a large amount of burning jet fuel hit it, which started fires that were never put out due to failures in the sprinkler system because of water lines broken in the incident. Finally, the infamous "pull it" quote doesn't relate to some kind of demolition charge, but to the firefighting team trying to put the blaze out. The technical term for demolishing a building isn't "pull," but "shoot" or "blow."

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking