The World Before: Remembering WTC Before 9/11

This page is dedicated to the World trade center before September 11th. We have done our best to collect photos and videos from the facility as it operated normally for the vast majority of its almost 30 year occupancy. We feel it is important to remember the old World Trade Center for its good things and not for its one terrible day.

Photos from inside the WTC
Videos of World Trade Center
Windows on the World Gallery

NEWS COVERAGE: NBC News 9/11/01

NBC's news coverage from the morning of September 11, 2011:

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(for some reason I am not able to embed this video. Please view this link to see this portion of the coverage)

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Debunking 9/11: Controlled Demolition Theory

One of the major and prevailing conspiracy theories regarding September 11th is the theory that the buildings were brought down by a carefully orchestrated controlled demolition using pre-planted explosives and high-tech thermite plasma to bring down the buildings. The plane crash alone, though often controlled demolition believers do not believe there was a plane crash, did not generate enough damage to cause the building to collapse according to these theorists. They cite the fact that of numerous high-rise fires throughout the world in history, no high-rise building has ever suffered complete collapse. The collapse itself is also scrutinized, saying that it occurred much too quickly and cleanly to have been a "natural" event. Let us examine the collapses, however, and compare them to a controlled demolition and see how they compare.

There are aspects of the collapse of the Twin Towers that do in fact resemble a controlled demolition. There are other aspects, however, that do not. Let's examine some of the main claims of evidence of controlled demolition:

1. Vertical collapse into building's footprint
2. "Squibs" visible as evidence of explosions
3. buildings collapse at free fall speed
4. Evidence of explosions to sever columns
5. Collapse beginning at the base of tower

Let's start with a quick refresher of the two collapses:

South Tower Collapse:

North Tower collapse:

I. VERTICAL COLLAPSE INTO BUILDING'S FOOTPRINT
It is true that both the north and south towers collapsed with somewhat vertical trajectory, this is due more to their structure than anything else. The buildings were not rigid, like a falling tree, but composed of thousands and thousands of relatively small steel beams. When the joints were overloaded the crumbled as it did not have the structural integrity to remain rigid as it fell to one side. As far as collapsing into its footprint, the collapse was actually not very clean at all and the debris was scattered over a huge area and took over eight months to clean up. Buildings damaged by the collapse were still being repaired and/or demolished five or more years after the initial damage. This was no clean, controlled collapse.

II. "SQUIBS" SEEN DURING COLLAPSE ARE A SIGN OF EXPLOSIONS

DOCUMENTARY: 9/11 by Jules & Gedeon Naudet

9/11 has been considered one of if not the most crucial documentaries about the 9/11 attack. The story goes that two French-American filmmakers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet, set out to shadow a probationary firefighter in Manhattan as he undergoes the process of becoming an actual firemen. They just so happen to be shadowing this probationary firemen when the thrown into the heart of the rapidly unfolding events of 9/11.

This film is interesting in that provides the only known footage of the first plane collision from the front as well as the only known footage from inside the twin towers, as Jules Naudet was present in the command post underneath the North Tower and survived the collapse of the South Tower from that position. The documentary also includes footage of the second plane crash filmed by Gedeon.

Conspiracy theorists suggest that this too goo to be true scenario is just that. Jules Naudet struck the lottery when he was able to record a direct angle of the first plane's collision. Theorists sometimes claim that this perfectly aligned footage is simply too good to not be faked. This notion, however, implies foreknowledge not only by the two brothers, but most likely also by the firemen whom they were with. Here the documentary is brought to theRealTruth911 Theater for your enjoyment:

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VIDEO EVIDENCE: South Tower Attack

A good angle of the crash into the South Tower by an amateur videographer. A man set up his camera on a tripod and left the room and caught this footage:

Conspiracy Opinion: Blueprint for Truth

Richard Gage's Blueprint for Truth, another popular conspiracy opinion brought here for you to make your own opinion about. Be sure to check out Chris Mohr's rebuttal to this video to see both sides:

VIDEO EVIDENCE: North Tower Collapse from Hudson River

This rare and unique video shows the collapse of the North Tower from a boat on the Hudson River. This angle shows a slightly different perspective on the collapse and is especially unique because you can see the entire trade center from the top all the way to the bottom. A few things to note about this video: the collapse begins at 1:44 on the video, at 1:53 (the "free fall speed" of nine seconds) about half the building is clearly still standing, at 2:07 you can see a chunk of the core still standing (it stays perfectly still for a while then falls at 2:14). It seems to me that the collapse isn't completely over until  somewhere around 2:17, though it is hard to tell in all of that smoke. Clearly this collapse took longer than the South Tower's. This seems to make sense to me, as the North Tower was damaged higher up on the building and the initial failure occurred around 150 feet higher.

DEBUNKING: WTC 7

This is the best and most thorough argument I have found that debunks popular theories about WTC 7

DOCUMENTARY: Zero Hour

Another documentary aired on the History Channel in the United States and on the Discovery Channel in other countries. It includes interviews with survivors and plenty of footage:

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VIDEO EVIDENCE Purdue University Simulation

This accurate simulation shows the possible effects of an airplane with Flight 11's specs crashing into a building constructed like the World Trade Center. A fascinating and illuminating study.

NEWS COVERAGE: CBS News Coverage

The entire CBS news coverage starting quite early (8:30 am), which I find interesting. CBS picks the story up at 8:52, six minutes after the first impact. It is here in about 40 minute segments. They don't quite line up because they are from slightly different sources, but I believe everything is here.

Part 1: 8:30 to 9:12 (before the attack through the second impact)

PART 2: 9:12 to 9:54

PART 3: 9:54 to 10:36

(for some reason I am not able to embed this video so this is a link to it on you tube)

PART 4: (10:36 to 11:17 am)

CONSPIRACY EVIDENCE: Zero: An Investigation into 9/11

Another well put together documentary that questions certain aspects of the official 9/11 story.

VIDEO: the North Tower Collapse

The collapse of the North Tower as filmed by Etienne Sauret:

DOCUMENTARY: 102 Minutes that Changed America

This History Channel documentary includes stock footage and is cut virtually in real time for the duration between when the first plane struck and the North Tower collapsed.

DEBUNK: Chris Mohr's Rebuttal to Blueprint for Truth

Chris Mohr's well-researched and thorough rebuttal to Richard Gage's Blueprint for Truth. Be sure to check out the original at the link above to get both sides.

TIMELINE: A History of the World Trade Center Site

TIMELINE OF WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE

Early 1960's
The Twin Towers are designed by Minoru Yamasaki.

August 45, 1966 
Groundbreaking ceremony for first World Trade Center.

December 1972
North Tower is completed. Check out this documentary about their construction.

July 1973
South Tower is completed. The large amount of excavation required to dig foundations and sub-level shopping mall is used to create Battery Park nearby.

August 7, 1974
French high wire performer Philippe Petit illegally strings a high wire between the two towers using a bow and arrow and a crew of co-conspirators and walks back and forth across the wire for 45 minutes. The feat is documented in the film Man on Wire.

February 13, 1975
A three alarm fire starts on the 11th floor of the North Tower and spreads to six other floors. Read about here in the NYtimes archives.

April 1976 
Windows on the World, a fine dining restaurant, opens on the 106th and 107th floors.

1983
Construction begins on WTC 7 developed by real estate magnate Larry Silverstein and partners.

March 1987
WTC 7 opens for tenants. Salomon Brothers, a Wall Street investment bank, is by far the largest tenant for most of the original WTC 7's lifespan.

February 26, 1993
A powerful car bomb explodes in the parking garage of the North Tower killing six people and injured hundreds if not thousands, mostly due to smoke inhalation. Omar Abdel Rahman and six others are convicted of carrying out the attack.

January 14, 1998
Ralph Guarino, a New Yorker with known mafia ties, orchestrates a robbery that nets over $2 million in the World Trade Center.

1998
The Port Authority decides to privatize the World Trade Center. After many offers, the bid was awarded to Vornado Realty Trust for $3.25 billion. The two sides, however, were not able to iron out details of the offer and the lease instead went to a group led by Larry Silverstein, a Manhattan real estate tycoon.

December 31, 2000
Windows on the World nets $37 million dollars in 2000, making it the highest grossing single restaurant in the United States.

September 11, 2001
Hijackers crash Flight 11 and Flight 175 into the North and South Towers respectively killing 2,753 in New York City. See detailed multimedia timeline for a close look at the events of that terrible day.

December 2001
Deep fires at the heart of the debris pile finally burn out

May 30, 2002
The last of the debris is removed from the site, now known as "Ground Zero". Ground is broken for the new WTC 7 right away, as crucial city infrastructure had been housed in the facility.

March 13, 2006
Construction begins on the September 11th Memorial

April 27, 2006
Groundbreaking ceremony for the new 1 WTC, known then as "Freedom Tower". WTC 7 is completed and opened about the same time.

June 1, 2010
Construction begins on 2 WTC. Though not as tall as WTC 1, 2 WTC is said to be the gem of the new world trade center. When completed it will be 1,270 feet tall with an antennae height of 1,359 feet.

April 30, 2012
One World Trade Center becomes the tallest building in New York City. The building is scheduled to be completed in 2013.



EXTERNAL LINKS

The World Trade Center official site
Wikipedia page about World Trade Center

VIDEO: The North Tower Collapse (NBC NEWS)

The collapse of the North Tower as seen on NBC News/ The History Channel:

VIDEO EVIDENCE: 2nd Plane Crash

Another chilling video that shows the 2nd plane coming in and the fireball immediately after. Notice a few things about this video: right at the beginning you can see a jumper falling from the left side of the North Tower, at :11 the camera jumps to the left and you catch a glimpse of the second plane coming in, at :13 the shaky camera settles out a bit and you can clearly see Flight 175 coming in, the plane disappears behind a building at :18, at :20 you see the fireball come out the other side.

NEWS COVERAGE: ABC NEWS

The full coverage by ABC as it happened of September 11, 2001:

HISTORY: The Construction of WTC

This documentary explores the design and construction of  the original WTC buildings. Interesting to watch to give a full understanding of the collapse and the damage sustained on 9/11/01. Brought to you directly in theRealTruth911 Theater.

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VIDEO EVIDENCE: The Collapse of 7 WTC

Another angle from a nearby highrise of the collapse of 7 WTC:

CONSPIRACY EVIDENCE September Clues

Here is an internet documentary that makes claims about a possible conspiracy during the events of September 11th. Opponents argue that the film withholds certain evidence, takes items out of context, and draws questionable conclusions. Watch the controversial video here in the RealTruth911 Theatre and form an opinion for yourself:

NEWS COVERAGE: BBC World News

It is interesting to get an international perspective, so here is the full coverage of September 11, 2001 on the BBC network. Unfortunately, we were only able to find the coverage in 10 minute blocks but here they are all together:

PART 1: The initial bulletin and second impact

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PART 8: The South Tower Collapse

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