VIDEO EVIDENCE: The South Tower Collapse

This famous video is perhaps the closest known angle to the collapse of the south tower. The person who filmed this is very lucky to be alive. A few things to notice: and :06 you can see one of the infamous "squibs" about five to ten floors below the main collapse. Is it air being compressed outward by the collapsing floors? Or is it evidence of explosions from a controlled demolition? At :11 the cameraman looks back at the collapsing tower after starting to run and you get an excellent, albeit brief, look at the first debris hitting the ground. It is obvious at least half the tower is left at this point which is about 10 seconds after the collapse began. Those that claimed the tower collapse in 9 seconds (or "free fall" speed) can't have watched this angle too many times, as it obviously takes almost double that amount of time.

EVIDENCE Betty Ong's Phone Call

Very chilling and very illuminating, the phone call from flight attendant Betty Ong on Flight 11 was one of the first indications that something was wrong on that fateful day. As you can see on the timeline this call was received at 8:19 am, 20 minutes after the airplane took off from Logan International Airport in Boston and 27 minutes before it crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The first four minutes of the phone call are recorded and the last 8 minutes are known through a recording of another call that was relaying Ong's words.

Conspiracy Theorists criticize this call, claiming either that it was performed by an actor or that Betty Ong made it under force and was told to lie. They point to her at first naming the wrong flight number as evidence as well as the calm, overly observant way which she gives details. Conspiracy theorists also wonder how something like mace could be sprayed in first class (as this call indicates and official story accepts) with enough density to deter the attendants from checking on the cockpit and yet not spread to the passengers in coach. It has also been questioned whether it was possible to make cell phone calls from altitude in 2001.

Believers in the official story question how the 232 passengers of Flights 11, 175, 93, and 77 could all disappear without a trace, and argue that the number of conspirators involved to either coerce a large number of these passengers, including Betty Ong, to make phone calls to loved ones and lie to them or fake all of these same calls makes this particular scenario implausible. Believers in the official story also believe that most calls were made not from cell phones but from credit card operated seat back phones located on most planes at that time.

The first 4 minutes of actual phone conversation followed by the last part as recorded on another:

NEWS COVERAGE: FOX News

The entire coverage of FOX News from 9/11/01/. Unfortunately I can only find this in 10 minute blocks but here they all are together here for your convenience:

PART 1: 8:53 to 9:02 (The first reports)

PART 2: 9:02 to 9:12 (The second impact)

PART 3: 9:12 to 9:22

PART 4: 9:22 to 9:32

PART 5: 9:32 to 9:42

PART 6: 9:42 to 9:52 (the first reports of the Pentagon)

PART 7: 9:52 to 10:02 (the collapse of the South Tower)

PART 8: 10:02 to 10:12

PART 9: 10:12 to 10:22

PART 10: 10:22 to 10:32 (the collapse of the North Tower)

PART 11: 10:32 to 10:42

There is more posted on youtube but this covers the main part of the day, the infamous "102 minutes" from the first plane crash to the collapse of the North Tower. I remember watching this live, flipping betweeen channels safely 2,500 miles away. Somewhere around the crash at the Pentagon and the collapse of the South Tower you can really feel the sense of chaos reaching its peak. At that point there was not one, not two, but three planes crashes. The coverage was spread across two of America's most important cities. It seemed like anything was possible. Nobody knew if there was going to be more planes and where they would strike. Nobody really knew anything. There was real anxiety for everyone across the entire country as we all watched it go down live. No matter what the real "truth" is, it will be a day that goes down forever in infamy.

Debunking 9/11: Free Fall Speed

One of the most popular myths regarding the horrific attacks on 9-11-01 was that the two towers fell at "free fall speed," supposed proof that the building did not collapse due to the accident but were brought down by a controlled demolition. A simple review, however, of the evidence shows this just isn't true....

Free-fall speed is the rate in which an object falls when it encounters zero resistance, as would be the case if all of a buildings core columns were taken out by a controlled demolition. A simple review of the videos from that day, however, show that neither of the towers fell at that speed. The following video does a great job showing the fallacy of "free fall speed" theory:

As you can see both buildings fall considerably slower than the claims by conspiracy theorists that they fell at free fall speed (9 seconds). You can watch any video of the collapse and time it for yourself. 

A simple review of the raw evidence makes it clear that the claims that the towers fell at free fall speed are simply erroneous While that is not proof that 9/11 was not a conspiracy, it simply eliminates that as evidence of a government plot.

World Trade Center, New York, aerial view March 2001. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Multimedia Timeline of Events of September 11, 2011

5:45 am Mohammed Atta clear security in Portland, Maine and flies Colgan Air to Boston.

6:45 am Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari arrive at Logan International Airport.

7:35 am Atta and Omari board American Airlines Flight 11.

7:59 am American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with 81 passengers and 11 crew members takes off for Los Angeles (LAX).

8:14 am Flight 11 disobeys orders from air traffic controllers, indicating that it has been hijacked.

8:14 am United Airlines Flight 175, another Boeing 767 with 56 passengers and 9 crew members, takes off from Logan International Airport in Boston bound for Los Angeles (LAX).

8:19 am Flight attendant Betty Ong makes a frantic call from Flight 11 claiming people have been stabbed and the plane is likely been hijacked. She identifies the seat numbers of the assailants

8:20 am The FAA decides that Flight 11 has likely been hijacked. At about the same time, American Airlines Flight 77 departs from Washington Dulles bound also for Los Angeles with 58 passengers and 6 crew members.

8:24 am A strange broadcast comes from Flight 11 saying: "We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport." It is believed Atta thought he was communicating with the passengers in coach but keyed the wrong mic by accident.

8:25 am Boston Flight Center notifies other Air Traffic Control centers about Flight 11.

8:34 am NORAD is notified of the hijacking and two F-16s are scrambled for intercept. About this same time another transmission is received from Flight 11 stating: "Nobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."

8:41 am Flight 175 reports seeing Flight 11 and hearing a "suspicious transmission", evidence Flight 175 was aware of the hijacking.

8:42 am United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 37 passengers and 7 crew, takes off from Newark International Airport headed for San Fransisco Airport.

8:44 am Flight attendant Amy Sweeney makes a call to American Airlines Flight Services, talking to Michael Woodward. The call is cut off sharply 2 minutes later.

8:46 am Two F-16s are airborne and searching for target which is difficult to find because it has switched its transponder off and is flying below radar coverage at this point.

8:46:30 am Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center between floors 93 and 99 going approximately 466 miles per hour.

The Jules Naudet footage:

Good audio and footage of tower within seconds of first crash:

8:48 am The first live images are broadcast on national television with virtually all major networks tuned in by 8:51.

"As it Happened" The first news bulletins of the attack:

8:51 am A flight controller at the New York Center notices Flight 175 has changed its transponder code.

8:52 am Lee Hanson receives a call from his son Peter on Flight 175 saying he believes it has been hijacked. A flight attendant also calls the United Airlines center telling them of the hijacking and claiming that both pilots and a flight attendant had been killed.

8:54 am Flight 77 deviates from its assigned course over Ohio.

8:55 am President George Bush is informed while in an elementary school classroom of the first plane crash.

9:01 am A manager at the New York air traffic control office calls the ATC command center in Virginia, saying "We have several situations going on here. It's escalating big, big time. We need to get the military involved with us. . . We're, we're involved with something else, we have other aircraft that may have a similar situation going on here."

9:03:02 am Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower between floors 77 and 85 traveling approximately 590 miles per hour

As it Happened footage of Second Impact:

9:03 am FAA notifies NORAD that Flight 175 has been hijacked, unaware that it has just crashed.

9:04 am FAA in Boston halts all departures within its jurisdiction.

9:08 am FAA bans all takeoffs nationwide

9:23 am Flight 93 receives message to "beware of any cockpit intrusion".

9:28 am Hijackers storm Flight 93's cockpit and hijack the plane. The intrusion is heard by air  traffic controllers in Cleveland.

9:37:46 am Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon at 530 miles per hour.

The impact at the Pentagon:

9:43 am The White House and Capitol Building are evacuated.

9:58:59 am The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes after being struck by a plane.

A very close up shot of the collapse:

10:03 am Flight 93, apparently overrun by passengers storming the cockpit, crashes into a field in Pennsylvania.

10:28:22 am The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses 102 minutes after being struck by Flight 11.

Video of the collapse of the North Tower from the Hudson River:

VIDEO EVIDENCE: The Fall of 7 WTC

One of the most controversial aspects of 9/11 is the fall of 7 WTC. Why did it fall? It wasn't hit by a plane. Some videos suggest that the  fires weren't even particularly intense. Conspiracy theorists call the collapse of 7 WTC as the "smoking gun" the proves a conspiracy. Skeptics point out that the building was badly damaged by the collapse of the Twin Tower particularly the North Tower. They also point to the fact that while most videos shot from the north (because no camera crews were able to get on the south side where the twin tower's rubble pile lay) show the building looking mostly intact, a few photos and videos from the north taken by firefighters show that the building was actually very badly damaged and a massive multi-floor fire engulfed it for most of the day. Here is one video taken of the building from the south.

Debunking 9/11: No Planes

One popular conspiracy theory is that there were no planes present on 9/11, that the damage to the buildings  was caused by either missiles, interior bombs, or unmanned military drones. This theory surfaces in a number of different ways, from there was no plane only at the Pentagon to all four planes were a complete fabrication edited in by complicit major networks simultaneously by delaying live coverage a few seconds. Other variations add hologram aircraft being projected into the sky to fool the bystanders in the streets too. The basic idea is that there was something deceptive about the planes we supposedly saw hit the towers that morning.

The main problem with this theory is the sheer number of eye witnesses who saw the plane coming. Watch enough raw video and while you of course hear some people who claim "bomb" or say "explosion" (both of which have been used as "evidence" by conspiracy theorists) the vast majority of witnesses in these videos seem positively certain that it was an airplane. There are even some witnesses who claim to have clearly seen the logos of the respective planes as they came in to crash. So-called "Fog of War" explains why we often get conflicting reports and some differing opinions in chaotic scenes such as these. It is difficult for the mind to comprehend details other than what is safe and what is not when adrenaline overtakes the body's functions.

Debunking "No Planes":

Argument for "No Planes"

All known angles of South Tower impact. Are all these faked?

CONSPIRACY EVIDENCE Loose Change

One of the leading films that popularized the conspiracy theories of 9/11 was the documentary Loose Change that raises some interesting questions about the official story on 9/11. Here is the "Final Cut" version of Loose Change in its entirety:

CNN: The Complete Broadcast

Included below is the entire raw broadcast of CNN covering the events of September 11, 2001. It is interesting to review the morning's events as it happened and see the way it was perceived as it transpired. The mis-information, the developing horror. It is all caught here in full:

NORAD RESPONSE: The Official recording

The Norad Response
-this is the official recording released by Norad recorded the morning of 9/11/01:

VIDEO: The South Tower Collapse

This shot, taken from the Trinity Church, shows the collapse of the South Tower from very close

VIDEO EVIDENCE: "As it Happened" Broadcasts The 2nd Impact

Some of the most interesting 9/11 video for me are the "As it Happened" playbacks of the live news coverage of the event. This video is a synopsis of these broadcasts as they broadcasted the second impact on live television:

VIDEO EVIDENCE The South Tower Impact "All Known Angles"

The following video claims to show the impact on the South Tower from all known angles. While I am not contesting this claim, I simply cannot confirm that it is 100% true. Regardless, it does show the crash from many angles, some of which are very well known and some that are less.

VIDEO EVIDENCE The First Plane

The Two Known Videos of the First Plane Crash:

Jules Naudet- A French-American who is said to be following a Probationary Firefighter in Manhattan to make a documentary about the process of becoming a member of FDNY. His remarkable footage, taken in the presence of several other eye witnesses and one high-ranking FDNY officer:

Pavel Hllava- An immigrant worker from the Czech Republic claims to have been filiming the towers while driving along and realizing upon viewing his forgotten footage later her caught the backside of the north tower as it is being hit by Flight 11:

VIDEO: The South Tower Attack in Slow Motion

This amazing video is one of the closest and most clear shots of the crash of Flight 175 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center (2 WTC). In this version of this famous clip, the video has been slowed way down, stretching the couple seconds of this impact into a full minute. There are a couple of things that are particularly interesting about this video. One of the claims by conspiracy theorists is that this angle clearly shows a strange "package" attached to the bottom of the craft that is not usually present on a Boeing 767. Others claim that this addition is actually a missile or a bomb. Others claim that the entire plane is simply a hologram. Believers of the official story, however, cite the large number of eyewitnesses who saw the plane approaching and strike the building as incontrovertible evidence that the official story is accurate. Some conspiracy theorists believe that the plane is real but is some sort of military drone, not United Airlines Flight 175, as the official story claims. The problem with that theory is then what happened to Flight 175? I pose the question to those who believe this isn't Flight 175, why would the government hijack the airplane coerce the people on board to make phony calls to their loved ones and kill all of them only to send a missile (or nothing) into the building? And if they were going to do a controlled demolition anyway, why send the missile or plane into it at all? Why not just blow up the building and call it a terrorist bomb? The more elaborate the conspiracy theory, in my opinion, the less likely it is to be true. The most likely conspiracy, if there is one, would be to simply commission someone to carry out the attack. The least amount of deception and lying the more likely it is to succeed.

Anyway, here is the video for you to judge for yourself: