Position Statement

We believe in honesty. We try to be open minded. I personally have honestly considered (and at one time or the other truly believed) both sides of this very sensitive subject. While the main purpose of this website is not to promote my personal agenda regarding the topic of 9/11 but to provide a central location where people who are interested can quickly and easily find the research materials to formulate opinions for themselves, we are without question bringing a certain bias to my presentation of the evidence regarding 9/11.

We hope dearly that those who are asking the question "what is the truth behind 9/11?" would think to never believe or rely on one single source. It is, in fact, the practice of the wisest and of those who really, truly want to know the truth (not people who only seek evidence that supports what they already want to believe) to intentionally find more than one source that takes all major sides of any argument. Reviewing all available raw data is equally important. On this site, not only have we shared articles that argue in favor of one side, but we have provided links, embedded videos, opinions, and raw evidence that presents both sides of the argument over who was responsible for attack of 9/11/01. While we admit we are hoping to sway you a certain direction, we hope to do it the right way: not by withholding certain evidence and presenting only one side but by showing you both arguments with the confidence that a total review of the evidence favors a certain logical view.

The purpose of the following statement is to very clearly state what our beliefs are as who was actually behind the attack of September 11, 2001 and to provide you with a brief background that explains how I personally came to that belief. I would preface my story with a firm statement that I believe it is healthy to ask questions and be suspicious of what people in power tell you. I also believe that the smartest and wisest of skeptics will also always accept the possibility that they are wrong. A person who has blocked themselves to the idea that they could be wrong, about even some of the most fundamental and important beliefs, are people who are no longer able to grow. I am not 100% convinced I know the real truth about 9/11. It would be impossible for someone to make that claim. Anybody who does is probably someone whose opinion you should question. I admit that I still have questions. I am not entirely convinced. There are some holes to the story; that much is clear. But I do think the evidence supports certain elements that I believe are more likely to be true. Even I, however, admit I could be wrong. I wait for someone with a good enough case to convince me.

Like so many people who were alive on September 11, 2001 I watched the events of that terrible day unfold before my very eyes on live television. I was deeply affected by what I saw. The simple horror of what humans were capable of doing to each other was too much to even begin to comprehend. This feeling of deep sadness was accompanied by another feeling: one of deep, almost nauseating dread. Because I knew as soon as I turned on the news that someone was going to have to pay. I knew this meant war.

There was never an event in history like 9/11. People try to compare it to Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination. Certainly, it deserves to be placed on that level as a historical moment. But the way it went progressed--sudden in onset, lengthy in rising action, and rapidly becoming more horrific and chaotic-- allowed the whole event from just a few minutes after the start to well after the death and destruction was over to be presented live for millions to see across the globe. The attack was a symbolic gesture, using the very tools of western culture for both the physical act (planes, buildings) and for the psychological consequences (live media coverage). In this way it was a brilliantly planned and executed attack, no matter who you ultimately believe was responsible. For an American, this attack was deeply personal for these exact reasons. More so for me, I liked to believe, because I has stood personally on top of the South Tower in 1994 on a trip to New York City. It seemed almost as if we were being attacked by a traitor from within.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 I, like many, was torn with emotion. The world suddenly felt vulnerable and menacing. No longer was the United States an island of safety. On the other hand, I was determined not to let the terrorists (for at the time I hadn't even considered the official story might not be accurate) win. I flew internationally to South America only a month after 9/11. I wasn't going to let 9/11 stop me.

When Bush announced his ultimatum to Saddam Hussein in March 2003, I was appalled. Though I was angry over 9/11, I felt like this was an disgusting reach to use, even if indirectly, the attack of 9/11 and resulting swell in patriotic sentiment as means to invade a country whose direct involvement was clearly non-existent. I marched in anti-war rallies in my hometown, knowing it was useless. I had to at least let my voice be heard, if even by only a few ears, that I didn't believe in this invasion. That, however, is beyond the scope of this statement and this blog.

As the years went by, however, I thought less and less about what had happened on September 11. When the anniversary would come around sometimes I would notice and watch a special or two on the History Channel, recounting what had happened. Other times I the day went by and I wouldn't even notice. Then, at an after party at a wedding in 2008, somehow a semi-drunk conversation was steered into the direction of 9/11. A friend of mine became very angry and vigorous with his case that 9/11 was an inside job. Now at the time I can honestly say that I'd never really heard the case for the government doing it to their own people theory, and I admit it made me a bit mad. After the night was over, however,  I didn't think much about the conversation and another few years passed without me thinking about 9/11. A year or two later, however, the hook was set in me deeply and I began a long inquest into the details about the event. My interest renewed, I remember the argument I had had with my friend at the wedding. I rented and watched several documentaries online.

This was the point when I briefly became a "truther". I was a late arrival. The seemingly logical and convincing arguments laid out by the truthers were sharp enough to have me nearly convinced that something was amiss. What I would later call an obsession came over me, and I began to delve deeper and deeper, past all the major sources, into volumes of tedious survivor accounts, raw videos, analysis and even into many sub topics like the properties of steel the layout of a 767 and countless others. By the end I was convinced of a few things regarding the truth about 9/11 and some components of the 9/11 conspiracy theories:

1. There were hijacked commerical airplanes that crashed into both twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, PA.

I believe this because there were simply too many eye witnesses that saw and/or heard both planes. While you do occasionally hear eyewitnesses that said "missle" or "bomb", I believe this to be caused by the "fog of war". Nobody expects to see an airplane crash into a skyscraper, it is simply unprecedented  so out of the chaos and confusion of the attack, there was bound to be some misreports. The vast majority of witnesses, however, were convinced what they saw was an airplane. For all these reports to be staged, it would have required the participation of hundreds if not thousands across many national media outlets. I just don't see that type of cooperation as possible or logical: that many people would not have stood by to watch this murder happen and even participated in it. It is simply illogical.

2. There was no controlled demolition.

It simply doesn't look like a controlled demolition. There are no audible explosions, no patterened squibs. The building does not fall cleanly, the debris covers a huge area, and the towers did not "collapse cleanly into their footpront" as some conspiracy theorists have suggested. Some damage to nearby buildings had actually not been fixed for over five years. There was nothing clean about this destruction. The coordination again, to pull off this sort of operation would have required the compliance of large numbers of people. The more people involved the more chance there is for it to break down and someone to blow the whistle. Wires, detonation devices, etc were never found at the site. And while it was true that much of the debris did get recycled, it was a small portion. The rest is at the Fresh Kills Landfill (a rather terribly ironic name) in Staten Island.

3. Many Conspiracy Theorists are Presenting a Deceptive Argument

As my research grew deeper I encountered one simple fact over and over again: the "truthers" were presenting a narrow view of evidence and seemed to intentionally withholding and distorting certain aspects of the evidence. A common experience for me was seeing a quote or a video clip used by a truther, only to find it on debunking websites in entirety. The counter-movement, which included a broad spectrum of engineers, scientists and researchers, were clearly much more thorough and scientific. This made the decision as whom to believe quite easy really.

Basically, I believe Occam's Razor. To me most of the conspiracy theories are simply too complex, outrageous, and even downright illogical to be true. Talk of hologram planes, kidnapping 246 passengers on four airplanes forcing them to call their loved ones then executing them, and other such theories is utter nonsense to me. And really, it seems quite obvious that the extreme damage to the Twin Towers by the aircraft alone was more than adequate to bring the towers down on its own. Despite these things, however, notice the things I have NOT said I am convinced of. For one, I am not convinced that Osama Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11. I have never seen convincing evidence to support anyone being responsible for the attacks, so I open the possibility that IF the U.S government was directly involved it was through comissioning Atta and the hijackers to perform the attack, not coordinating some elaborate airplane farce. I am also not convinced that the government (even if they were NOT involved) used 9/11 honestly or morally as means to invade two countries (Afghanistan and Iraq).

Just like other great conspiracy theories, the possibility that the truth of 9/11 is being withheld from us is simply too thrilling to resist. Surveys suggest that a rather large percentage of Americans (though not more than 50% as some might try to convince you) have some doubt about the truth behind the events of that day. While the mainstream has accepted the story and moved on, the conspiracy movement has remained alive in chatrooms, blogs, and barroom banter. So what is the real truth? Somebody knows. For most of us, however, the only sad truth we can be sure of is that we will probably never know for sure.

Jeremiah Schmidt
Founder, editor TheRealTruth911