Setting The Record Straight

By Coco Masters

A lack of identifiable plane wreckage, among other anomalies, has helped fuel skepticism about the official explanation of Sept. 11 damage to the Pentagon, left. Here's more on that debate and a few other Internet-fueled conspiracy theories that still thrive

THE TOWERS' COLLAPSE

o THE CLAIM: Explosives brought down the Twin Towers. Critics of the official explanation point to such clues as the pattern and timing of dust and debris blown out from the floors, the vertical fall of the towers and two seismic tremors that coincided with their collapse.

o THE FACTS: The impact of the Boeing 767s damaged support columns and steel floor trusses, causing the inward collapse of perimeter columns, which pulled floors straight down. A misquote of a demolition expert propagated the explosives theory. Seismic spikes, caused by debris hitting the ground, were recorded 10 sec. after each tower started to fall.

THE MYSTERY OF WTC 7

o THE CLAIM: WTC 7 also contained explosives since fire alone has never felled a modern skyscraper. Authorities have delayed releasing a WTC 7 report to hide the truth.

o THE FACTS: A few critical elements--including damage on the south face, unusual structural design to accommodate a Con Edison substation, extreme weight bearing on floors, and long-burning diesel fuel leaked from large emergency generators--compromised WTC 7's structural integrity. The draft report is expected in early 2007.

HOLES IN THE PENTAGON

o THE CLAIM: A missile or smaller plane--not Flight 77--struck the Pentagon because the size of two holes (in Ring C and Ring E) were too small to have been made by a 757, which has a wingspan of nearly 125 ft.

o THE FACTS: Witnesses saw the 757 hit the Pentagon. The plane lost its wings when one hit the ground and the other slammed into the building's west wall before the Boeing's fuselage tore a 75-ft. hole in the outermost Ring E. The jet's landing gear caused the 12-ft. hole in inner Ring C. But to question Flight 77's demise is to question the fate of the 64 people onboard; the remains of all but one have been identified.

SCRAMBLE

o THE CLAIM: Fighter jets within range of the hijacked planes must have been under orders to stand down, since none from the 28 Air Force bases in the area was scrambled.

o THE FACTS: There are seven alert sites on the U.S. mainland, each with two active aircraft, that can scramble fighters. The 9/11 commission concluded that F-15s were scrambled within 6 min. of notification of the hijacking of Boston's Flight 11. Because hijackers had dismantled the planes' transponders, the F-15s could not identify the endangered aircraft. Details of the intercepts' performance are now being questioned.