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Did an aeroplane hit the Pentagon?

dh | 04.03.2002 22:52

It is said elsewhere that it actually hit a helipad attached to the building. This French site questions, from photographic evidence, whether the Pentagon was actually hit, or whether this was another case of controlled demolition. Anyway, surely this building would have had a missile defence system to guard against incoming strikes

Pentagon
Hunt the Boeing! And test your perceptions!
As everyone knows, on 11 September, less than an hour after the attack on the World Trade Centre, an airplane collided with the Pentagon. The Associated Press first reported that a booby-trapped truck had caused the explosion. The Pentagon quickly denied this. The official US government version of events still holds. Here's a little game for you: Take a look at these photographs and try to find evidence to corroborate the official version. It's up to you to Hunt the Boeing!

dh

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Lame beyond imagining

04.03.2002 23:13

Crosslink to another discussion on the topic:  http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=143190&group=webcast.

And the points I made there:

This is almost too silly for words. But not quite, so let me humbly present my answers to the questions they ask.
I might be wrong with some details - I've knocked this together in 15 minutes whereas the people who posted the website have had months to do their research, but here's my thoughts...

[1] "Can you explain how a Boeing 757-200, weighing nearly 100 tons and travelling at a minimum speed of 250 miles an hour only damaged the outside of the Pentagon?" It didn't only damage the outer ring. Damage to the inner ring is clearly visible in the lower of the two pictures.

[2] "Can you explain how a Boeing 14.9 yards high, 51.7 yards long, with a wingspan of 41.6 yards and a cockpit 3.8 yards high, could crash into just the ground floor of this building?" Yes. Look at a picture of a Boeing 757. Go on:  http://www.boeing.com/commercial/757-200/product.html. Most of the height is the relatively light and flimsy tail at the back. So when the plane hits the building low down there's very little plane which is going to hit the upper floors. So most impact damage is to the lower floors, with much less to the upper floors.

[3] "You'll remember that the aircraft only hit the ground floor of the Pentagon's first ring. Can you find debris of a Boeing 757-200 in this photograph?" I would not expect to. See question 6.

[4] "Can you explain why the Defence Secretary deemed it necessary to sand over the lawn, which was otherwise undamaged after the attack?" Yes. The answer is so obvious it hurts. What we see in the picture is the construction of a temporary road, such as would be desireable if lots of heavy machinery was to be driving backwards and forwards.

[5] "Can you explain what happened to the wings of the aircraft and why they caused no damage?" Use your eyes. You see those damaged smashed-up bits of the building next to the big hole? The damaged smashed-up bits which are almost exactly as wide as the wingspan of the superimposed aeroplane? Did these people even look at the photos before they posted them?

[6] "Can you explain why the County Fire Chief could not tell reporters where the aircraft was?" Yes. Obviously we need to take this step-by-step, so imagine the scene: Here there is an aeroplane. Here there is a vertical concrete wall. Aeroplane travel very fast. Aeroplane smash into vertical concrete wall. Boom. Aeroplane reduced to many small bits. Small bits travelling very fast, so mostly go into building. Lots of fuel - big fire! Send for firemen! Firemen arrive, mostly concerned with putting out fire and helping people in burning building. Firemen too busy to go hunting for aeroplane pieces. The County Fire Chief should have looked at reporter as if reporter was stupid and said "Where is the plane? Duh... where do you think? The plane is buried in the building, you idiot" but that would be rude so the County Fire Chief did not say that.

[7] "Can you find the aircraft's point of impact?" Yes. That big hole in the wall that's slap in the middle of the upper photo, and directly in front of the fire engine in the lower photo. I'll bet that's where the plane hit.

Furry Dave
mail e-mail: furry1dave@yahoo.com


Missile defense

05.03.2002 08:52

Clinton had the missile defence against air strikes at the pentagon removed because it cost too much to maintain and was considered unnecessary.

Al


Free speech

05.03.2002 12:35

An Open publishing newswire is a great resource.
Some people are obviously going to abuse it with crap such as this.
Using indymedia you gotta use your common sense to sort the wheat from the chaff.

red'n'black


Erm

05.03.2002 13:01

There was a SAM site near the Pentagon, but as matey said, Clinton removed it. Defences built into the Pentagon would have been fairly futile, as they'd just have provided a convenient target for anti-radar missiles

Gonzo


Finally

05.03.2002 15:23

Nice to see that not everyone on Indymedia believes all the conspiracy theory shit. If you took it all at face value you would come to the somewhat confusing conclusion that the US State, a rogue section of the military and some Jewish Cabal had got together to coordinate the incident which included turning off the countries entire air-defence system and faking the attack on the Pentagon. Clearly this is a load of crap and simply a diversion from the real issue - stopping World war III.

Disillusioned kid