The towers came down because of explosives: false; NIST traced the collapses to impact damage and fire, see controlled demolition and thermite. [1] Building 7 was demolished: false; NIST found fire-driven failure, see WTC 7. [2] No plane hit the Pentagon: false, see the Pentagon. [3] NORAD was ordered to stand down: false, but its early accounts were wrong, see NORAD. [4] The government was warned: true, see the August 6 brief and the FBI warnings. [5]
The pieces, and where they stand
Each claim, in one line.
What we can’t tell you. Each point is argued in full in its own file.
The sources
- NIST NCSTAR 1: Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers (2005) ↗
The federal investigation’s report on why the towers fell.
- NIST NCSTAR 1A: Final Report on the Collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 (2008) ↗
Fire-induced thermal expansion, the Floor 13 girder and Column 79.
- ASCE (Mlakar et al.), January 2003: The Pentagon Building Performance Report (NIST copy) ↗
Engineers’ study of the damage path from Flight 77 through the building.
- 9/11 Commission Report, chapter 1: “We Have Some Planes” ↗
The minute-by-minute account of the four flights and of the FAA and NORAD response, including the 10:03:11 crash time of United 93 and when the shootdown order reached the pilots.
- 9/11 Commission Report, chapter 8: “The System Was Blinking Red” ↗
The summer 2001 threat reporting, the 6 August PDB, the Phoenix memo, Moussaoui and the missed chances on Hazmi and Mihdhar.
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