The 9/11 File/CASE 44/September 2001 – 2004

The theories

The put options

Did someone bet on the airlines crashing?

RECORD / AT A GLANCE

False

False that terrorists or insiders profited from foreknowledge. The trades were real and unusual, but investigators traced them: one U.S. institutional investor with no tie to al Qaeda bought 95% of the United puts as part of a wider strategy, and much of the American trading followed a newsletter’s advice.

THE EVENTS / THE INVESTIGATION / THE STORY

The chronology.

READ THE FILE

Evidence & assessment.

01

What the investigators found

Suspicious on its face, innocent on inspection.

↗

Open an article for its evidence, labeled AI assessment and numbered sources. Read the complete static edition ↗

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE

The claims, rated.

1 claim people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.

FALSE Inside job, money & viral theories

“Insiders made fortunes betting against the airlines before 9/11.”

The trades were real but traced: one U.S. investor bought 95% of the United puts as part of a wider strategy, and the SEC found no foreknowledge.

Who says it: Theorists.

The evidence in this file ↗ · On the full claims board ↗

All 162 rated claims ↗

OPEN THE RECORD

Sources & limits.

Numbered citations in each article identify the relevant sources. These records have different purposes and evidentiary weight.

  1. 9/11 Commission Report: endnotes ↗

    The notes carry many of the report’s most specific findings, including the put-options trading, the phone-call records and the Vigilant Guardian exercise.

  2. SEC, 22 July 2004: statement on the investigation of trading before the attacks ↗

    The SEC found no evidence that anyone with advance knowledge traded; it examined 9.5 million transactions. Confirmed by reader fetch.

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