The 9/11 File/CASE 22/2001 – 2008

The buildings

What happened to the steel

The fast removal of the wreckage and what investigators kept

RECORD / AT A GLANCE

Documented

It is documented that most steel was removed and recycled before the federal investigation began, and that no WTC 7 steel could be identified afterward. NIST analyzed 236 pieces from the towers. Removal was driven by the rescue and recovery effort; there is no evidence it was ordered to hide anything.

THE EVENTS / THE INVESTIGATION / THE STORY

The chronology.

READ THE FILE

Evidence & assessment.

01

What was kept and what was lost

Red paint and markings made the difference.

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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.

DOCUMENTED The towers, WTC 7 & demolition

“The steel was shipped off and recycled before investigators could examine it.”

Most was removed during rescue and recovery; NIST analyzed 236 tower pieces and had no identifiable WTC 7 steel.

Who says it: Critics, firefighters’ groups.

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. NIST: Questions and answers about the NIST WTC towers investigation ↗

    NIST’s replies on free fall, molten metal, thermite (“many thousands of pounds”) and explosives.

  2. NIST: Questions and answers about the NIST WTC 7 investigation ↗

    NIST’s answers on the 2.25 seconds of free fall, the 130-decibel blast it says was not heard, diesel fuel and thermite.

  3. FEMA 403 Appendix C: Limited metallurgical examination ↗

    The eroded, sulfidated steel from WTC 7 and the towers that remains one of the strangest pieces of physical evidence.

  4. 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.

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