9/11 Conspiracy Theories: You Decide

Perhaps you’ve seen the commercial on TV offering a free DVD which claims to explain exactly how the 9/11 you know is a farce. The website is www.911revisited.com, and the DVD is free, and quite compelling. The video, directed and produced by Dustin Mugford and Infad Media, begins with a voice saying, “In over twenty years, I have not seen—until recently—a protected steel structure that has collapsed in a fire.” The voice belongs to Fire Protection Engineer Jonathan Barnett, whose words are the backdrop for the all too familiar scene of the buildings falling to the ground. The movie then shifts to camera footage from the day itself, snippets of people—some wounded or on stretchers, some covered in dust and soot—all giving their own eyewitness account of what happened to make those buildings fall. The video’s method of persuasion appears simple: combine personal accounts from actual eyewitnesses with the opinions of professional scientists and engineers, and you’ve got one convincing conspiracy theory. These conspiracy theorists share one common bond: the belief that terrorism had little or nothing to do with the destruction of the Twin Towers.

Several people share a theory that the buildings were detonated, which is also hinted at in the 911Revisited video. A group of three firemen who had been at ground zero agreed that the way the buildings fell was similar to a demolition explosion. However, it isn’t clear whether they are simply making a comparison, or hinting at foul play. Joe Casaliggi, a fireman from Engine 7 speaks shortly after the three firemen. He questions why, with each tower over 100 stories high, filled with mostly offices, hardly any furniture was found; everything had disintegrated beyond recognition. The buildings had, as Casaliggi puts it, “collapsed to dust.” Yet again, it is difficult to determine whether his statements stem from suspicion or if he is simply noting the sheer force with which the buildings collapsed.