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9/11 conspiracy theories areconspiracy theoriesthat question themainstream account ofthe September 11 attacks in the United States. These theories assert that theofficial reporton the eventsis not sufficiently forthright, thorough or truthful. Many critics allege thatindividuals in the government of the United States knew of the impending attacks andintentionally failed to act on that knowledge. Some critics state that the attacks could

have been a false flag operation carried out by a private network of high-level officials inthe U.S. Government. The common suspected motives were the use of the attacks as apretext to justify overseas wars, to facilitate increased military spending, and to restrictdomestic civil liberties.

Many of these theories have been voiced by members of the9/11 Truth Movement, aname adopted by organizations and individuals who question the mainstream account ofthe attacks.[1] Generally, individuals and groups belonging to the 9/11 Truth Movementquestion the accuracy of the mainstream account of the attacks, demand a newinvestigation into the attacks, and often investigate aspects of the September 11 attacksthemselves. A prominent claim is that the collapse of the World Trade Center was the

result of a controlled demolition.

[2][3]

Some also contend that a commercial airliner did notcrash into the Pentagon; this position is debated within the Truth Movement, many ofwhom believe that AA Flight 77 did crash there, but that it was allowed to do so via aneffective stand down of the military.[4]

Published reports by the U.S.National Institute of Standards and Technologyrejected thecontrolled demolition conspiracy theories.[5][6] The community ofcivil engineersgenerallyaccepts the mainstream account that the impacts of jet aircraft at high speeds incombination with subsequent fires, rather than controlled demolition, led to the collapseof the Twin Towers.[7]

o

History

Since the September 11 attacks, a number of theories challenging the mainstream accountof the attacks have been put forward in websites, books, and films. Many groups andindividuals challenging the mainstream account identify as part of the 9/11 TruthMovement.[8]

Conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacksdid not emerge immediately after theevent, as most professional conspiracy theorists in the United States appeared to be as

shocked as the rest of the population.[9] The first theories that emerged focused primarilyon anomalies in the official account and publicly available evidence, and propenents wereonly later tending to develop more full-blown theories about the ultimate source of analleged plot.[9]

The first elaborated theories, published in books, appeared in Europe. They include ablog published by Matthias Brcker, an editor at the German newspaperDieTageszeitungat the time, the book9/11: The Big Lie by French journalist Thierry

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Meyssan, the bookThe CIA and September 11by former German state ministerAndreasvon Blow and the bookOperation 9/11, written by the German journalist GerhardWisnewski.[9]

While these theories were popular in Europe, U.S. media treated them with either

bafflement or amusement. The U.S. government dismissed them as anti-Americanism.[9][10]In an address to theUnited Nations on November 10, 2001, UnitedStates PresidentGeorge W. Bush denounced the emergence of "outrageous conspiracytheories [...] that attempt to shift the blame away from the terrorists, themselves, awayfrom the guilty."[11]

By 2004, conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks began to gain ground in theUnited States. This increase in popularity was arguably not due to the discovery of anynew or more compelling evidence, or to an improvement of the technical quality of thepresentation of the theories, but rather to the growing criticism of the Iraq Warand thepresidency of George W. Bush, who had been reelected in 2004. Revelations of spin

doctoring and outright lying by federal officials, such as the claims about the existence ofweapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the belated release of the President's Daily Brief ofAugust 6, 2001 and reports thatNORAD had lied to the9/11 Commission, have fueledthe conspiracy theories.[9]

Between 2004 and the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2006, mainstreamcoverage of the conspiracy theories increased.[9]Reacting to the growing publicity, U.S.Government agencies and the Bush Administration issued responses to the theories,including a formal analysis by theNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)about the collapse of the World Trade Center,[12]a revised 2006 State Departmentwebpage to debunk the theories,[13] and a strategy paper referred to by President Bush in

an August 2006 speech, which declared that terrorism springs from "subcultures ofconspiracy and misinformation," and that "terrorists recruit more effectively frompopulations whose information about the world is contaminated by falsehoods andcorrupted by conspiracy theories. The distortions keep alive grievances and filter out factsthat would challenge popular prejudices and self-serving propaganda."[14]al-Qaeda hasrepeatedly claimed responsibility for the attacks, with chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahiriaccusing ShiaIran and Hezbollahof intentionally starting rumors that Israel carried outthe attacks to denigrate Sunni successes in hurting America.[15]

Many of the conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks do not involve classicalrepresentational strategies that establish a clear dichotomy between good and evil, orguilty and innocent. Instead, they call up gradations of negligence and complicity.[9]

Matthias Brckers, an early proponent of such theories, dismisses the official account ofthe September attacks as being itself a conspiracy theory that seeks "to reducecomplexity, disentangle what is confusing," and "explain the inexplicable".[9]

A number of9/11 opinion polls have been conducted in an attempt to establish roughlyhow many people have doubts about the mainstream account, and how prevalent some ofthe theories are. Just prior to the fifth anniversary of the attacks, mainstream news outlets

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released a flurry of articles on the growth of 9/11 conspiracy theories,[16] with TimeMagazinestating, "This is not a fringe phenomenon. It is a mainstream politicalreality."[17] In 2008 9/11 conspiracy theories topped a "greatest conspiracy theory listcompiled by The Daily Telegraph. The list was based on following and traction.[18][19] AnAugust 2007 Zogby poll found that, while 26.4% of Americans believe that "certain

elements in the U.S. Government knew the attacks were coming but consciously let themproceed for various political, military and economic reasons", another 4.8% of thembelieve that "certain U.S. Government elements actively planned or assisted some aspectsof the attacks".[20] Mainstream coverage generally presents these theories as a culturalphenomenon and is often critical of their content.

Mainstream account

Main article: September 11 attacks

On September 11th, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet

airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers ofthe World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many othersworking in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying at leasttwo nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into thePentagon and a fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after thepassengers and flight crew revolted. [21]

The terms 'mainstream account,' 'official account' and 'official conspiracy theory' all referto:

The reports from government investigations - the 9/11 Commission Report (which

incorporated intelligence information from the earlierFBI investigation(PENTTBOM) and the Joint Inquiry of 2002), and the studies into buildingperformance carried out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency[22](FEMA) and theNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

President Obama's June 2009 speech to the Muslim world where he said "I am

aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: AlQaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day."[23]

Investigations by non-government organizations that support the mainstream

account - such as those by theNational Fire Protection Association, and byscientists ofPurdue University andNorthwestern University.[24][25][26]

Articles supporting these facts and theories appearing in magazines such as

Popular Mechanics,Scientific American, and Time. Similar articles in news media throughout the world, including The Times of

India,[27]the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC),[28] the BBC,[29]LeMonde,[30]Deutsche Welle,[31]the Australian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC),[32]

and The Chosun Ilbo of South Korea.[33]

The 9/11 Commission Report disclosed prior warnings of varying detail of plannedattacks against the United States by al-Qaeda. The report said that the government

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inside the United States; whether theput options placed on United Airlines and AmericanAirlines, and other trades considered questionable by theorists, indicate foreknowledge;whether there were warnings from foreign countries that were specific enough to havewarranted action; whether there was any intelligenceinformation gathered aboutimminent al-Qaeda attacks and whether it was specific enough to have warranted action;

whether the alleged hijackers were under surveillance prior to the attacks and, if so, towhat extent; and whether agents of the Mossad or the PakistaniInter-ServicesIntelligence were aware that the attacks were going to take place.

It has been claimed that action or inaction by U.S. officials with foreknowledge wasintended to ensure that the attacks took place successfully. For example, MichaelMeacher, former British environment minister and member ofTony Blair's Cabinet untilJune 2003, was widely criticized for claiming that America knowingly failed to preventthe attacks.[44][45]

Lack of effective defenses

See also: U.S. military response during the September 11 attacks

Many 9/11 theories claiming government involvement allege that the U.S. air defensesystem,NORAD, was deliberately stood down or rendered ineffective. This claimoriginates from the 9/11 Commission Report account of the actions taken by the FederalAviation Administration (FAA), NORAD and other military personnel. Some note that"FAA standard procedures for NORAD interception of off course or ceased respondingaircraft"[46]were activated on 129 occasions in the year 2000 and on 67 occasions in theperiod from September 2000 to June 2001 but failed to do so on 9/11.[47]

The interception failure was due to a change in protocol. Prior to 9/11 standard procedurewas for the FAA to contact NORAD who then immediately scrambled fighters tointercept non responding craft. In July 2001 the procedure was changed. The FAA nowhad to contact the PentagonsNational Military Command Centerand the United StatesSecretary of Defense would then have to approve the use of military aircraft for theintercept. The Pentagon would then contact the relevant NORAD Air Defense Sector. On9/11 the new protocol broke down. The FAA could not get a response from the Pentagonuntil 8:34, some 21 minutes after the first hijack and were then told they needed to calltheNortheast Air Defense Sector(NEADS) themselves.[48] Air traffic controller JosephCooper then contacted NORAD directly. As the operator should not have received thatcall he then passed it on to his superior. Protocol broke down again and NORAD

scrambled without the secretary of defense's authorisation.

[49]

Although the military first learned of the hijacking of Flight 11 from Boston Center at8:40, just 6 minutes before its impact, it was able to scramble two F-15 fighter jets fromthe 102nd Fighter WingfromOtis Air National Guard Base just 12 minutes later at 8:52,six minutes after Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.However, the 33 minute flight time didn't allow them to reach Manhattan until 9:25,22 minutes after the crash of Flight 175 into the South Tower.[50]One of the pilots later

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commented, "As we're climbing out, we go supersonic on the way, which is kind ofnonstandard for us. And, Nasty even called me on the radio and said, Duff, you're super. Isaid yeah, I know. You know, don't worry about it. ... I just wanted to get therequickly."[51]

The 9/11 Commission Report timeline of events in the FAA and NORAD contradicts thetimeline released by NORAD shortly after the event. The Washington Postreported in itsAugust 3, 2006 edition that:

"For more than two years after the attacks, officials with NORAD and the FAA providedinaccurate information about the response to the hijackings in testimony and mediaappearances... Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concludedthat the Pentagon's initial account of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may havebeen part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public... Suspicion ofwrongdoing ran so deep that the 10-member commission, in a secret meeting at the endof its tenure in summer 2004, debated referring the matter to the Justice Department for

criminal investigation. In the end, the panel agreed to a compromise, turning over theallegations to the inspectors general for the Defense and Transportation departments, whocan make criminal referrals if they believe they are warranted".[52]

Since the 9/11 Commission places the primary blame on communication failures withinthe FAA, David Ray Griffin, who has written several books alleging that the 9/11conspiracy was considerably larger than the government claims, has questioned why theU.S. Military would lie to cover up the mistakes made by that agency.[53]

There were a number ofwar games and military exercises taking place during the attacks,includingNorthern Vigilance, aNORAD operation which involved deploying fighter

aircraft to locations in Alaska and northern Canada to respond to a war game beingconducted by Russia; Global Guardian, an annual command-level exercise organized byUnited States Strategic Command in cooperation with Space Command and NORAD;and Vigilant Guardian, a semiannual NORAD Command Post Exercise (CPX) (meaningit is conducted in offices and with computers, but without actual planes in the air)involving all NORAD command levels in which one scenario being run on September 11was a simulated hijacking. Additionally, aNational Reconnaissance Officedrill wasbeing conducted on September 11 in which the event of a small aircraft crashing into oneof the towers of the agency's headquarters, was to be simulated, and the Office ofEmergency Management were preparing forOperation Tripod, a bioterrorism exercisedue to take place on September 12.

Members of the 9/11 Truth Movement question whether the story that such an array ofwar games and exercises were due to take place on that day by coincidence, is plausible.United States RepresentativeCynthia McKinney, former head of the Strategic DefenseInitiative; Dr. Robert M. Bowman; economist Michel Chossudovsky; publisher/editorMichael Ruppert of From the Wilderness and many others have suggested that the wargames were deliberately planned to coincide with the attacks to create confusion. [54]

Webster Tarpley, in his book9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA claims that the war

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games were the "perfect cover for conducting the actual live-fly components of 9/11through a largely un-witting military bureaucracy. Under the cover of this confusion, themost palpably subversive actions could be made to appear in the harmless and evenbeneficial guise of a drill."[55]

In testimony before the 9/11 Commission, Secretary of TransportationNorman Minetasaid that he was not present when the order was given to shoot down the airplanes. Hestated that he became aware of the order when he entered the Presidential EmergencyOperation Command in the bunker underneath the White House where Dick Cheneywasin command. He describes the following exchange, between Cheney and a "young man",as taking place sometime between him entering the bunker and the time the Pentagon washit at 9:37.

There was a young man who had come in and said to the vice president, "The plane is50 miles out. The plane is 30 miles out." And when it got down to, "The plane is 10 milesout," the young man also said to the vice president, "Do the orders still stand?" And the

vice president turned and whipped his neck around and said, "Of course the orders stillstand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?" [56]

However, the 9/11 Commission report concluded, based on testimony from the othermembers who were in the bunker and overhead the conversation, that the young man wasreferring to Flight 93, and that the young aide first entered and stated that the aircraft was80 miles out "at some time between 10:10 and 10:15", after Flight 93 had crashed, butwas believed to still be on its way toward Washington, D.C.[57] Mineta did not know at thetime what the orders referred to, and he learned only later that 'shoot down orders' hadbeen given that day. However, it has been suggested that the orders spoken of could havebeen an ordernotto shoot down the approaching plane. This theory is based on an

interpretation of the young man's question as an expression of his surprise about theorder. Therefore, because shooting down the approaching plane would be the acceptedaction, the unusual nature of an order not to shoot down the plane would explain theyoung man's putative disbelief. Still others believe that the young aide's repeatedquestioning was due to ethical concerns over shooting down a commercial aircraft withinnocent civilians on board.[58][59]

World Trade Center collapse

Main article: World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories

The controlled demolition conspiracy theories state that the collapseof the North Tower,South Tower and7 WTC was due to the use of explosives or incendiaries.[60]It plays acentral role in the 9/11 conspiracy theories that assert that the U.S. Government isresponsible for the attacks.[citation needed]Steven E. Jones, a retired professor ofBrighamYoung University, suggests that the working hypothesis, as outlined in NIST's 2004interim report, that fire and debris induced the collapse of 7 WTC, is false.[61]

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Some conspiracy theorists have also recently suggested that the 757aluminumnoseconesand fuselages could have been used as giant shaped charge warheads,[62] driving andcompressing the massive fuel loads inside the towers.[63] It has been claimed that theeffect of compressed Jet-A fuel in a steel chamber would have been similar to a fuel-airorthermobaric explosive.[64][65]

The Federal Emergency Management AgencyReport of 2002 and the laterNationalInstitute of Standards and Technologyreport of 2005 regarding the reconstruction of thecollapse events of the Twin Towers and Seven World Trade Center both contradict thecontrolled demolition conspiracy theories. On August 21, 2008, theNational Institute ofStandards and Technology released a 77 page report on the cause of the collapse ofWorldTrade Center Building 7. It concluded that the collapse occurred because the building wasset on fire by falling debris from the other burning towers, that catastrophic failureoccurred when the 13th floor collapsed weakening a critical steel support column and thatthe collapse of the nearby towers broke the city water main, leaving the sprinkler systemin the bottom half of the building without water. The theories that the collapse was caused

by explosions or fires caused bydiesel fuel in the building was investigated and ruledout.[66]

The Pentagon

The first of the five video frames leaked in 2002 showing the Pentagon just beforeimpact.[67][68]

The Pentagon, after collapse of the damaged section.

Debris scattered near the Pentagon.

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Some contend that a commercial airlinerdid not crash intothe Pentagon; this position isdebated within the Truth Movement, many of whom believe that AA Flight 77did crashthere, but that it was allowed to do so via an effective stand down of the military.[4]

Claims that the Pentagon was hit by something other than theBoeing 757ofFlight 77have been raised, based on photographs taken after the attack, in which there appears to

be a lack of expected debris or damage in and around the impact area, along with the FBIseizure and refusal to release nearby security camera footage which, it is assumed, wouldhave captured the attack on video.[69][70]The first proponent of the "No Boeing" theorywas Thierry Meyssanthrough his book9/11: The Big Lie and websiteHunt the Boeing![71]

His claims have been further popularized by the Internet videosLoose Change and "911In Plane Site"[citation needed].

On March 8, 2002, five video frames captured by a security camera at the Pentagon wereleaked. Only the first frame preceded the impact: this frame shows what may be an objectheading for the Pentagon. On May 16, 2006, the security camera footage was released aspart of a Judicial WatchFreedom of Information Act request.[72][73] However, due to a low

number of frames per second, the videos are also inconclusive, thus keeping the "NoBoeing" theory alive. Security camera footage from a nearbyCitgo gas station, from alocalDoubletree Hotel, and from the Virginia Department of Transportation, was swiftlyconfiscated by the FBI. The footage from both the gas station and the hotel were laterreleased following successful FOIA Requests, but neither captured the impact.[74][75][76]

Additional photographs were released in 2006 after the Zacarias Moussaoui trial andseveral FOIA requests.[70]

In an interview forParade magazineon October 12, 2001, Defense SecretaryDonaldRumsfeld apparently referred to "the missile to damage [the Pentagon]".[77] Some haveinterpreted this as afaux pas admission that it was not Flight 77 that hit the building.

Others have suggested that the word may have been carefully chosen disinformation,designed to "trap 9/11 skeptics," citing this as the real reason why photographs and videofootage have not been forthcoming.[78][unreliable source?] Parade magazine subsequently statedthat this interpretation of Rumsfeld's words was a misunderstanding caused by atranscription error.[79] Jim Hoffman states:

"Experts at psychological operations, the perpetrators could have anticipated that skepticswould divide into two groups: those persuaded by eyewitness evidence that a 757 hadcrashed, and those persuaded by physical evidence that one had not. The ongoingcontroversy could then be exploited by the perpetrators to several ends: 1) to keep theskeptics divided, 2) to divert skeptics' resources from other more productive lines ofinquiry and 3) to provide a bizarre-sounding theory with which to tar the entire 9/11 TruthMovement."[80]

Jim Hoffman and other members have produced essays examining the "No Boeing"claims and have concluded that Flight 77 did hit the Pentagon.[81][82] Several researchershave argued that the wings would cause less damage than the plane's main body,[83]thatphotographs of large amounts of wreckage and debris matching a 757 have becomeavailable, that the appearance of the size of the hole is typically misrepresented; and that

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the actual fuselage diameter of 12 feet is a much more relevant dimension for the deepestparts of the hole than the overall 44-foot height of the 757's tail.[84][85] They alsoemphasize reports from numerous eyewitnesses, including commuters on nearby roads,[86]

nearby apartment buildings,[87] and other surrounding locations. Many witnesses saw theaircraft close up as it approached the Pentagon and described it as an American Airlines

Boeing 757.[88][89][90]

The remains of all but one of the victims of Flight 77 have beenidentified using DNA testing.[91][92]

Flight 93

United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in an open field in Pennsylvaniaas a result of anattempted cockpit invasion. However, there have been claims that it was actually shotdown by U.S. fighter jets.[93]This idea is promoted by authorDavid Ray Griffin in hisbookThe New Pearl Harbor. Two debris fields from Flight 93 were found at three(Indian Lake) and eight (New Baltimore) miles from the crash site, and there are alsosome eyewitness reports of debris falling from the sky like confetti.[citation needed] However,

Flight 93 was flying south-east toward Washington, D.C. when it crashed. Both IndianLake and New Baltimore are 3 miles and 8 miles, respectively, south-east of the crashsite, in the direction the plane was heading but never flew over.[94]Many websites say thiscontradicts the claim that the plane shed debris for 38 miles before its crash, in whichcase the debris would have been found north-west of the crash site along the plane's flightpath.[95]A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article from 9/14/2001 describes the material as"mostly papers", "strands of charred insulation", and an "endorsed paycheck". The samearticle quotes FBI agent Bill Crowley that, "Lighter, smaller debris probably shot into theair on the heat of a fireball that witnesses said shot several hundred feet into the air afterthe jetliner crashed. Then, it probably rode a wind that was blowing southeast at about9 MPH."[94]Popular Mechanics argued that debris such as an engine exploding away and

landing far from the crash scene is not a unique occurrence in commercial airlineaccidents.[96]

Some conspiracy theorists believe a small white jet seen flying over the crash area mayhave fired a missile to shoot down Flight 93.[96] However, government agencies such asthe FBI assert this was a Dassault Falcon business jet asked to descend to an altitude ofaround 1500 ft to survey the impact.[97] Ben Sliney, who was the FAA operation manageron September 11, 2001, says no military aircraft were near Flight 93.[98]

Jim Hoffman claims there is a three-minute discrepancy in the cockpit voice recordingimmediately prior to the flight's crash.[99] Seismological observations recorded an impact

at 10:06:05 a.m., +/- a couple of seconds,

[100]

but the9/11 Commission Report decidedthat the seismological information was not definitive and concluded that the crashoccurred at 10:03 a.m.[101]

According to some theories the plane had to be shot down by the government becausepassengers had found out about the "plot".[102]

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living in the Middle East. On September 19, the FDICdistributed a "special alert" whichlisted al-Mihdhar as alive (the Justice Departmentlater said this was a typographicalerror). These reports have led to claims that the names of the hijackers may be incorrect,or that the hijacking scenarios outlined in the 9/11 Commission Report may not be thetruth.

All of the reports have since been acknowledged as cases of mistaken identity by thepublications involved and by other news organizations such as theNew YorkTimes.[114][115][116] The BBC said that confusion may have arisen because the FBI nameswere common Arabic and Islamic names.[117] In 2002,Saudi Arabia asserted that thenames of the hijackers were correct.[118]

Some attention has been given to news reports that might indicate that the namedhijackers were not typical Islamic extremists. For example, Mohammad Atta reportedlyate pork, drank alcohol, gambled in casinos, and went to strip clubs.[119] It is howevercontroversial whether terrorists aremotivated primarily by religious belief.[citation needed]

By January 2009 remains from thirteen of the nineteen hijackers have been identifiedthrough DNA mapping. The remains are at an undisclosed location. No requests havebeen made to return them and no decision has been made on what to do with them.According to Khaled Abou El Fadl, a law professor atUCLAand an authority on Islamiclaw if a family member of a suspected hijacker were to ask for the remains it would putthemselves and their families inSaudi Arabia and Egypt at risk for harm because it wouldbe seen as admitting that their relatives were 9/11 hijackers in countries where theprevalent belief is that the 9/11 attacks were an anti-Arab conspiracy carried out by theBush Administration.[120]

Phone calls

Air phone calls and cell phone calls were placed from the hijacked planes. Conspiracytheorists[who?] say cell phone calls should either be impossible or rarely possible fromcommercial planes, and therefore the hijackings were staged and the phone calls werefaked.

After 9/11, cellular experts said that they were surprised calls were able to be placed fromthe hijacked planes, and that they lasted as long as they did. They said that the onlyreason that the calls went through in the first place is that the aircraft were flying so closeto the ground.[121] Alexa Graf, an AT&T spokesperson said it was almost a fluke that the

calls reached their destinations.[122]

Other industry experts said that it is possible to usecell phones with varying degrees of success during a flight.[123] Marvin Sirbu, professorof engineering and public policy atCarnegie Mellon Universitysaid on September 14,2001, that "The fact of the matter is that cell phones can work in almost all phases of acommercial flight."

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, 13 passengers from Flight 93 made a total ofover 30 calls to both family and emergency personnel (twenty-two confirmed air phone

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calls, two confirmed cell phone and eight not specified in the report). The FBI JointTerrorism Task Force testified that all but two calls from Flight 93 were made on airphones.[124] Brenda Raney, Verizon Wireless spokesperson, said that Flight 93 wassupported by several cell sites.[122] There were reportedly three phone calls from Flight 11,five from Flight 175, and three calls from Flight 77 which American Airlines later

confirmed did not have airphones fitted[citation needed]

; two calls from these flights wererecorded, placed by flight attendants Madeleine Sweeney and Betty Ong on Flight 11. Aconspiracy theory web site claims anomalies relating to the nature of the phone calltranscripts.[125]

Cover-up allegations

Conspiracy theorists[who?] say they detect a pattern of behavior on the part of officialsinvestigating the September 11 attack meant to suppress the emergence of evidence thatmight contradict the mainstream account.[126][127][128] They associated news stories fromseveral different sources with that pattern.[129][130][131][132][133][134]

Cockpit recorders

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, thecockpit voice recorders (CVR) orflightdata recorders (FDR), or "black boxes", from Flights 11 and 175 were not recovered fromthe remains of the WTC attack; however, two men, Michael Bellone and NicholasDeMasi, who worked extensively in the wreckage of the World Trade Center, stated inthe book "Behind-The-Scenes: Ground Zero"[135] that they helped federal agents find threeof the four "black boxes" from the jetliners: [136][137]

"At one point I was assigned to take Federal Agents around the site to search for the

black boxes from the planes. We were getting ready to go out. My ATV was parked at thetop of the stairs at the Brooks Brothers entrance area. We loaded up about a milliondollars worth of equipment and strapped it into the ATV. There were a total of four black

boxes. We found three."[138]

However, information has since surfaced which casts doubt on the credibility of thisclaim. The New York Post reported in April 2004, shortly before the book was published,that Michael Bellone was in serious financial difficulty, owing more than $220,000 to hispublisher as well as in unpaid bills, "including hotel rooms, flights, FDNY shirts,business cards and even prescription drugs."[139] Many have speculated that a possiblemotive for the "We found three [of the black boxes]" claim would have been to boost

book sales, and there have been several recorded accounts of flight recorders beingdestroyed in aircraft accidents.[140]On September 27, 2005, Michael Bellone, who hadcalled himself an "honorary New York firefighter", was arrested for stealing an FDNYScott air tank, harness, regulator and mask, and was charged with grand larceny, criminalimpersonation and possession of stolen property. Conrad Tinney, one of the New YorkFire Marshals who arrested Bellone, described him as a "fraud" and stated, "He's sayinghe was made an honorary firefighter by New York Fire Commissioner NicholasScoppetta. That's a fallacy."[141] On September 28, 2005, it was revealed that Michael

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Statements of Osama bin Laden believes the tapes are fake and that Bin Laden has beendead since 2001.[150]

Other theories

Foreign governments

See also: Responsibility for the September 11 attacks#Other alleged responsibility and9/11 advanced-knowledge debate#Foreign government foreknowledge

There are allegations that individuals within the PakistaniInter-Services Intelligence mayhave played an important role infinancing the attacks. There are also claims that otherforeign intelligence agencies, such as theIsraeliMossad, had foreknowledge of theattacks, and that Saudi Arabia may have played a role in financing the attacks. FrancescoCossiga, former President ofItalyfrom 1985 until his resignation overOperation Gladio,asserts that it is common knowledge among intelligence services the 9-11 attacks were a

joint operation between elements in the U.S. Government andMossad.[151][unreliablesource?][verification needed]General Hamid Gul the former head ofPakistaniInter-ServicesIntelligence believes the attacks were an inside job originating in the United Statesperpetrated by Israel or neo-conservatives.[152]

The theory that such foreign individuals outside of al Qaeda were involved is often partof larger "inside job" theories, although it has been claimed that, while al Qaeda deservesmost of the responsibility, the alleged role played by Pakistan, Israel or Saudi Arabia wasdeliberately overlooked by the official investigation for political reasons.[citation needed].

"No plane" theories

The "no plane theory," promoted by internet-only videos like 911 Taboo,[153] asserts that

this shot of the second impact, taken from a news helicopter, depicts a video composite ofa Boeing 767 accidentally appearing from behind aLayer Mask.

Some individuals, primarily on the internet[citation needed], have made the claim that nohijacked airliners hit the World Trade Center towers ('No Boeing Theories' or 'No PlaneTheories'). Supporters of this claim have been described as "no-planers," or "Pod people,"by members of the9/11 truth movement who generally maintain that the claim is a caseofpoisoning the well an effort which is intended to broadly discredit the more credible

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theories.[154][155] According to "no-planers," live television, video and photographs thatpurport to show Boeing airliners on September 11 all had fake airplane imagescomposited into them. Many prominent members of the 9/11 Truth Movement haverejected the claims.[156]

Those describing the no plane claims aspoisoning the well often refer to proponents likeMorgan Reynolds, formerLabor Department chief economist underGeorge W. Bush,who calls himself the "black sheep" of the 9/11 Truth Movement.[157] Reynolds claims it isphysically impossible that the Boeing planes of Flights 11 and 175, being largelyaluminium, could have penetrated the steel frames of the Towers, and has also proposedthat digital compositing was used to depict the plane crashes in both news reports andsubsequent amateur video. Numerous papers by 9/11 Truth Movement researchers haverejected the claims.[158]

President Bush's behavior

President Bush was promoting the passage of his education plan at Emma E. BookerElementary School in Sarasota, Florida, on the morning of September 11. He was alreadyaware of the first plane impact before he entered the school, believing it to have been a"horrible accident". There is confusion about his description of having seen the firstimpact on television, long before the single piece of footage of that event (taken by theNaudet brothers) had been shown anywhere.[159] He was sitting in a classroom readingThe Pet Goatwith the children when, at 9:05am, White House Chief of StaffAndrewCardwhispered in his ear that "A second plane hit the second tower. America is underattack."[160] That the president chose to stay in the classroom for an additional 7 minutes,without asking for additional information from his staff, and that those staff did notvolunteer any additional information or take him to a place of safety, has led to

allegations that he knew that the attack was taking place and knew he was not atarget.[161][162]A response is that Bush's intention was to "project strength and calm," i.e.,that he did not want to cause more panic by fleeing the room, as the footage wouldprobably have been replayed over and over on news coverage.[163]

Jewish involvement

There are theories that 9/11 was part of an international Jewish conspiracy. One of themost popular claims in these theories is that 4,000 Jewish employees skipped work at theWorld Trade Center on September 11. This was first reported on September 17 by theLebaneseHezbollah-owned satellite television channelAl-Manarand is believed to be

based on the September 12 edition of theJerusalem Postthat stated "The ForeignMinistry in Jerusalem has so far received the names of 4,000 Israelis believed to havebeen in the areas of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon at the time of theattacks.".[164]Both turned out to be incorrect; the number of Jews who died in the attacksis variously estimated at between 270 to 400.[165][166][167][168] The lower figure tracks closelywith the percentage of Jews living in the New York area and partial surveys of thevictims' listed religion. The U.S. State Department has published a partial list of 76 in