Issue Exploration Essay

English 1010

Daniel Piccuilla

There has always been controversy over the events that occurred on the day of September 11th, 2001. It seems as if the people are less likely to believe the government than ever before. People around the globe have shared their views and opinions of the tragic events of 9/11. To my surprise, many people around the world do not accept the official statements released by the U.S government detailing the events of 9/11 but they also believe in different theories. Over the time that Ive had to research this paper I have found over 5 official conspiracy theories about 9/11. I am going to talk about the 3 most popular theories that are not only accepted by ordinary citizens but by highly regarded professors and scientists. The first of the 3 theories is that the collapse of the twin towers couldnt have happened the way it did without another type of explosive going of either right before the planes hit or exactly when they did. The second discusses the plane that crashed into the pentagon and the assumption that it was not only the plane that hit the pentagon but a missile. A missile launched by who is the question. Last but not least I will talk about the third theory, which claims that the government not only had knowledge prior to the attacks but that they helped plan and execute those plans as well. Plenty of witness accounts will be

included in my essay. Some of the testimonials and accusations will sometimes not exactly match up but point to the same end result. When the first of the twin towers was hit in the morning of September 11th, the plane literally demolished and destroyed multiple levels of the building during the collision. The World Trade Center was built to with stand anything from earthquakes to terrorist attacks, especially after the attacks that occurred in 1993. During the first attack on the twin towers in 1993, the terrorists blew up a car bomb in the basement of one of the towers. Luckily, both towers were built with a special shock system in the frame of the building to make the building sway instead of crumbling to the ground called the tube system. The system was designed so that the towers could withstand higher lateral force loads such as a plane striking the buildings. The World Trade Centers were also some of the first skyscrapers that used a steel frame rather than a concrete one used in many other high riser buildings built before the twin towers. This is the strong point of some peoples theories of what happened. They claim that if the building had such a structure built to prevent an attack like this, then how did the towers fall the way they did? Because of the build of the towers its said that the towers should have burned up instead of crumbling to the ground. This is where the conspiracy theory kicks in. Some people believe that there was another explosion that occurred besides the planes blowing up on impact. There are witness accounts of employees that made it out that said they heard an explosion coming from the basement. Two men by the names of, Kenny Johannemann and William Rodriguez, (who were both janitors for the world trade center) both claimed that they heard a loud rumbling noise coming

from the basement just seconds before one of the plane crashed into the north tower. Could this have been another shot at the bombings that the terrorist group had tried in 1993? However there was no evidence that was found to back any statements regarding an explosion from a bomb going off in the basement. It could have been possible that the impact from the planes shook the entire building and when the shock wave hit the bottom of the structure it created another type of shock or impact of some sort. The witnesses also couldve forgotten the sequence of events that occurred during the attack. It is very possible they did because they were in the middle of pure chaos at the time of the attacks and the supposed explosions in the basement. Here is another piece of information that might get you thinking, Kenny later committed suicide in 2008 because of depression. This sparked a lot of curiosity and suspicion for 9/11 researchers. Many scientists have claimed that a thermite type of bomb had to have gone off in order to make the buildings fall the way they did. But once again there was no evidence of any thermite in the aftermath. There were chemicals found that are in thermite but not nearly enough to justify what the scientists were claiming that wouldve been in these bombs. Different people that accept this theory disagree with who planted the bombs. Some say it was an inside job which instigates that our government had something to do with it. And some say that terrorists planted the bombs. In either case, I cant see how another bomb could have gone off without clear evidence. The second theory is somewhat easier to dismiss for me because the claim of a missile hitting the pentagon can be proven wrong by evidence. The main topic the

theorists use is that the hole from the impact in the side of the pentagon did not match how the plane hit it. There is also security camera footage that, in very poor quality, shows an object that comes into frame that is heading directly at the pentagon. In the next frame the explosion is occurring and the security camera is showing the side of the pentagon engulfed in smoke and flame. Many witnesses claim that what they saw hit the pentagon was a very small plane that did not resemble a Boeing 767 in any way. There are also many statements that say that there was a very loud woosh sound and all of a sudden the pentagon was up in flames. Apparently the sound didnt sound like an airplane at all. These theorists say that the wing should have broken through the wall as well and created much more damage that was apparent at the seen. Which is easily explainable considering how massive the explosion was. The plane came very close, but never touched the ground before it crashed into the pentagon. Flight 77 only took out a few lampposts and a small generator just outside of the wall. These objects could not have slowed the plane down what so ever. An airplane that big, going that fast, and carrying that much fuel, can literally and physically not occupy the same space as the pentagon. The plain would obviously not have remained in one piece while the crash occurred. It would literally compress itself like a smashed aluminum can, then explode as seen on the security camera footage leaving the plane, passengers, and carry load, completely burnt and vaporized The 3rd theory seems to tie in somehow to all of the theories that I had found out about through my research. It ties in to the 1st theory I covered by accusing the government of planting the explosives in the twin towers to make them fall and

crumble the way they did. It also ties into the 2nd theory because the government can be accused of the only ones that had access to the missile that supposedly hit the pentagon. And even if it wasnt them, how could the terrorists launch a missile without our government and armed forces knowing about it. Ill admit that this 3rd theory did get me thinking long and hard about it. After going over this scenario over and over again in my head, it still doesnt make sense why the government would do this in the first place. It literally doesnt add up considering how long we have been at war, how much money weve spent, and the effort that our government put in to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden for committing the horrible acts and crimes that he did. Think about what has happened to our country since the attack. Our economy is completely down the toilet, we have been at war since the attack, and our citizens are struggling to find jobs more than they have in the last halfcentury. All of this craziness that the 9/11 attacks have put on the worlds mind is quite the story. People all over the world have put in input after input and theory after theory about what really happened with the planning and execution of the 9/11 attacks. To this day I still believe Osama Bin Laden was behind the attacks and I still believe that he and his terrorist army are the ones responsible for the horrific bombings that took place that day.