Pratt Institute
The World Trade Center, Flight 93 and The Conspiracies Surrounding 9/11
Dana Weiss
World Civilization II/CH 400
Jeffrey Surovell
November 22, 2016
History has been defined time and time again by powerful people or groups shaping the social narrative of influential events. Made most famous by Winston Churchill, the notion of history being written by victors pays no more relevant context than the events surrounding the morning of September 11th, 2001. There is no doubting the historical significance of this morning, “The horrifying atrocities of September 11 are something quite new in world affairs… this is the first time since the War of 1812 that the national territory has been under attack, or even threatened,” (Chomsky, 11). As with any major event in human history there have been a handful of explanations, most notably from the American government itself, and yet since the moment the first plane collided into the World Trade Center as many questions as answers have arisen from the rubble. This paper will explore a variety of conspiracy theories that have surfaced due to contradictory scientific evidence and government influence regarding the World Trade Center buildings and Flight 93.
First, we will examine the meaning of a conspiracy theory itself. According to Beáta Sáfrány, a conspiracy is defined as an agreement… to do something criminal or illegal with a ‘theory’ based in, “the belief that an event or phenomenon occurs
On September 11, 2001, 19 people hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against their targets.. Two of the planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters. (“9/11 attacks”2010). The conspiracy theories started just days after the September 11, 2001 attack. The conspiracies were easy to spread fast when using the internet and they became more and more elaborate as time went on. The most popular 9/11 conspiracy theory is that 9/11 was orchestrated by the American government.
One of the most controversial events ever to occur is still being talked about to this day. September 11th, 2001 will forever go down in history as one of the most tragic disasters to hit the United States of America. It was heartbreak for all of us to see those towers fall and thousands upon thousands of American lives destroyed. One might ask themselves; didn’t everything get explained a little too quickly? Why did everyone so quickly forget the details to this tragedy? The events of September 11th, 2001 are surely going to be remembered for its brutal truth and will always remind us of the hate that we as humans can create. The events of September 11th happened so fast that lots of details were overlooked but now, six years later one
The morning of 9/11 I wasn’t going to go to work because I had an allergy appointment,
On February 26, 1993 at 12:18 pm in New York City, the first call was received at the Central Office from a street alarm box at the corner of West and Liberty Streets. The call was reporting a possible transformer vault (or manhole) explosion on West Street near the World Trade Center. As manhole explosions are common in wet whether, there was no hint of a major catastrophe until the phones never ceased to ring after aid had arrived to the site. Numerous phone calls continued, now reporting smoke in the towers of the Trade Center as far up as the 33rd floor within the first three minutes of the explosion (http://members.aol.com/fd347/wtc.htm). The ceiling then collapsed in the train station, which
On September 11, 2001 the World Trade Center buildings one and two were attacked. However, who we were attacked by and even if we were attacked is a hard decision to make. There have been many different claims about how everything on that fateful day happened. There are facts that we know are true, though; Flight 11 flew into the North Tower at eight forty- six in the morning. Soon after, Flight 175 attacked the South Tower. By the end of the day, both towers had collapsed and other hijacked flights had caused damage. The amount of lives lost on September 11 was substantial; 2,749 people from eighty-three different countries died from the attacks (Facts about the attacks…, n.d.). All in all, America was changed forever.
Throughout history, people have attempted to come up with explanations to make sense of events which could not be comprehend, such explanations are commonly known as conspiracy theories. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the official definition of conspiracy theory is “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” These theories can range from minor events, to large scale terrorist attacks. A few well known theories include, Bill Clinton caused 9/11, the Earth is flat, and a reptilian race is planning to take over the Earth. Conspiracy theories can inflict various amount of damage, but it dependent on the conspiracy theory context. (Mckay). In an
September 11th, 2001 is a day darkened by tragedy. This day is remembered for one of the biggest terrorist attacks the United States has ever faced on American soil. The 9/11 attacks left many hearts broken and heads spinning about the events that occurred. I personally have been very skeptical about the official version of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. There are a few reasons that made me question what started a war that has become the longest war in American History. This paper will dive into the facts behind the events of this day to uncover the truth behind what occurred that day. Some of the major aspects I will be examining are the hard facts of September 11th, who was responsible for these attacks, the political repercussions,
In this article, one of the main issues is that the tower’s structural engineer, Lee Robertson, addressed the problem of terrorism in the plans for the building, claiming he “designed it for a (Boeing) 707 to hit it”. In the center of the tower there is a central support core. This core is built of sheer concrete reinforced by 44 beams of construction grade steel, which were sealed in asbestos. When the plane hit the north tower it took a direct hit to the core, but the plane that hit the south tower went in on an angle, almost parallel to the core structure. The fuel barley grazes the core of the south tower, with most
Following the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, Rescorla invited Hill to New York, where he hired him as a security consultant in order to assess the building 's security. Although no arrests had yet been made, Rescorla believed that the bomb had been planted by Muslims. Hill went undercover in several mosques throughout New Jersey, showing up for morning prayers at dawn. He took on the character of an anti-American Muslim, in order to interview the other visitors to the mosques. He concluded that the attack was likely planned by a radical imam at a mosque in New York or New Jersey. Followers of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a radical Muslim cleric based in Brooklyn, were subsequently convicted of the bombing.
Before the settlers landed in Jamestown, The Indians occupied the land and lived there for centuries. They were the first people to arrive in Jamestown. Some say there were 25,000 Indians; others say around 50,000 of the American natives, who lived on the land. There were about thirty different tribes whom the powhatan chiefdom took charge. However, each tribe had their own chief. In time there would be a change; King James 1 of England granted for another colony to be established under the Virginia Company of London which consisted of many wealthy Englishmen who wanted to invest their money into the company. They expected to
On September 11, 2001 four passenger commercial jet airliners were hijacked and as a result approximately 3,000 human lives were lost. When asked about 9/11, many can recall exactly what they were doing when they heard the news that a plane crashed into one of the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings and many Americans can tell you how it all unfolded and the reason behind such a travesty. The “official story” provided by officials, and restated by Sofia Shafquat, producer of “9/11 Mysteries: Demolitions” say that “four passenger planes were hijacked and taken radically off course, within an hour, two of the planes had flown into the enormous steel towers of the World Trade Center, creating fires and eventually toppling them” (Shafquat).
The official story of 9/11 is a conspiracy theory in that the government claims 19 hijackers conspired together to hijack four planes and create terror in the world. Four American airplanes were hijacked; two were driven into the World Trade Centers and the third airplane into the Pentagon. The fourth airplane suspected target was the White House, but it was diverted by the brave men and women aboard that hijacked airplane, and crashed the airline jet before it could reach its target. It was like time stood still as America watched through television broadcast these unbelievable and horrifying events taking place. The reports told of the smell the jet fuel, burning flesh, and people jumping out windows to their death to escape the flames.
The September 11 attacks were tragic events that had spread shockwaves of horror and grief across the United States. The tragedy became the subject of controversy as some skeptics began to doubt the details reported to have transpired that day. Some people question its legitimacy, theorizing that the Bush administration devised and orchestrated the attacks to further its agenda. Filmmaker Dylan Avery discusses and promotes this prevalent conspiracy theory in his documentary, Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup. Avery argues that the government possessed foreknowledge of the attacks by comparing them to precedents of similar situations. He challenges the official explanations and provides his analyzations of evidence from the reports and media. Avery effectively appeals to pathos, ethos, and logos in his film, but his compelling argument is ultimately undermined by fallacies.
September 11, 2001, millions of New Yorkers and American citizens woke up and started their day, unprepared and unaware for the catastrophic attack that would be taking place in just a few short hours. At 8:46 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. The impact killed all of the passengers and crew as well as hundreds inside the building. At 9:03 a.m., a second plane, Flight 175, crashed into the corner of the South Tower killing passenger, crew, and workers who worked on floors seventy-five to eighty-three. Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. killing approximately 185 individuals (History.com Staff). Because of the damaged to the support system, fires, and impact at extremely fast speed, the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. (Lipton and Glanz). Having heard about the acts of terrorism that had just taken place in New York and Washington, D.C., a group of passengers drove their plane, Flight 93, into a Pennsylvania field killing everyone on board but possibly saving hundreds of other lives in the process. The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m. 102 minutes after being struck (History.com Staff). On September 11, 2001, almost twelve hundred people were wounded or killed by “coordinated suicide attempts” by Al Qaeda terrorists. In result to the four airplanes being hijacked and used for premediated reasons, the United States government instituted new regulations for entering the country and airport security as well as expounded on systems already in place.
The definition of conspiracy theory is the explanation whether of a political, social or historical event that was thoughtfully staged by an organization or a power elite. The event often goes unexplained. Conspiracy theories often have a planned target, but the purpose is to not necessarily stand out as obvious. One of the greatest conspiracy theory