# 9/11 Conspiracy Theories! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 26, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948 "2006-03-26T10:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/482 "2006-04-13T20:14:57Z")
> [@McRib is Back](#): > > No, I meant the part of the bomb that would normally be sniffable, wouldn’t be because it was so throughly sealed and checked by the assailants very own bomb sniffing dogs. Either they were vacuum sealed or they weren’t. There’s no such thing as a partial vacuum seal. > [@](#): > > - The WTC’s dogs might have been removed so that they wouldn’t detect the traces that would be in the air after they were detonated.\* All of the dogs weren’t removed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/483 "2006-04-13T20:18:25Z")
What do you think a [vacuum sealed explosive is](http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/01/07/bombdeath.shtml), anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/484 "2006-04-13T20:46:05Z")
I quit this thread, but it appears the torch has been passed. I see mention of “demolition charges” being set, but “thermite” is also being credited with cutting the steel columns. From what I gather, a shaped charge of high explosive is needed to cut through steel beams of this size, the “puffs” seen by some of the CTs. But thermite is a slower reaction. It has to burn through the steel at a slower rate. No “puff”. So which is it, CTs? Charges or thermite? Both? Along with the complexities of setting 2 completely separate sets of triggering circuits? Vacuum packed, shaped demolition charges and vacuum packed thermite charges, and the triggering mechanisms to set both off. Sounds reasonable. That is until you read the link above where 4118 separate charges and 36,000 ft of detonation cord were used to bring down a 30 story building. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/485 "2006-04-13T21:11:28Z")
> [@UselessGit](#): > > (I am also pissed off about the 50 ton = 612 pound calculation FWIW) I’m the guy that posted the comment that a 50 Hydraulic press only weighs 612 lbs. Here is the [link](http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/NTE_AdditionalImages?storeId=6970&langId=-1&rfno=475&cm_ven=nautral&cm_cat=netconcepts&cm_pla=Google&cm_ite=50%20ton%20hydraulic%20press) for buying a 50 ton hydraulic press. You will note that the shipping weight is 612 lbs. That means that the actual weight of the press is slightly less, since shipping weight includes packaging. Look at the picture, does that steel framework look like it weighs 100,000 lbs? Since it appears that you don’t know what a press is or does, let me fight your ignorance here. A press is something that can press down with a given force, in this case up to 100,000 lbs. Uses include pressing a bearing in place or removing a bearing where the bearing is an interference fit into its housing. The force rating (50-ton) bears no relationship to the actual weight of the item. I have a 10 ton press in my school that I can pick up and move if I want to clean behind it. It weighs maybe 90 lbs. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/486 "2006-04-13T21:33:22Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > So which is it, CTs? Charges or thermite? Both? Along with the complexities of setting 2 completely separate sets of triggering circuits? Vacuum packed, shaped demolition charges and vacuum packed thermite charges, and the triggering mechanisms to set both off. [Vacuum packed fermented herring?](http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=3370&date=20060324) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/487 "2006-04-14T01:04:50Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > There is already a Pit thread open on the same topic. If you feel an utter need to get personal or insulting, post it there. There is simply no point in being rude in this thread. Fair enough tomndebb. Personally I think I was provoked…but as you say, no need to be rude in return. Apologies to all. -XT ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/488 "2006-04-14T03:09:08Z")
> [@McRib is Back](#): > > No, I meant the part of the bomb that would normally be sniffable, wouldn’t be because it was so throughly sealed and checked by the assailants very own bomb sniffing dogs. Well, in that case, the job just went from four months to eight months. Can someone check - were the WTC towers closed for an eight-month period sometime before the attack? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/489 "2006-04-14T16:38:26Z")
Thanks for the backup, **griffin1977**. I have to admit “lots more than two days” was an educated guess on my part. Your cites came as a relief to me. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/490 "2006-04-15T05:28:32Z")
I have read both of these CT threads from the OPs. It seems to me that at some level some people (CTers) lose the ability to comprehend. It is like their mind overloads, they get a BSOD, reboot into safe (CT) mode. For example I went through the '94 Northridge earthquake. The magnitude was at first listed as 6.4 (later upgraded to 6.7) I had the following conversation with more than one person after the quake: CTer: “Wow that was at least a magnitude 7 Me: “It was a 6.4 actually” CTer: “No way it was much stronger than that! It must be at least a 7” Me: “Have you ever been in a magnitude 7 earthquake?” CTer: “No” Me: “A magnitude 6?” CTer: “No” Me: “Then how do you know what a magnitude 7 feels like, and how can you make this statement?” CTer: Well it felt stronger than a magnitude 6.4” Me: :smack: Getting back to the WTC I think that the CTers have gotten a BSOD in their mainds and cannot comprehend just how fricking big and heavy a 767 is, and how much damage the impact of same, and the resulting fire would do. Instead of trying to comprehend, their mind reboots, and goes on and on about pipelines that were never built, because that is easier for their mind to wrap around. And because they cannot comprehend that an airplane could cause such a large building to collapse then it must have been a controlled demo. This is the same type of thinking that makes a guy like **Sent** or **UselessGit** to comment that a **50 ton press** was thrown over. OMG 50 tons, how could an airplane cause a 100,000 lbs item in the basement to fall over? Must have been bombs. Lots and lots of bombs. Enough bombs to melt steel, lots and lots of steel. Right. Try rebooting into normal mode and thinking for a change. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/491 "2006-04-15T06:04:01Z")
I know McRib’s banned; however, I want to mention two things about the posting below: > [@McRib is Back](#): > > No, I meant the part of the bomb that would normally be sniffable, wouldn’t be because it was so throughly sealed and checked by the assailants very own bomb sniffing dogs. How many non-military/law enforcement outfits receive dogs trained to sniff out bombs? For that matter, how expensive and complicated is such training? > [@](#): > > The WTC’s dogs might have been removed so that they wouldn’t detect the traces that would be in the air after they were detonated. I’m trying to make this one make sense (I know, I know…“It’s part of a nut-job conspiracy and you expect it to _make sense_?”) but I can’t fathom out what it’s supposed to mean. The WTC itself had bomb-sniffing dogs as part of the day-to-day security or the government’s own bomb-sniffing dogs were removed by the government? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/492 "2006-04-15T06:11:41Z")
I meant “…nut job conspiracy theory…” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/493 "2006-04-16T03:57:04Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I’m trying to make this one make sense (I know, I know…“It’s part of a nut-job conspiracy and you expect it to _make sense_?”) but I can’t fathom out what it’s supposed to mean. The WTC itself had bomb-sniffing dogs as part of the day-to-day security or the government’s own bomb-sniffing dogs were removed by the government? The WTC apparently had extra bomb-sniffing dogs on duty for a while; these dogs had been removed a couple of days prior to 9/11. The CTs believe the reports of bomb-sniffing dogs being removed meant all of them were removed. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/494 "2006-05-08T05:08:12Z")
Ok I get it.Sheen is an actor and has and can have no credibility.I remember watching tv and seeing the planes crash into the towers.I was shocked to see them come down.I saw a program on the construction and the technical explanation of why they came down. The part I missed was when the 3rd plane crashed into bldg7.If hot airplane fuel melted the steel beams and the explosion ripped a hole into the structures,what happened to bldg.7. Also since no other large bldgs have come down like that ,why aren’t the archetects being publically blamed and punished. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/495 "2006-05-08T05:33:00Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Ok I get it.Sheen is an actor and has and can have no credibility.I remember watching tv and seeing the planes crash into the towers.I was shocked to see them come down.I saw a program on the construction and the technical explanation of why they came down. The part I missed was when the 3rd plane crashed into bldg7.If hot airplane fuel melted the steel beams and the explosion ripped a hole into the structures,what happened to bldg.7. > Also since no other large bldgs have come down like that ,why aren’t the archetects being publically blamed and punished. [http://www.911myths.com/html/wtc7\_damage.html](http://www.911myths.com/html/wtc7_damage.html) > [@A firefighter with 18 years experience](#): > > …on the north and east side of 7 it didn’t look like there was any damage at all, but then you looked on the south side of 7 there had to be a hole 20 stories tall in the building, with fire on several floors. Debris was falling down on the building and it didn’t look good. > [@A deputy chief](#): > > …also we were pretty sure that 7 World Trade Center would collapse. Early on, we saw a bulge in the southwest corner between floors 10 and 13, and we had put a transit on that and we were pretty sure she was going to collapse. You actually could see there was a visible bulge, it ran up about three floors. It came down about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, but by about 2 o’clock in the afternoon we realized this thing was going to collapse. As for why the architects aren’t being “punished,” I’d guess for the same reason that the guy who designed both my and my neighbors houses wouldn’t be punished if a 100 ft. meteorite slammed into my house, and his caught fire and fell down. It wasn’t designed with a claim to stand up to that sort of event. It didn’t. No one (who’s rational) is surprised by this fact. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/496 "2006-05-08T05:54:16Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Also since no other large bldgs have come down like that ,why aren’t the archetects being publically blamed and punished. How many buildings have been rammed by aircraft in recent years? The WTC towers were designed to withstand the _impact_ of a 707 (327,000 lb. max) or DC-8 (315,000 lb. max). (At the time the towers were being _designed_, the 747 was not yet in production.) They each withstood the _impact_ of the larger (330,000 lb.) 767s, then failed under the extended burn from the fuel. Why should the architects be blamed for failing to foresee an event somewhat different than that for which they did prepare over 30 years later? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/497 "2006-05-08T17:32:48Z")
A lot of buildings have burned.Some for days.Heat which was blamed for the collapse ,not the hole.No other building collapsed.I missed when a plane hit bldg 7. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/498 "2006-05-08T17:35:55Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > A lot of buildings have burned.Some for days.Heat which was blamed for the collapse ,not the hole.No other building collapsed.I missed when a plane hit bldg 7. Taking a different course. . . What do YOU think caused building 7 to collapse? We have evidence there was a huge gaping hole in the side of the building, we have evidence there was a raging fire in the building, we have evidence that firefighters (guys trained in knowing when a structure is losing integrity) thought the building was going to fall down. What more do you need? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948/499 "2006-05-09T01:35:42Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > .I missed when a plane hit bldg 7. You certainly did miss the fact that WTC burned uncontrolled and unfought for over seven hours. Buildings are not immune to fire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-conspiracy-theories/349948.md?page=24)