# French Author's 9/11 Conspiracy Theory **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 21, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993 "2002-08-21T21:52:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/1 "2002-08-21T21:52:07Z")
Have I missed a thread about [this](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=579&e=2&cid=638&u=/nm/20020821/en_nm/attack_plot_book_dc_4) somewhere else? > [@](#): > > PARIS (Reuters) - French author Thierry Meyssan has news for Americans preparing to commemorate the first anniversary of September 11: the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon did not involve hijacked airliners. > [@](#): > > The French have already lapped up Meyssan’s theory that a military faction in the U.S. government used remote controls to guide two aircraft into the twin towers and that a U.S. missile – not an American Airlines jet – smashed into the Pentagon. I’m speechless… ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/2 "2002-08-21T22:28:43Z")
Nah. Just another [urban legend](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/pentagon.htm). ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/3 "2002-08-21T22:29:32Z")
I think we had a thread about this at one point, but I can’t remember where (here or the Pit) or when. In any event, [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/) debunks it pretty thoroughly. (If the link doesn’t bring you straight to the page, look under their “Rumours of War” section. Sua ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/4 "2002-08-21T22:31:09Z")
Or just follow **Mr. Visible’s** link. Sua ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/5 "2002-08-21T22:31:25Z")
Hm. So the French Guy wrote a book about an UL and not only got it published but had a “hit” in France, and now they’re bringing it to the States? Great. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/6 "2002-08-21T22:33:42Z")
But is it significant that that Snopes page was last updated on _April Fool’s Day…_??!!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/7 "2002-08-21T22:39:49Z")
**Sister Coyote** , he didn’t write about the urban legend; he created it. What we have here is a valuable case study in conspiracy theory creation. We’ve been able to watch this one develop from the start, and I’m pretty convinced that this one is going to stick around for decades. It’s got all the hallmarks; examination of incomplete evidence to bolster a predetermined theory, rejection of any claims to the contrary, no matter how well-based on evidence, complete lack of explanation as to why this conclusion is close to as plausible as the accepted one… you get the idea. It’s like a ChiaPet for the ages. Sit back and watch it grow. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/8 "2002-08-21T22:52:54Z")
Here is [the GQ thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=105370) SuaSponte just mentioned, which has some additional info even beyond the Snopes article. Now let’s see if the new sig works . . . ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/9 "2002-08-22T00:17:25Z")
All other evidence that the book is full of crap aside, I find it hard to believe that a lone Frenchman would be able to unravel a real conspiracy AND write a well-documented book about it in well under a year’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/10 "2002-08-22T00:18:42Z")
Also, I’ve never jumped on the senseless “hate the French” bandwagon, but if they’re really that stupid, gullible, and prepared to believe the worst about us… ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/11 "2002-08-22T00:30:27Z")
Eh…it’s the French. What do you expect? ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/12 "2002-08-23T13:06:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > \*\*Also, I’ve never jumped on the senseless “hate the French” bandwagon, but if they’re really that stupid, gullible, and prepared to believe the worst about us… \*\* Most French folk don’t actually believe what the book says, even if they buy it. It’s more for the entertainment value of indulging in wild conspiracies and fantasies; Americans aren’t exactly immune from this, as tabloids do very well in the States. The book is just a lengthy, hard-cover tabloid. - Wind ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-authors-9-11-conspiracy-theory/124993/13 "2002-08-24T13:55:48Z")
His next book will be about the brilliant French military tactics of World War II.