# Please explain this 9-11 BBC article a "Truther" sent me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947 "2018-08-01T21:04:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/41 "2018-08-02T15:45:23Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Some good suggestions. > > I had asked him why planes hitting towers wasn’t enough. > > He would probably say, “to destroy evidence!” If we are down to guessing what his questions are _and_ what his probable answers might be, then I don’t know what more can be done. Maybe if he joined up and asked us directly, we could help him? edited to add: In what area of expertise is he really, really smart? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/42 "2018-08-02T15:51:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If we are down to guessing what his questions are _and_ what his probable answers might be, then I don’t know what more can be done. Maybe if he joined up and asked us directly, we could help him? > edited to add: In what area of expertise is he really, really smart? Admit it: You just want another multi-dozen-page poke-the-yahoo thread about what’s otherwise a mostly-dead conspiracy theory. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/43 "2018-08-02T15:52:19Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > " the building’s wouldn’t have fell down like that without explosives" He can’t be that smart if he doesn’t know how to use the past participle. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/44 "2018-08-02T15:53:57Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Admit it: You just want another multi-dozen-page poke-the-yahoo thread about what’s otherwise a mostly-dead conspiracy theory. 😉 It would certainly be more entertaining than this “debate-by-proxy” going on here. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/45 "2018-08-02T15:59:22Z")
Mildred! Hand me my special poking stick! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/46 "2018-08-02T16:00:17Z")
> [@nofloyd](#): > > The BBC’s editors have an article from 2006 explaining what happened. > > [BBC - The Editors: 9/11 conspiracy theory](http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2006/10/911_conspiracy_theory_1.html) > > “confusion at the time surrounding the names and identities of some of the hijackers” The reader comments on that article are giving me a headache. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/47 "2018-08-02T17:22:25Z")
Common fact: Office fires melt steel. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/48 "2018-08-02T17:28:14Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Mildred! Hand me my special poking stick! It doesn’t seem to be reaching from here. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/49 "2018-08-02T18:31:15Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Also, not a single conspiracy theorist has ever satisfactorily explained why the US government (or whoever "truly did 9/11) would **want** to knock down WTC7. There is no purpose served in doing so. What does knocking down the Twin Towers + WTC7 get you that merely knocking down the Twin Towers alone doesn’t? The theories I’ve heard said that a pretext was needed to do what Bush REALLY wanted, which was go to war with Iraq. More destruction, more pretext. As if either Bush ever needed a pretext for war. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/50 "2018-08-02T22:34:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Also, not a single conspiracy theorist has ever satisfactorily explained why the US government (or whoever "truly did 9/11) would **want** to knock down WTC7. There is no purpose served in doing so. What does knocking down the Twin Towers + WTC7 get you that merely knocking down the Twin Towers alone doesn’t? Checking a list of the occupants (tenants) of WTC7 might offer an explanation to a conspiracy theorist ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/51 "2018-08-02T23:53:24Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Checking a list of the occupants (tenants) of WTC7 might offer an explanation to a conspiracy theorist Checking the list of ingredients in Cracker Jacks might offer an explanation to a conspiracy theorist ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/52 "2018-08-02T23:59:01Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Checking the list of ingredients in Cracker Jacks might offer an explanation to a conspiracy theorist I found a Coupe de Ville in there once. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/53 "2018-08-03T07:00:29Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > According to the insane theories I’ve encountered, there was something of note in the basement of WTC7 (gold bars, secret government projects, etc) and the building collapse was used to cover its theft or destruction. Maybe it was Hillary’s child sex ring / pizza restaurant. There’s also an anti-Semitic angle to the WTC7 conspiracy. Larry Silverstein is the one who told the firefighters to “pull it” and apparently this is secret Jewish conspiracy code for “demolish my evil headquarters so that the evidence will be destroyed and I can collect a fat insurance cheque in the meantime.” Now when Larry said “pull it” he probably meant “enough firefighters have died today and I don’t want any more dying trying to save a building that looks like it is about to collapse entirely of its own accord.” But since everything around him was on actual fucking fire that day he settled for the more succinct version. However, the man is Jewish so if he’s anywhere near a tragedy there are dirtbags out there who want to find ways to blame him for it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/54 "2018-08-03T07:09:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > The theories I’ve heard said that a pretext was needed to do what Bush REALLY wanted, which was go to war with Iraq. More destruction, more pretext. As if either Bush ever needed a pretext for war. Well, yeah, he did. That pretext didn’t rely on 9/11, though. It was just claiming Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. The war from 9/11 was the one on Afghanistan. And what purpose did that serve, if there was no Taliban attack? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/55 "2018-08-03T12:08:49Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I found a Coupe de Ville in there once. Impossible! I have it on good authority that there ain’t any hiding at the bottom of that box. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/56 "2018-08-03T12:56:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If we are down to guessing what his questions are _and_ what his probable answers might be, then I don’t know what more can be done. Maybe if he joined up and asked us directly, we could help him? > edited to add: In what area of expertise is he really, really smart? He’s in IT. And a very good musician. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/57 "2018-08-03T13:04:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It would certainly be more entertaining than this “debate-by-proxy” going on here. I hope you don’t blame me for that. I had one question, this is mostly a thread where I’m answering questions about a guy I know. I’ve already said they can close the thread and that “he’s too far gone”. Everything’s helpful in holding my own In a discussion with him, but I got out what I set to get. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/58 "2018-08-03T13:53:40Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Yeah. > > What gets me is that this is a brilliant guy otherwise with a high IQ. > > He’s very very smart. Ben Carson is also a very smart guy, and he thinks the pyramids were grain silos. So clearly just being smart doesn’t make one any less likely to engage in illogical thinking. ---
**Author:** ![EarlGrayHot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@EarlGrayHot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarlGrayHot)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/59 "2018-08-03T15:19:52Z")
Wow. Just…wow. I’m perfectly willing to entertain a good conspiracy theory but this one-that 9/11 was an inside job by our own government-just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. There is no evidence AT ALL that it didn’t happen the way we’ve been told. None. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947/60 "2018-08-03T15:49:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I found a Coupe de Ville in there once. OMG, so 9/11 was CHUCK BERRY?! :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-9-11-bbc-article-a-truther-sent-me/818947.md?page=4)