# WTC question - not conspiracy related! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952 "2012-11-05T14:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [November 6, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/21 "2012-11-06T18:23:15Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > [http://www.nist.gov/el/disasterstudies/wtc/](http://www.nist.gov/el/disasterstudies/wtc/) > > Links on the right side of that page to the reports on the collapses of WTC1&2 plus WTC7. A little while back I started a thread on the WTC7 report to see what the conspiracy folks thought, you might want to search for that to see some common questions and replies. Thank you very much. Couldn’t ask for much better than that. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/22 "2012-11-06T21:06:46Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Thank you very much. Couldn’t ask for much better than that. You’re very welcome. I’m pretty sure this is one of the most thoroughly documented, researched and studied major structural collapses ever. Just looking at the author lists of those studies gives you an idea of the scope of the work. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/23 "2012-11-07T00:22:45Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Notwithstanding the loss of life, to me this is simply amazing. While I realize the compressed force was immense, it is still hard to imagine all those items being reduced to nothing. Don’t underestimate the grinding power of 110 slabs of reinforced concrete falling an average of 670 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/24 "2012-11-07T13:17:45Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Going back to the specific question of how all these things could collapse: buildings may look solid and impressive from the outside, but the reality is that they’re mostly hollow. Oh man, that brings back what’s possibly the most bizarre argument that I’ve heard from Truthers – the claim that the building collapses looked fake because “they looked like they were hollow, and buildings aren’t hollow.” Uh, of course they are – that’s the only reason they’re useful. ---
**Author:** ![freep5637](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@freep5637](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freep5637)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/25 "2012-11-22T06:20:08Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Also \*\*each \*\*of the floors of TWC towers were made of a big slab of concrete. Imagine the compression force of **110** massive concrete slabs all falling one on top of another. As for recognizable items, obviously the higher up they were the less damage they would have had. The hands of one of the flight attendants was found in the top of the wreckage, still bound with nylon ties by the hijackers (and severed by the impact). Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/26 "2012-11-22T07:05:17Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Oh man, that brings back what’s possibly the most bizarre argument that I’ve heard from Truthers – the claim that the building collapses looked fake because “they looked like they were hollow, and buildings aren’t hollow.” Uh, of course they are – that’s the only reason they’re useful. And of course, if you point out that controlled demolitions look the same way (in terms of how they collapse into a much smaller volume), they say _ha, so you admit that they were demolished!_ Le sigh. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/27 "2012-11-22T23:00:47Z")
> [@Bad\_Penmanship](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PSt2AOfejc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PSt2AOfejc) 9/11 thread? Check. November, 2012 join date? Check. Wordless post with just a YouTube link? Check. So he’s one of those moronic Truthers, right? Nope, but he had me jumping to conclusions. Sorry. ☹ Cool video, **Bad\_Penmanship**. And like on 9/11 it was a demonstration that stuff without enough internal bracing falls exactly where gravity pulls it: down. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/28 "2012-11-22T23:31:18Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Was anything recognizable pulled from the rubble? Many things. Some are on display in the museum. One photo gallery is here: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/artifacts-from-the-911-memorial-and-museum/2011/09/06/gIQASoPpCK\_gallery.html#photo=1](http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/artifacts-from-the-911-memorial-and-museum/2011/09/06/gIQASoPpCK_gallery.html#photo=1) ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/29 "2012-11-23T00:06:56Z")
I was once three cars behind a flatbed trailer that was hauling someone’s houseful of goods when the ties gave way, and everything slid onto the highway at 70 MPH. Even that amount of force reduced 95% of the stuff to just random debris. And that was nothing compared to having a building collapse. Most stuff isn’t tough. ---
**Author:** ![dimmy\_derko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@dimmy\_derko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dimmy_derko)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952/30 "2012-11-23T00:27:45Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > However, with both towers, there was a very large height of the core columns still standing right after the collapse of the floors and perimeter columns, then those core columns collapsed as well (they also needed the floors to be stable, but they were in more of a frame configuration and could stand for a little longer. So, the core columns were unable to stay upright independent of the rest of the building? It’s always puzzled me how ANYTHING remained upright for any amount of time, considering the insistence that once the collapse started NOTHING could resist that piledriver of rubble. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtc-question-not-conspiracy-related/639952.md?page=1)