What to Make of 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

I've seen a number of documentaries highlighting earnest people with conspiracy theories about 9/11. Most can be discounted as honest but misguided people. But I keep an open mind. I think it is very unlikely that a internal conspiracy took the buildings down. It is overwhelmingly more likely that al Qaeda managed the feat with this jet plane attack.

However, I find the following disconcerting. Here are factual claims made by a group that claim appropriate expertise in steel buildings. The group calls itself Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. If you watch their two hour documentary they raise a number of very troubling issues.

Here is the first of 13 parts:



Click here to access all 13 parts.

I can dismiss most of their arguments. But they claim to have found evidence of thermite used to do a controlled demolition of the 3 World Trade Center buildings (both fragments of unburned thermite and microspherules of melted iron indicative of a thermite explosion, more precisely a thermate-based controlled demolition). I don't have access to the material and I don't have the expertise to analyze it. But if their claims are correct, it raises very troubling questions. Sadly, in a large society, individuals get so far removed from "facts on the ground" and real expertise that you end up having to simply accept authority. These claims, if believed, clearly indicate a conspiracy. But I'm so far removed from facts and testing facts, I have to fall back on something simpler. I have two facts that I can use common sense to shape my judgement:

1. To carry out a large conspiracy and have nobody spill the beans is exceedingly unlikely.


2. Having 3 large building collapse in near perfect similarity to expensive and elaborate "controlled demolition" as a result of fires is exceedingly unlikely.

In the end, I'm guessing the perfect conspiracy of silence is more unlikely than the 3 buildings falling perfectly without a controlled demolition. So I don't buy the argument.

I do wish this group is successful in pushing for a better independent investigation of the WTC building collapses. I agree with this organization that the "official" investigations are not adequate. I do believe this group raises legitimate concerns that should be addressed.

Here's part 3 of an interview with Richard Gage where the question is posed: "How could an internal conspiracy by elements in the US government and/or military kill 3,000 Americans and none of it leaks out?" That is the crux of it. This is why I can't accept the "conspiracy" claim:



Here are parts one and two of the above video interview in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.