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WTC-1 & the Thermite of Doom
Was WTC-1 a Controlled Demolition?
According to the official story, the twin towers collapsed due to a “pancake effect”. Simply stated, the top floors detached from the center columns, fell into the next floor with enough force to detach it from the center columns, and so on, until all 110 floors had ended up as a pile of ruble at the foot of the building.
Let’s take a closer look at this theory, with a clip from 9/11 Eyewitness which criticizes a NOVA documentary about the collapse:
Let us pause here for a moment to consider another red herring of 9/11 conspiracy theory. Truthers claim that jet fuel does not burn hot enough to melt steel. As a matter of fact, this is true: jet fuel burns at a maximum temperature of about 1796*F, while the melting point of steel is around 2500*F. Furthermore, the steel used in the construction of WTC-1 was treated and fireproofed to withstand even hotter temperatures. It is scientifically impossible that jet fuel fires melted the steel.
However, no one is claiming that the steel melted. The official story claims that the steel was weakened by the fire enough to bend and distort, losing structural integrity and then allowing the pancake collapse to occur. For example, consider this image of the Windsor Tower, another steel frame building that suffered a fire in February of 2005:
As you can see for yourself, the steel has not melted- most of the inner frame remains intact. However, this fire weakened the steel enough for the front facade to collapse away from the building.
However, even after discounting the ole’ “melting point of steel” defense, I am left with an obvious question regarding the official story. Simple stated: what about the center columns?
Even if we accept the NOVA simulation as gospel, this does not explain what happened to the massive core of steel columns which lived inside the tower. Despite what is shown in the simulation, this core did not survive the collapse intact, as seen in this image of “Ground Zero” taken a few minutes following the collapse of the second tower:
In other words, even if the pancake theory explains why the floors collapsed, this does not explain why these massive steel columns were not left reaching hundreds of feet into the Manhattan skyline.
But this might:
As you can see for yourself, these mighty columns, once responsible for keeping a 1,300+ foot tall building from toppling over, had been reduced to stubs sticking a mere 10-25 feet out of the rubble of “Ground Zero”. More troubling, notice the angular cuts seen at the top of these columns.
What could have caused this? Remember: the jet fuel may have weakened the steel, but that cannot begin to explain what we see in these pictures.
The prevailing theory is that these columns show the effects of thermite, which is not only powerful enough to make these cuts, but would also explain the gray blobs of residue found surrounding the top of the stubs. Furthermore, “Truthers” claim that thermal “hot spots” were found at “Ground Zero” even a few weeks after the initial collapse. These “hot spots” registered at over 1,292*F. Remember: burning jet fuel does not remain at high temperatures once the fuel has been burned off. Remember: 1,292*F is not hot enough to melt steel. Any way you look at this, something is not adding up.
“The Sheeple” are quick to point out that all discussion based on this alleged thermite is based entirely on speculation. This is not true: many people have performed controlled experiments to confirm the effects and temperatures of thermite. However, it is also true that these experiments were not made at “Ground Zero” itself, nor were these experiments performed on steel from the World Trade Center. They cannot confirm nor dis-confirm what actually happened there on September 11, 2001.
This begs another question: was the steel from “Ground Zero” tested for traces of thermite? Steven Jones of Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice claims to have found evidence of thermite on steel recovered from the “Ground Zero”, however, this claim remains unsubstantiated.
This begs yet another question: why haven’t other independent parties tested Jones’ hypothesis for themselves? Simply stated: because the steel from “Ground Zero” is long gone.
The cleanup of “Ground Zero” was unprecedented in size and scope. This effort was rushed before proper safety precautions could be taken, leading to severe illnesses among many volunteers and fire fighters who helped perform the cleanup. The majority of the steel was collected and sold to China and India, leading many to believe that Rudy Giuliani, former New York prosecutor, was deliberately removing evidence from a crime scene in order to hide the truth. Others claim that Mayor Giuliani simply wanted to restore normalcy as quickly as possible. Apparently the indisputable facts that 1) people got sick, 2) many families were given inadequate time to find the remains of loved ones and 3) steel was removed prior to serious investigation is all irrelevant in the eyes of this would-be President and his supporters.
That this allegation even exists shows me that, at best, the people of NYC suffered from extreme government incompetence; people are sick, all evidence is gone, and all we are left with now is speculation (on both sides, mind you).
We have no concrete evidence that thermite was used, and even if it was, we have no idea when it was used, by whom it was used, or why it was used. Even so, I’m going to side with the “Truthers” on this one. I have yet to see any valid explanations for any of this by the so-called “conspiracy theory debunkers”. I am not an engineer, and all of my evidence comes second-hand from other first-person reports. I cannot prove that WTC-1 was a controlled demolition, nor am I convinced that it was. Even so: as far as I’m concerned, this plethora of unanswered questions is reason enough for a new investigation.
For those keeping track, the current score (”Truthers” v. “Debunkers”) is tied 1-1. Coming up next: what about WTC-7, and Larry Silverstein?
Hungry for more?
