9/11 - 3/11 - 7/7 -- Cui Bono? Who Benefits?<DIV>- 9/11 -- A New Pearl Harbor -

My opinion is, based on the videotapes, that after the airplanes hit the World Trade Center there were some explosive devices inside the buildings that caused the towers to collapse".
- Van Romero, Vice President For Research At New Mexico Institute Of Mining And Technology

"I spoke with some police officials moments ago ... and they told me they have reason to believe that one of the explosions at the World Trade Center may have been caused by a van that was parked in the building that may have had some type of explosive device in it."
- Rick Sanchez, MSNBC - 9/11/2001

"Apparently what appears to happen, that at the same time two planes hit the buildings, that the FBI most likely thinks that there was a car or truck packed with explosives underneath the buildings which also exploded at the same time and brought both of them down."
- Jack Kelley, USA Today Foreign Correspondent - 9/11/2001

"Just moments ago I spoke to the chief of safety for the New York City fire department, he received word of the possibility of a secondary device - that is another bomb going off ... according to his theory he thinks that there were actually devices that were planted in the building."
- Pat Dawson, MSNBC - 9/11/2001

“There were explosions going off everywhere. I was convinced that there were bombs planted all over the place and someone was sitting at a control panel pushing detonator buttons . . . There was another explosion. And another. I didn't know where to run."
- Teresa Veliz, WTC 1 Employee, 47th Floor

The following examination of events at the World Trade Center, on September 11, 2001 will utilize images, press reports, human testimonies and scientific conclusions to:

This analysis will begin with what may serve as the most compelling eyewitness evidence, corresponding visual evidence and corresponding scientific conclusions related to apparent sub-level explosions in the WTC towers, via the following quotes and images regarding the first seconds of the collapse of WTC 2:

"Anybody who has ever watched a building being demolished on purpose knows, that if you're going to do this, you have to get at the under infrastructure of a building and bring it down."
- Peter Jennings, ABC News Live Coverage, 9/11/2001.

"I felt the ground shake, I turned around and ran for my life. I made it as far as the Financial Center when the collapse happened"
- NYC EMT Lonnie Penn, Describing The Moments Just Prior To The Collapse Of WTC 2, 9/11/2001.

"Mike Pecoraro ... worked ... deep below the tower ... the room they were working in began to fill with a white smoke"

"There is an explosion at the base of the building … white smoke from the bottom … something happened at the base of the building! Then another explosion.”

- WNYW Fox 5 Anchor Describing First Seconds Of The Collapse Of WTC 2 , 9/11/2001.

Likewise, in the following still images obtained from video of the WTC complex on 9/11/2001, during the first seconds of the collapses of WTC 1 and WTC 2, rising white smoke - apparently originating at the bases of both towers - is evident.

Professor of physics, Steven E. Jones of Brigham Young University describes such white smoke as a possible indicator of the presence of aluminum oxide, an end result of a thermite reaction. Thermite is a substance that can achieve temperatures of 4500 degrees Fahrenheit within seconds upon ignition and can penetrate and destroy the most durable steel materials available during this same period.

"Grayish white aluminum oxide ... streaming away from the reaction sites ... consistent with the use of thermite."
- Professor Steven E. Jones - Physicist, Brigham Young University

"There was no evidence of any blast or explosions in the region below the impact and fire floors"
- National Institute Of Standards And Technology

Yet as seen in the above video captures, there is indisputable and remarkable recorded activity at the base of WTC 2 that largely contradicts the above statement offered by NIST.

NIST and other government entities assigned with the task of investigating the WTC building collapses, have not provided an explanation for the white smoke (which does correspond with the use of Thermite or one of it's variants) seen in abundance emerging from the base of WTC 2 noted in the images above moments prior to it's collapse, that are suggestive of some extraordinary activity there that seems unrelated to the fires (that produced black smoke) located at least 78 floors above.

What can be noted in the following image is what appears to be molten metal pouring from the northeast corner of WTC 2 just moments before it's collapse. According to BYU's Jones, this molten metal is likely iron, based on it's noted color and is evidence of a possible Thermite attack in progress, upon the steel of the structure.

What can be noted in the following collapse image of WTC 2 (right), is the still glowing droplets of molten metal descending to the ground from it's previously noted point of origin, possibly the result of a Thermite attack that was underway against the buildings steel. The short lived appearance of this molten metal is noted interestingly, only moments before the collapse of WTC 2 and on the same side of where the building's collapse ensued, as well. Also, white smoke can be seen bursting from the collapsing structure, nearly adjacent to the point of origin of the afore noted molten metal. This large amount of white smoke may in fact be, accumulated aluminum oxide from within the building, from a large and/or sustained Thermite reaction near the floor from where the structures failure is evident. The building's base-related white smoke noted earlier and white squibs, may also be the result of accumulated aluminum oxide, possibly resulting from Thermite attacks against the lower core and upper core areas.

BYU's Jones describes a discovered patented device specifically designed for Thermite cuts of large objects, during a June 7, 2006 interview on the Alex Jones radio program:

"A patent back to the 1990's, which shows a cylinder ... you pack the cylinder with thermate or thermite ... specifically stated to be used as a cutting device based on thermite ... the molten iron shoots out of this groove in a line ... the patent specifically says this is designed to cut through thick materials"

In addition to the afore mentioned compelling information, the lease holder of the WTC complex, Larry Silverstein (who purchased the WTC complex a mere 6 weeks prior to 9/11) apparently admits to "pulling" (industry jargon for a controlled demolition of a structure) WTC 7 on 9/11/2001, in the following statement aired during a PBS documentary in September 2002 entitled "America Rebuilds":

"I remember getting a call from the Fire Department commander, telling me they were not sure they were going to be able to contain the fire. I said, you know, "We've had such terrible loss of life that the smartest thing to do is just pull it." And they made that decision to pull and we watched the [World Trade Center 7] building collapse."

The seeming above admission - if true - would be in conflict with a report completed by the National Institute Of Standards And Technology, which states that fires were allegedly the cause for the collapse of WTC 7:

"The Twin Towers and WTC 7 are the only known cases of total structural collapse where fires played a significant role."

This admission - if true - would also imply that any explosives utilized in a controlled demolition of WTC 7 on 9/11/2001, were set prior to this date, given that such projects require weeks of advanced planning.

In September 2005, Silverstein Properties released a statement, regarding Mr. Silverstein's controversial 2002 comment aired on PBS, through a U.S. State Department web site:

""Mr. Silverstein spoke to the Fire Department Commander on site at Seven World Trade Center. The Commander told Mr. Silverstein that there were several firefighters in the building working to contain the fires. Mr. Silverstein expressed his view that the most important thing was to protect the safety of those firefighters, including, if necessary, to have them withdraw from the building."

As noted above, when Mr. Silverstein was recounting these events for a television documentary he stated, “I said, you know, we've had such terrible loss of life. Maybe the smartest thing to do is to pull it.” Mr. McQuillan has stated that by “it,” Mr. Silverstein meant the contingent of firefighters remaining in the building.""

However, the above statement released by Silverstein Properties and sanctioned by the U.S. State Department, is in direct contradiction with findings regarding the apparent decision by NYFD not to attempt firefighting activity in WTC 7 on 9/11/2001, noted in the Federal Emergency Management Agency sponsored "World Trade Center Building Performance Study" (Last Updated: Wednesday, 16-Nov-2005 19:08:47 EST)

"Firefighters made the decision fairly early on not to attempt to fight the fires ... Hence, the fire progressed throughout the day fairly unimpeded"

It would seem then, that according the above FEMA report, there were no firefighters to be "pulled" from WTC 7, as Silverstein Properties alleges via the above noted U.S. State Department web site.

This analysis will continue with what are eyewitness accounts of various persons present at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, of numerous explosions at various locations within the World Trade Center towers and complex prior to and during the collapses of each tower:

“It just descended like a timed explosion - like when they are deliberately bringing a building down . . . It was coming down so perfectly that in one part of my brain I was thinking, 'They got everyone out, and they're bringing the building down because they have to.'”
- WNYC Radio's Beth Fertig

"When I looked in the direction of the Trade Center before it came down, before No. 2 came down, ... I saw low-level flashes ... I saw a flash flash flash and then it looked like the building came down ... You know like when they demolish a building, how when they blow up a building, when it falls down? That's what I thought I saw."
- NYFD Assistant Fire Commissioner Stephen Gregory

"I was taking firefighters up in the elevator to the 24th floor to get in position to evacuate workers. On the last trip up a bomb went off. We think there were bombs set in the building."
- NYFD Firefighter Louie Cacchioli

“There was just an explosion in the south tower. It seemed like on television when they blow up these buildings. It seemed like it was going all the way around like a belt, all these explosions.”
- NYFD Firefighter Richard Banaciski

"It almost sounded like bombs going off, like boom, boom, boom, like seven or eight"
- NYFD Firefighter Thomas Turilli

"Heard explosions coming from . . . the south tower . . . There were about ten explosions. . . . We then realized the building started to come down"
- NYFD Firefighter Craig Carlsen

"It actually gave at a lower floor, not the floor where the plane hit. . . . We originally had thought there was like an internal detonation, explosives, because it went in succession, boom, boom, boom, boom, and then the tower came down"
- NYFD Firefighter Edward Cachia

"Somewhere around the middle . . . there was this orange and red flash coming out. Initially it was just one flash. Then this flash just kept popping all the way around the building and that building had started to explode ... With each popping sound it was initially an orange and then a red flash came out of the building and then it would just go all around the building on both sides as far as I could see. These popping sounds and the explosions were getting bigger, going both up and down and then all around the building"
- NYFD Captain Karin Deshore

"A debate began to rage because . . . many people had felt that possibly explosives had taken out 2 World Trade"
- NYFD Firefighter Christopher Fenyo

Next, will be an analysis of reported explosions and noted damage to the sub-levels and lobby of WTC 1 - possibly prior to the impact of AA Flight 11. This damage that was visible in the lobby of WTC 1 was alleged to have been caused by a jet fuel fireball barreling down elevator shafts from the impact zone of AA Flight 11 (shattered windows, shattered marble wall facings depicted in the Naudet brothers documentary "9/11").

However, official explanations for these lobby explosions are called into question by eyewitnesses, media reports and contracted elevator service provider web site information.

"I went around to the freight elevator and I could see that it was just blown"

- NYFD Captain Dennis Tardio Recalling The First Moments Within The Lobby Of WTC 1 (From The Naudet Brothers documentary "9/11", 2002)

"A jet fuel fireball erupted upon impact and shot down at least one bank of elevators."

- Official "9/11 Commission" Report (2004)

http://www.9-11commission.gov/
report/911Report_Ch9.htm

"When she heard the first explosion ... she turned to run, looking over her shoulder as flames leaped from a freight elevator shaft."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/terror/
aftermath/1051698.html

According to the website of Otis Elevators, who installed and serviced the elevator systems within WTC 1 and WTC 2, each tower contained only 1 freight elevator that served both the sub levels of each tower and the floors within the impact zone of AA Flight 11 at WTC 1:

"In addition to normal freight service one freight elevator in each of the towers will serve a total of 112 stops from the fifth basement to the 108th floor."

http://www.otis.com/otis150/section/1,2344,ARC3066
_CLI1_RES1_SEC5,00.html

However ... it seems that this particular freight elevator was in use during the impact of AA Flight 11 at WTC 1. Not only did it's operator and passenger survive the impact of Flight 11 but they also did not report evidence that would suggest the presence of any powerfully explosive fireball within the elevator's shaft:

"Arturo (Griffith) was running 50A, the big freight car going from the six-level basement to the 108th floor. When American Airlines Flight 11 struck at 8:46 a.m., Arturo and a co-worker were heading from the second-level basement to the 49th floor... Arturo heard a sudden whistling sound and the impact. Cables were severed and Arturo's car plunged into free fall. The emergency brakes caught after 15 or 16 floors."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/sept11/2002-09-10-
surivivor-griffiths_x.htm

It therefore seems, that the explosive force reported to have come from a freight elevator shaft servicing the WTC 1 lobby, should therefore have come from one of the several freight elevators servicing only the sub-levels of WTC 1 to points below the impact zone of AA Flight 11 and not the single freight elevator that serviced sub-level floors and floors within the impact zone of AA Flight 11. This therefore tends to suggest that the explosion emanating from a freight elevator as described above, may then have originated from the sub-levels of WTC 1 and not the impact zone of AA Flight 11 at WTC 1. This theory would tend to coincide with descriptions of explosions that are alleged to have in fact originated from the sub-levels of WTC 1:

"William Rodriguez ... worked at the World Trade Center ... As he was talking with others, there was a very loud massive explosion which seemed to emanate from between sub-basement B2 and B3. There were twenty-two people on B2 sub-basement who also felt and heard that first explosion ... "When I heard the sound of the explosion, the floor beneath my feet vibrated, the walls started cracking and everything started shaking." said Rodriguez"

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/
article.html?id=7762

"Mike Pecoraro ... worked as a Stationary Engineer on a roving crew that serviced all of the buildings at the complex ... decided to ascend the stairs to the C level, to a small machine shop ... arrived at the C level ... found the machine shop gone. "There was nothing there but rubble", Mike said. "We're talking about a 50 ton hydraulic press gone!" ... made their way to the parking garage, but found that it, too, was gone. "There were no walls, there was rubble on the floor, and you can't see anything" he said ... decided to ascend two more levels to the building's lobby ... ascended to the B Level, one floor above ... astonished to see a steel and concrete fire door that weighed about 300 pounds, wrinkled up "like a piece of aluminum foil" and lying on the floor."

http://www.chiefengineer.org/article.cfm?seqnum1=1029

The official version of events would have one believe that the same jet fuel fireball that created the afore mentioned massive sub-level damage to WTC 1, would also leave an elevator car occupying the same shaft this fireball supposedly traveled through, practically unscathed by comparison.

What may also reinforce the theory of explosions emanating from the sub-level areas of WTC 1 on 9/11, is a comparison of images of similarly broken lobby glass within the WTC tower's lobby's after 2 separate attacks, 8 years apart.

One is of window damage within one of the WTC towers, possibly caused by the 1993 attack via a sub-level truck bomb explosion and a second is of the damage to the lobby glass to WTC 1 on 9/11, after the impact of AA Flight 11 with WTC 1.

Further research would be necessary in order to determine conclusively that the damaged windows depicted in the 1993 image are directly related to the sub-level explosive device detonated at that time.

Explosions At WTC 6?

This examination will now focus on apparent damage to WTC building number 6, noted prior to the collapses of either WTC tower. In the following very seldom seen image, one can note what appears to be not only the damaged windows of the upper lobby levels of WTC 1, said to be the result of jet a fuel fireball explosion that emerged from lobby elevators via elevator shafts from the AA Flight 11 impact zone (smaller square at right), but also similarly missing windows and a possible presence of smoke at the afore mentioned ... WTC 6 (larger square at left), which is the dark colored building located to the left of WTC 1.

Official versions of events on 9/11 do not note WTC 6 as being subject to any direct attacks as were the WTC towers on that day. Damage to WTC 6 - that is seemingly unrelated to that incurred by each WTC tower before their collapses - is therefore noteworthy.