9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theories are claims that the September 11, 2001 attacks did not happen in the way they are traditionally thought to have happened. Most theories state that, in one way or another, the United States government attacked its own country, or knew about the attack ahead of time and decided to let it happen.
The evidence provided by the conspiracy theorists, also known as Truthers or "9/11 truthers" has been widely debunked by many famous researchers and even some 9/11 sympathizers. Some information about specific theories is provided here.
Most people reject these crazy theories. Even liberal socialist activist Noam Chomsky denies that the government knew about the attacks although he did criticize them for not acting on intelligence they had.
(See also: Truther)
7 World Trade Center (WTC7)
There are claims that WTC7 was brought down by controlled demolition on 9/11. Supporters of this theory show photographs of the building from a misleading angle (it omits the smoke that seemed to pour out of the building due to fires inside). Many more photos exist that show massive fires burned throughout the building.
Some quote an owner of WTC7 (Larry Silverstein) as saying they demolished the building.[1] These people say that when he said in an interview that they decided to "pull" the building, he meant demolish. However, in this instance, "pull" does not mean demolish; it means to pull-out.
The BBC TV coverage is often cited for WTC7-related conspiracy theories, as it reports WTC7's collapse before it actually happened.[2] WTTG (Washington DC's Fox affiliate) also makes this mistake.[3] Coverage from CNN used the phrase "may collapse".[4]
The BBC's official explanation was that the fire authorities expected the collapse, and claims the press was informed of this, which would support the CNN account.[5]
Black smoke
Black smoke was seen coming out of WTC7 and other places on 9/11. A common conspiracy theory says that black smoke means that a fire is starved of oxygen, and therefore can easily be put out. It is said that the firefighters did not attempt to put out the fire, in this case. In the past, this might have been true, but petroleum burns very hot and is difficult to put out, and yet it also gives off black smoke. There was probably petroleum in the seventh tower.
