FAQ #9: Why does AE911Truth Represent Only a Small Percentage of Architects and Engineers?

Written by John-Michael Talboo ae911truth.org

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 16:03

Q. Isn’t it true that the signatories at AE911Truth represent only a small percentage of all architects and engineers worldwide? Regardless of the hundreds of architects and engineers who have signed the AE911Truth petition demanding a new investigation, the evidence for the WTC controlled demolition stands on its own A. Those who raise this point often do so in an attempt to avoid dealing with the scientific evidence brought forth by AE911Truth. The real question should be, ‘Is the evidence that they are bringing forth factual and worthy of a real investigation?’ To that question, the answer is yes. It doesn’t matter whether there is one architect and one engineer, or 12, or 100, or 1,600, or 16,000. Those who question the premises offered because the number of adherents to those premises is deemed too small are engaging in a logical fallacy often referred to as an ‘appeal to majority.’ Consider this example: “7 in 10 doctors say the pharmaceutical drug Lipitor works, therefore it must work.” It doesn’t really matter if 10 in 10 doctors say it works: If there is insufficient evidence to support the statement, we cannot simply trust a majority of opinions – particularly if there is a vested interest in dispensing the drug. If a large number of doctors believe that it works, then all that is really worthy of our time is further investigation for evidence to support the claim, but there is insufficient reason to blindly believe the unproven statement based only on a belief by a majority. AE911Truth accordingly places its spotlight on the evidence for the controlled demolition of the WTC skyscrapers, and asks that people not simply believe any explanation blindly, but rather, consider all of the pertinent facts according to the scientific method. It should also be noted that the failure to condemn the official story by such a ‘majority’ should not be viewed as an endorsement of it. One should not assume that the individuals comprising the majority opinion have all been exposed to all the relevant information on the topic. For example, a recent survey revealed that 75% of New Yorkers had never seen video footage of the destruction of WTC Building 7. It’s also true that most architects and engineers know nothing at all about the third worst structural failure in modern history. To illustrate, a general lack of knowledge about the explosive WTC evidence was displayed among A/E professionals at the September 11, 2011, NYC premiere of the AE911Truth film, "9/11: Explosive Evidence - Experts Speak Out," when an individual who held a professional engineer's license asked during the Q&A session why he had never heard of AE911Truth. An architect at the same screening was found in tears over the terrible implications of the evidence. Fox News Channel host Geraldo Rivera expressed great surprise when he invited Tony Szamboti, a mechanical engineer and signer of the AE911Truth petition, on his program in late 2010. For years prior to that, Mr. Rivera was dismissive of the 9/11 truth movement, but stated that he was, "much more open-minded about it… due to the involvement of 9/11 family members and the 1,300 architects and engineers.” In reference to the Remember Building 7 campaign, he said: "What caught my eye is their claim that more than 1,300 architects and engineers examined the evidence about Building 7 and disagree with the official report issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology." It is also important to note that during each of over 200 live presentations of the evidence detailed in our documentary, 9/11: Blueprint for Truth, a show of hands afterwards consistently revealed that at least 85% of those who were either unsure or who accepted the prevailing opinion about the Twin Towers’ destruction beforehand wound up agreeing with the evidence for controlled demolition after seeing it. In addition, there is no way to calculate how many A/E’s are aware of this evidence, but are unwilling to take a public stance on such a controversial matter. Most technical experts have never had a chance to view the WTC7 collapse videos or the other pieces of evidence that confirm the controlled demolition hypothesis Even if the flawed argument of ‘strength in numbers’ is to be seriously considered, the comparison should actually be between the AE911Truth petition signers and those who have publicly supported the official story - after studying the evidence for controlled demolition. The latter group only consists of the several dozen engineers that created the NIST WTC reports, along with a handful of various professionals who have openly advocated NIST’s claims and dismissed those of AE911Truth. This total pales in comparison to the more than 1,600 architects and engineers (as of December 2011) who are calling for an independent investigation of the destruction of the Twin Towers and WTC Building 7. As AE911Truth civil engineer Jonathan Cole has noted, "There is a good reason why there is no group called 'Architects and Engineers that Publicly Support the Official Story’." The numbers would be embarrassing. Few have even taken the time to examine the more than 12,000 pages of documents intended to obscure the issues and ignore the most critical evidence. Other ignored variables include the fact that there are more than 13,000 additional signatories at AE911Truth, which include many highly credentialed people in other fields equally as relevant to the issue. These ‘other’ petition signers include metallurgists, physicists, explosives experts and demolition contractors. Furthermore, there are other 9/11 truth groups which should also be taken into account that represent hundreds of people credentialed outside the fields of architecture and engineering, such as Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice, Firefighters for 9/11 Truth, and Pilots for 9/11 Truth. Finally, as noted by AE911Truth contributing writer Gregg Roberts, the logical fallacy known as ‘moving the goalposts’ is also at play here. Roberts writes, "...'Debunkers'... dismissed our arguments first because, allegedly, no engineers agreed with us. While that was never true to begin with, after AE911Truth was formed and scores of engineers signed the petition, these debunkers predictably moved the goalposts, saying we didn't have any engineers who know anything about heavy steel structures such as tall buildings." However, dozens of structural engineers, such as those featured in the documentary 9/11: Explosive Evidence – Experts Speak Out, have rejected the official story in favor of controlled demolition, citing the overwhelming evidence for that conclusion, much of which was entirely ignored by the official reports. With the "argument from missing authority" refuted, Roberts concludes, "the goalposts will no doubt just be moved again by people who simply don't want to face the evidence." Fortunately, these false arguments have not stopped hundreds of architects and engineers and thousands of other concerned citizens from examining the evidence and signing the petition for a real investigation. While strength in numbers is not proof in itself, it amplifies our voice as we share the truth of the World Trade Center catastrophe with the world.

FAQ # 8: What Caused the Ejections of Dust and Debris in the Twin Towers?

Written by AE911Truth [Including contributions by John-Michael Talboo]

Thursday, 08 December 2011 13:36

Images like this one reveal that the squibs were not merely puffs of air, as they have the same hue and consistency as pulverized solid building materials Multiple analyses have shown that the ejection speed of the squibs was too high, at 100+ mph, to have been the result of air pressure. These are explosive speeds. They have also been clocked at 160 to 200 feet per second. Q: What caused the "squibs"? Could they have been just puffs of dust being pushed out of the Towers by falling floors? Are they visual evidence of explosive charges? A: The isolated ejections 20-60 stories below the demolition front appear to be composed of pulverized building materials, including concrete. There was no known mechanism by which pulverized building materials being created up at the zone of destruction could have been transported so far down through the building and to the exterior. Air conditioning vents would not have tolerated such pressures, and there was no other "channel" in the building to deliver “compressed air”. There is no reason, on the “dust puff” theory, for such blasts to be as isolated as they were. Massive air pressure which would delivered by the (missing) “pile driver” down through the elevator hoist ways and out through a given floor would have broken most or all windows on that floor – not created the highly focalized pin-point ejections that are seen on the videos. The breakage of one or two windows on a given floor would not have relieved enough pressure across an entire floor area to prevent the breakage of many other windows nearby. The squibs identified in the WTC videos occurred 20, 40, and 60 stories below the destruction wave Another problem with the “dust puff” theory is that the pulverized building materials would not have been transported so quickly. Air would have been pushed ahead of such materials, resulting in transparent puffs of air flowing through the freshly broken windows. Physicist David Chandler has also shown that some of these ejections came from the corners of the buildings. Since there are no windows on the corners, these ejections could not have been the result of air pressure. Video evidence has revealed that violent ejections occurred before the North Tower began its descent Furthermore, calculations performed by Dr. Crockett Grabbe show that the horizontal ejection rate of the squibs is disproportional to the floor and debris descent speeds that are allegedly responsible for them. As Kevin Ryan has shown, the ejection speed of the squibs from the Towers also matches the speeds recorded for ejections caused by explosives. As to these ejections appearing only after the collapse initiation, it should be noted that the North Tower's antenna dropped before any other building movement is seen, which is evidence that demolition devices were working on the core before any squibs were seen emerging out of the perimeter walls. There is also video showing that some of these ejections occurred even before the collapses began. See "Visible Explosion at World Trade Center" and "WTC1 collapse initiation - visible signs." Close examination of network video shows clusters of horizontal ejections racing down the North Tower, at times accelerating faster than debris is falling outside the building