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Was it my imagination that most people believed in a 9/11 conspiracy? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

63 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It's a bit shocking to me when I see people online putting 9/11 conspiracies in the same box as "MAGA" conspiracies (for lack of a better term, sorry).

For reference, I was 24 in 2001 living in central NJ. Even without social media or fake news websites or what cable news has become today, I have vivid memories of people having the firm belief that there was something up with the attack on 9/11. Was this just my social circle?

Jet fuel melting steel beams was one of the more fringe and unfounded (and quickly debunked) ideas but the rest of everything on that day was questionable. Tower seven falling, the missing plane debris at the pentagon and central PA, the military / president not responding to known threats, if a person with limited flight time could hit a tower, the fact that Bush attacked a country that had nothing to do with the event, and so much more are still, I thought, reasonable questions - especially when looked at together.

This is not about rehashing each theory. Or maybe it is? Have I missed that everything has been debunked?

I mean, I still believe 9/11 was an inside job or at least high level officials, including Bush, were aware it was going to happen and did nothing to stop it. I thought this was still a common opinion of most or many Americans over the age of forty.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

There are a few conspiracy theories remember hearing a lot about (aside from steel fuel melting jet beams and tower 7) that I never quite followed up on. If you know of evidence debunking any these please share. I DO NOT BELIEVE THESE THEORIES MYSELF, THESE ARE JUST ONES THAT PEOPEL I KNOW HAVE BEEN SPOUTING OFF OVER THE YEARS.

CIA confiscating Security cam footage from a gas state across the street from the Pentagon which shows an American cruise missile hitting it instead of an airplane.
No plane debris found at the Pentagon
That entire wing of the Pentagon which was hit was "conveniently" closed for renovations
No plane debris at the crash site in PA, which is said to have went down because the pilots bravely crashed on purpose to thwart the terrorist plans
The owners of the twin towers updated huge insurance policies the day(s) leading up to 9/11.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

What's the point of the government hijacking three airliners but then deciding to use a cruise missile on the Pentagon? The explosive dynamics of a cruise missile and a giant hollow tube which carries people are different and both look nothing alike.

There was debris.

Luck.

Flight 93 left wreckage when it crashed. The FDR and CVR were located around 20 feet/6 meters underground. The reason the parts are small is because the plane was put into a nose dive at a steep angle and crashed with a very high amount of force.

Coincidence. It's a building which would be one of the first targets for a major terrorist attack.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The jet fuel burning steal beams is an interesting one. I remember, perhaps weeks after the event, if not days, scientists being interviewed on national news explaining the science about this and being very clear that this was certainly plausible - it wasn't just the jet fuel but the surrounding materials and chimney like effect of the building which increased the fire's temperature (don't quote me on these details).

How it became the most prominent conspiracy theory is wild to me. Not dissimilar from a random xenophobic Facebook post about illegal immigrants eat pets becoming a major talking point during a presidential debate. Or how it was verified that the 2020 election was the most secure in our nation's history yet more than half of Americans believe voter fraud is a serious threat.

As you've pointed out, that's just a fraction of the "coincidences" surrounding this event. Individually, I could understand they'd be forgotten or swept under the rug but as a whole, it's just a lot of stuff to swallow if you want to believe the "official" report. At the same time, I acknowledge that for this many "coincidences" to be planned out would probably be impossible to cover up.

In comparison, consider what's know and still covered up about the JFK assassination. This is relatively small potatoes in scale compared to 9/11.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

How it became the most prominent conspiracy theory is wild to me.

Every word in "Jet fuel can't melt steel beams" is a single syllable. Very easy to rattle around in an empty head. I mean, heck, it's still rattling around in mine...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

"It's in the Bible", is what my boss at one time believed.

I started there a few years after the events and wondered why this guy kept a 9/12 newspaper front page on display. I thought it was in poor taste but so be it. Eventually the topic came up and he started spitting out bible quotes to explain it all clear as day. He also laughed at dinosaurs!

Sadly, enough of the others there were bible toters too and did not disagree. I moved on before the Trump and covid fun began but I'm sure it was nuts.

That office changed me to my core. Seeing people living so deep in their own fantasy world that they would apply those fantasies to real world events was truly depressing.

These were professional engineers. Not kooks. My time there made me lose any respect for religion. Fanatics and conspiracy theorists are all attention seeking story tellers in need of gullible listeners.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Aren't we lucky to be living in the age of human history in which governments are good and honest? Not like those old, backwards governments in history books who would dress up their soldiers as the enemy's and order them to do something heinous.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I certainly heard a lot of conspiracy theories at the time, but I didn't know anyone who believed them. But I don't and didn't really hang out with the type of people that believe stuff like that in general. My friends and family are generally empirical evidence people, logical thinkers rather than emotional.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'd be curious to know how some of your friends and family responded to the shot taken at Trump's ear.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I would assume reasonably and reservedly, rather than jumping the gun. It's certainly how I responded. Not sure what you really mean to ask though.

If you mean about conspiracy theories, I can pretty much assure they waited to see what was actually the case rather than believe the first thing they heard.

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