Pentagon Attack Errors

There are numerous pieces of evidence that point to the attack on the Pentagon being an inside job. These include:

• The location of the attack: The portion of the Pentagon that was struck was nearly empty due to a renovation program.
• The aircraft approach maneuver: The attack plane executed an extreme spiral dive maneuver to strike said portion of the building from the southwest, opposite the direction from which it approached the capital.
• The incompetence of the alleged pilot: Flight 77 was supposedly piloted by Hani Hanjour, about whom a flight instructor said: "He couldn't fly at all".
• Signs of a cover-up: Numerous actions by officials indicate an ongoing cover-up of the facts concerning the attack.

These and other undisputed facts, constituting highly incriminating evidence of involvement of officials in the attack and coverup, have been largely eclipsed by an ongoing controversy over whether the Pentagon was hit by a jetliner at all. From early 2002, some skeptics of the official story have maintained that the Pentagon was attacked, not by a jetliner, but one of or a combination of a truck bomb, a missile or cruise missile, an attack drone aircraft or commuter jet, a flyover by a 757, and internal demolition charges. 9-11 Research provides a history of Pentagon strike theories.

The debate over what hit the Pentagon has thrived due to the apparent contradiction between the eyewitness and physical evidence. Whereas a large body of reports of eyewitness accounts strongly supports that a twin-enginer jetliner swooped in at a very low altitude and exploded at or in front of the Pentagon; photographs of the damaged facade and lawn show an apparent near-absence of aircraft debris and a pattern of damage to the Pentagon's facade showing unbroken windows in the paths of the outer wings and the vertical tail section.

Numerous points based on the physical evidence of the crash site seem to make an overwhelming cumulative case against a 757 having crashed there, provided one ignores the eyewitness evidence. However, most of these points involve some error in evaluating the evidence. Those errors include the following.

• 'A Boeing 757 could not have executed the attack maneuver'
• 'Eyewitnesses saw a small plane'
• 'The Pentagon attack left no aircraft debris'
• 'Aircraft crashes always leave large debris'
• 'The Pentagon attack left only a small impact hole'
• 'The wings of a 757 should have been visible outside the Pentagon'
• 'Engine parts from the Pentagon crash don't match a 757'
• 'Standing columns in the Pentagon impact hole preclude the crash of a 757'
• 'The C-ring punch-out hole was made by a warhead'
• 'Flight-path obstacles can't be reconciled with the crash of a 757'
• 'Only A Small Plane or Missile Could Have Caused Pentagon Damage'
• 'The Pentagon Attack Plane was a Boeing 737 Instead of a Boeing 757'
• 'The Jetliner that appeared to crash into the Pentagon actually flew over it'

page last modified: 2009-07-27