Physics Professor Questions 'Official Story' of 9/11

http://www.netxnews.net/vnews/displa.../43e6b9f390edf

by Michael Palmer, Jon Long
February 05, 2006

On Wednesday, February 1, the UVSC Ethics Center hosted BYU physics professor Stephen E. Jones, who delivered a presentation based on physics that challenges the official story the public has been given about 9/11.

"The collapse of the World Trade Center buildings illustrate a strange convergence of physics, engineering, ethics and politics," said Ethics Center coordinator David Keller, noting the unlikelihood of inviting a physicist to an Ethics Center event.

Jones' presentation outlined five major points: first, checking the physics of the World Trade Center collapse; second, challenging the EPA's judgment that the dust that encapsulated the area during and after the collapse was non-toxic and safe; third, questioning Osama bin Laden's involvement; fourth, whether or not some U.S. officials had foreknowledge of the event; and fifth, what Jones called "supporting the U.S. constitution now."

Jones spoke to a full and attentive audience, with room CS 404 entirely filled, people standing in the aisles, as well as multiple overflow rooms that were watching the presentation through electronic transmission. He compared absorbing all of the information to "trying to get a drink of water from a fire hydrant."

Jones, who has received emails from engineers and physicists across the country responding to his paper titled, "Why Indeed did the WTC Buildings Collapse?" is slowly gaining national notoriety for his views. He has recently had an editorial published in The Deseret News and news about the "9/11 truth seekers" has carried as far as The Miami Herald.

"I'm not alone in complaining about this report," Jones said. "There are many engineers and scientists waking up to the facts."

According to Jones, the purpose of his paper was to "present evidence for the controlled-demolition hypothesis, which is suggested by the available data, testable and falsifiable, and yet has not been analyzed in any of the reports funded by the U.S. government."

A large portion of Jones' presentation Wednesday night was devoted to World Trade Center building seven, which fell quickly without ever being hit by a plane. According to the official report, the building fell from "damage and fire."

Jones claims that the way the building rapidly fell straight down, makes the "damage and fire" explanation improbable. Jones suggested a thermite detonation from inside the building, possibly in the elevator shafts. However, he added that the steel that would help test his theory, was hurriedly being disassembled and sent to Asia for recycling.

"No one looked seriously at explosive demolition, at least not in writing," Jones said. Building seven was not mentioned in the 9/11 report.

Jones talked about towers one and two as well. He said these buildings were designed to withstand aircraft collision, and such a collision would be "like punching a hole in your screen door with a pencil."

He also challenged Osama bin Laden's involvement in the event.

"What other suspects were even investigated?" Jones asked.

He claimed that the video tape which purportedly shows bin Laden confessing to organizing the attacks was a fake. Jones performed measurements comparing nose sizes and other measurements between the bin Laden in that tape, and the one seen in the others; coming to conclusion that the man in the confession tape was not bin Laden.

"They have this 'smoking gun confession tape,' but it's not him," Jones said.

He also asked why the government had not acknowledged finding three of four black boxes from the hijacked planes.

Jones also tried to make clear that his motives and presentation were not a matter of partisanship. "These issues transcend party politics," Jones said. "I'm not talking about Democrats or Republicans, I'm talking about people's lives."

Jones spoke for approximately an hour-and-a-half and then, following a standing ovation, answered a few questions.

One of the central questions asked was 'when was this information going to break into the national media?' Jones' response was ambivalent; he mentioned that his article would be published more widely in the spring, and said he hoped to give similar presentations in future, but he also said he did not plan on doing any national interviews.

Audience reaction to the presentation ranged from grateful to stunned.

"Millions of Americans are waking up and demanding the facts," said Jerry Owens, founder and chairman of the 9/11 Truth Seekers. "Dr. Jones' presentation is a great aid in filling in the pieces of the puzzle."

"I don't think the presentation necessarily even has to say the Bush administration was involved," said Ron Wilson, a chemistry major from BYU who attended the event. "He points out clearly that information is being omitted and withheld, and that is what we need to focus on. The conspiracy theories are almost beside the point."

Full audio from the event can be found at www.911truthseekers.org, as can the full text of Jones' paper. The Ethics Center also said that DVDs were being made that recorded the full event.

For more information on this or other ethics center events, contact David Keller at 863-6455.