0:00:04 > 0:00:09We all remember where we were the day the world changed,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12but do we know what really happened?
0:00:13 > 0:00:18Look closer through the smoke and horror, say conspiracy theories,
0:00:18 > 0:00:23- and you'll find that not everything was as it first appeared.- Oh, shit!
0:00:23 > 0:00:26'We don't know the full story.'
0:00:26 > 0:00:30We know the official story is completely disproven and a fairytale.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39There are a multitude of different conspiracy theories about 9/11
0:00:39 > 0:00:43and the internet has given them a reach and a life as never before.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46We're people who have questions.
0:00:46 > 0:00:4910 years on, the questions keep coming.
0:00:51 > 0:00:58If a large passenger jet crashed into the Pentagon, why was the hole in the exterior wall so small?
0:00:58 > 0:01:03There's no debris. I'd expect Tiger to show up to practise his putting.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08Could a controlled demolition have caused this building to collapse at the World Trade Center?
0:01:08 > 0:01:11There's something wrong here.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15If you have seen Building Seven, there is no way back.
0:01:15 > 0:01:22Without a photograph, where's the proof that the US military killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan?
0:01:22 > 0:01:28The intel we're getting now is that it was one of many Bin Laden doubles in the house.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30The whole thing is an elaborate hoax.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I served at CIA for 24 years.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35We're smart, we're good.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41To believe that we could orchestrate a 10-year conspiracy... Forget that it would be immoral, unethical
0:01:41 > 0:01:45and simply unbelievable except in the movies.
0:01:45 > 0:01:52So why do so many people doubt what the American government tells them about 9/11?
0:01:52 > 0:01:57As Sherlock Holmes was fond of observing,
0:01:57 > 0:02:03"When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
0:02:21 > 0:02:27'Hi. We have a problem here. We have a hijacked aircraft heading towards New York
0:02:27 > 0:02:32'And we need someone to scramble some F-16s or something up there.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36- 'Is this real world or exercise?- No, it's not an exercise or a test.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40'It's not an exercise or a test. It's not an exercise or a test...'
0:02:40 > 0:02:45This is all that remains of America's biggest crime scene.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50The World Trade Center, consigned to a hangar in a New York suburb.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Could the secrets of 9/11 lie here?
0:03:02 > 0:03:06The official account of what happened on that day is unequivocal.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17After two years of planning, Osama Bin Laden's 19 young martyrs,
0:03:17 > 0:03:23armed with knives and box cutters, casually walked through airport security and hijacked four planes.
0:03:26 > 0:03:32Then, within the space of 77 minutes, they destroyed the iconic symbols of America's power,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36taking nearly 3,000 lives with them into the flames,
0:03:36 > 0:03:3867 British people among them.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Two planes hit the World Trade Center in New York.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52Another ploughed into the Pentagon, HQ of the military in Washington.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54'The second tower has exploded!'
0:03:54 > 0:04:00The final plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania on its way to the capital,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04its likely target either Congress or the White House.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11WOMAN'S VOICE: 'I just wanted to let you know I love you. I'm stuck in this building'
0:04:11 > 0:04:18'A plane hit the building or a bomb went off. We don't know. I just want you to know I love you.'
0:04:18 > 0:04:24The official inquiry admitted that America was caught off guard and the response was chaotic,
0:04:24 > 0:04:29but found no conspiracy involving the government in Washington.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36- Oh, my God! The next building...! - There's another one!
0:04:36 > 0:04:40- Oh, my God! Oh, my God! - Another plane just flew into...
0:04:40 > 0:04:42SIRENS WAIL
0:04:51 > 0:04:56But many simply don't accept the official conclusion.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08'Big Brother. Mainstream media. Government cover-ups.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11'You want answers? Well, so does he.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15'He's Alex Jones on the GCN Radio Network.
0:05:15 > 0:05:21- 'And now, live from Austin Texas, Alex Jones.'- Let's go! Yeah!
0:05:21 > 0:05:28The loudest voice in the self-styled 9/11 truth movement broadcasts a three-hour show every day.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33He said, "Yes, we're secret. Yes, we're authoritarian. Yes, it's good.
0:05:33 > 0:05:40"And you bet we're militarising. This world is ours and we're coming for it. You'll lay down and take it!"
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Ha ha! They love it! Well, I got news for you!
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Some of us are still red-blooded!
0:05:47 > 0:05:53He's expanding his business and he says he knows the real culprits of 9/11.
0:05:53 > 0:05:59Private corporate rogue networks working in US, British and Israeli intelligence - all three groups -
0:05:59 > 0:06:06were found to have fingerprints, but the main driver was rogue networks at the top of the US government.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12Here's the thing. The government admits they've staged events before.
0:06:12 > 0:06:18The official story doesn't add up. I'm saying that it needs to be investigated.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22So what did happen on that day?
0:06:27 > 0:06:32The questions start as dawn broke on Tuesday, 11th September, 2001.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38American Airlines Flight 11 pushed back from the gate at 7.40am.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43The first report of a possible hijack came at 8.19,
0:06:43 > 0:06:50but why did the world's most powerful air force fail to intercept this or any of the four planes?
0:06:50 > 0:06:56'We have a problem here. We have a hijacked aircraft headed towards New York.'
0:06:56 > 0:07:01That morning, Colin Scoggins arrived at work in the Federal Aviation Administration,
0:07:01 > 0:07:06or FAA's Boston centre for air traffic control.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11As soon as I walked in the door, someone told me there was a hijack going on.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13But this hijack was different.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17There were multiple hijacks, four hijacks.
0:07:17 > 0:07:23They'd turned off the transponder and it also sounded like there was some violence on the aircraft.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28Now the military were looking for one plane among thousands on radar
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and it was being taken off course.
0:07:31 > 0:07:38What's more, a routine military training exercise was taking place at the US Air Defense Command.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43So it was another 27 minutes before the interceptors were scrambled.
0:07:43 > 0:07:49'We have a problem here. We have a hijacked aircraft headed for New York and we need to get...
0:07:49 > 0:07:53'We need someone to scramble some F-16s to help us out.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57- 'Is this real world or exercise?- No, this is not an exercise or test.'
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Even as the interceptors took off,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06the pilots were still unclear about where they were supposed to go.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12'I need a direction, a destination...'
0:08:12 > 0:08:17It's claimed this was the start of a carefully-planned conspiracy
0:08:17 > 0:08:20involving four hijacked passenger planes.
0:08:21 > 0:08:28It's alleged the then Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the US military not to intercept the planes.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Cheney ordered the stand down.
0:08:31 > 0:08:38The aircraft were scrambled and, in some cases, had over 45 minutes to get where they were going
0:08:38 > 0:08:42and were told to fly around at stalling speed.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47Colin Scoggins was in constant contact with US Air Defense Command.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53I never saw any lack of responses.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59Everything I saw from the military that day, there was no stand down.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04I was probably in communication with the military more than anybody else.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09He saw plenty of confusion, but no conspiracy.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16I think the biggest part was the lack of communication between the FAA and the military
0:09:16 > 0:09:22and the other part was the equipment the military had. It was designed to look out over the ocean.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26It wasn't designed to look inside the United States.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- Holy fuck! - A WOMAN SCREAMS
0:09:33 > 0:09:38And that's also why the interceptor jets flew the wrong way.
0:09:38 > 0:09:44It was assumed any air threat would come from overseas, so, following standard procedure,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46the fighters took off to the east.
0:09:46 > 0:09:52They didn't reach Long Island until 22 minutes after the second tower had been hit.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54'Gimme the location!'
0:10:00 > 0:10:06Upstate New York, home to the most successful conspiracy film ever.
0:10:11 > 0:10:149.38. Arlington, Virginia.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19Hani Hanjour allegedly executes a 330-degree turn at 530 miles per hour
0:10:19 > 0:10:24to crash American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The first edition of Loose Change cost just 2,000.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32The latest had had a budget of a million.
0:10:32 > 0:10:38Flight 77 manages to hit the only section that was reinforced to withstand a terrorist attack.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48And Dylan Avery is the prodigy behind the film.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51- That's Jonas.- Howdy.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Luke. Foot soldier. One of the best people in New York for truth.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Jay Mandresh. Cook/dishwasher.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- Just kidding, man.- No, it's true.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08This is our office. No one's in yet. That's our secretary's desk.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12That's really about it for this room.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14And that leads us to my room.
0:11:19 > 0:11:25- This is it. - So this is where you work?- This is where the magic happens. Yes, sir.
0:11:26 > 0:11:32Loose Change has become an internet phenomenon, viewed by tens of millions of people.
0:11:32 > 0:11:38To reach a global audience this big in the past, you'd have needed the backing of a Hollywood studio.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43Now all you need is a modicum of technical knowledge and a bargain basement computer.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46This is the laptop that started it all.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54In February, 2003, after saving up for about two months or so,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58I went to a Radio Shack and bought this. I had it the next morning
0:11:58 > 0:12:02and started editing what would become Loose Change, the documentary.
0:12:02 > 0:12:09His film sets out the central conspiracy theory that the World Trade Center Twin Towers
0:12:09 > 0:12:15collapsed not because of fire, but because they were rigged with explosives.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20'Do you still think that jet fuel brought down the Twin Towers?
0:12:20 > 0:12:24'In almost all the videos of the collapses, violent ejections appear
0:12:24 > 0:12:29'20-60 storeys below the demolition wave. Here.
0:12:30 > 0:12:31'Here.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34'Here.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38'And here.'
0:12:44 > 0:12:51Reports of loud bangs and the sudden collapse of the buildings are taken as proof of explosives.
0:12:57 > 0:13:03The person who should know why the buildings came down is the original structural engineer.
0:13:03 > 0:13:09Leslie Robertson's office still overlooks Ground Zero. He worked on the buildings from the 1960s.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19I guess I was involved from the very first breath of the project.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22It's a very romantic thought,
0:13:22 > 0:13:27all these ideas, but they're not real. They're not real at all.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34The official report into the collapse concluded that when the planes slammed into the towers,
0:13:34 > 0:13:39they severed and damaged support columns and dislodged fireproofing.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Purdue University modelled how 10,000 gallons of jet fuel
0:13:45 > 0:13:50was spewed over many floors, starting widespread fires.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56Temperatures reaching up to 1,000 degrees Celsius weakened the floors and columns.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00The fires don't have to melt the steel in order to bring it down.
0:14:00 > 0:14:07just raise it high enough so that the strength of the steel is reduced to the point where failure takes place.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Steel melts at around 1,500 degrees Celsius,
0:14:12 > 0:14:17but at 600 degrees it loses half its strength.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Eventually, the floors sagged and the perimeter columns bent,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25starting the collapse and creating the sounds of explosions.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31The massive weight of the floors above dropped, creating a load far beyond what they were designed for.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35There was plenty of weight to bring it down.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39The floors below caved in, causing those puffs of smoke.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47There's air inside and as the building comes down, it creates very high pressures.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52It tries to break the glass out and, sure, you're going to get...
0:14:54 > 0:14:56..gas emitted from the building.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Modern conspiracy theories
0:15:00 > 0:15:03are casting a long shadow.
0:15:03 > 0:15:09One leading structural engineer thinks they are distracting attention from a critical debate
0:15:09 > 0:15:16about the safety of the Twin Towers and he, too, has been caught up in the conspiracy theories.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21It doesn't make any sense whatsoever! They are so zealous.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26After all the discussion you make and you show there is no way it's correct,
0:15:26 > 0:15:33they go, "How about this...?" It's a complete circular discussion, continuously.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41Professor Astaneh has studied the full structural drawings of the Twin Towers.
0:15:42 > 0:15:49He points to 11 areas where the design departed from tried and tested methods
0:15:49 > 0:15:51approved by building codes,
0:15:51 > 0:15:56such as lightweight concrete floors or gypsum walls,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01and especially the use of thin bearing walls around the perimeter
0:16:01 > 0:16:06instead of the conventional structure of columns and beams.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10The reason it collapsed
0:16:10 > 0:16:16was because of that...bearing wall system.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22At the level that aeroplane hit, the thickness of the steel wall was only 6 millimetres.
0:16:22 > 0:16:246 millimetres.
0:16:24 > 0:16:31It doesn't say that we should blame Mr Robertson or the designers for this tragedy.
0:16:31 > 0:16:37This tragedy happened because those murderers came and killed our innocent people.
0:16:37 > 0:16:43I always say that. But we have to learn lessons from these kind of tragedies
0:16:43 > 0:16:49to make sure we don't make the same mistake and the lesson in this case is that you follow the code.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53This building was not according to the code.
0:16:54 > 0:17:00Professor Astaneh claims that many of the hundreds trapped above the impact zone could have escaped
0:17:00 > 0:17:04if there had been substantial walls around the emergency staircases.
0:17:04 > 0:17:10The allegations are totally refuted by the Twin Towers' structural engineer Leslie Robertson.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13It's preposterous.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18Those walls were stronger and more airtight than walls used in the past.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22I know of no case in the World Trade Center where the structural design
0:17:22 > 0:17:27did not exceed the requirements of the building code of New York.
0:17:27 > 0:17:34There's a lot of misinformation out there and, not only that, these are extremely complex issues.
0:17:34 > 0:17:4010 years on, memories of that day remain tragic and disturbing.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49It was the people inside that then and now are still in my... in my mind, in my sleep.
0:17:56 > 0:18:02But if there was a government conspiracy, what could possibly be the motive?
0:18:02 > 0:18:07You're asking how could government get in a mindset to kill 3,000 Americans.
0:18:07 > 0:18:13It's rogue criminal groups within it that make trillions off war, trillions off oil they're seizing.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17They want to control that key Central Asian/Middle East area
0:18:17 > 0:18:21that strategists say is absolutely essential to dominate the world.
0:18:23 > 0:18:30It's claimed 9/11 was part of an elaborate plot by President Bush to provoke war in Iraq
0:18:30 > 0:18:36and Afghanistan to secure long-term oil supplies, but also to remake America.
0:18:36 > 0:18:43It was a violent and aggressive seizure of power and transformation of both foreign and domestic policy.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46It was an American coup.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50# We saw the towers fall... #
0:18:50 > 0:18:57Look at all the things they've done - spy on their own citizens, torture civilians as enemy combatants.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Would we be where we are right now without 9/11?
0:19:03 > 0:19:07The internet has provided the place to search for clues
0:19:07 > 0:19:11and also the place to meet and speculate.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16One of the first net-based conspiracy groups was set up by the man who lives here.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22This is my favourite part of the house. I have an office here where I conduct my radio shows
0:19:22 > 0:19:27and my vanity library of my own authored and edited books.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32Here I have about 10% of what I was able to retrieve when I retired.
0:19:32 > 0:19:39The history of science, philosophy of science, a lot of books on JFK and his assassination
0:19:39 > 0:19:42which is another area of research.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46Jim Fetzer set up Scholars for 9/11 Truth,
0:19:46 > 0:19:52an organisation for other like-minded academics. He's a retired Professor of Philosophy
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and former Marine Corps officer.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57We all took an oath
0:19:57 > 0:20:03to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07It is a devastating realisation to me as a former Marine Corps officer
0:20:07 > 0:20:11that some of our enemies have indeed been domestic, rather than foreign.
0:20:13 > 0:20:19And he thinks his former masters at the US Department of Defense in the Pentagon were involved.
0:20:21 > 0:20:27The official story says five hijackers arrived at Washington's Dulles Airport.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33They checked in for American Airlines Flight 77, bound for California.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Not long into the flight, the hijackers overpowered the crew
0:20:41 > 0:20:45and turned the plane back towards the capital.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51Minutes later, a huge explosion rocked the Pentagon
0:20:51 > 0:20:58killing all 64 people in the aircraft along with 125 military and civilians on the ground.
0:21:00 > 0:21:07Loose Change claims there is little evidence of a commercial passenger plane.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14A Boeing 757 is 155 feet long,
0:21:16 > 0:21:1844 feet high,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22has a 124-foot wingspan and weighs almost 100 tonnes.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29And it disappeared into this hole without leaving any substantial wreckage on the outside.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39Some argue it was something much smaller, like this pilotless drone or a missile.
0:21:39 > 0:21:45That also explains, they say, the difficult manoeuvre approaching the Pentagon.
0:21:45 > 0:21:52The first photographs taken just minutes after the crash show a hole about 18-20 feet across
0:21:52 > 0:21:54at its narrowest point.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Minutes later, the facade of the building collapsed.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04The plane's fuselage was 12 feet wide.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09The evidence that is very clear is that no Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12There's no debris, no damage to the lawn.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16I expect Tiger to show up and practise his putting.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23The FBI has released some video of the attack on the Pentagon.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26It comes from two low-quality security cameras.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34Slowed down, something can be seen entering on the far right of this frame
0:22:34 > 0:22:39just before the explosion, but it's not conclusive.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44The second camera, analysed in detail by computer animators,
0:22:44 > 0:22:49appears to show a plane and smoke in slightly more detail here,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52but again it's not definitive.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59There are calls for the FBI to release more video.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Critics have focused instead on pictures that don't show wreckage.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08We have photographs of the hit point. You do not have a massive pile of debris,
0:23:08 > 0:23:16you don't find the wings, you don't find the bodies, seats or the tail, all of which should be present.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23But we don't have to rely on poor-quality video.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26There are eye witnesses.
0:23:26 > 0:23:33Allyn Kilsheimer is a leading structural engineer who saw the damage and later was
0:23:33 > 0:23:38- one of the first to see inside the Pentagon.- I walked around the corner
0:23:38 > 0:23:43and all hell was breaking loose. Fire, smoke and water everyplace.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46When I got to what I call the impact area,
0:23:46 > 0:23:51it was pretty obvious that that was where the plane had entered.
0:23:51 > 0:23:57Purdue University has built a computer model to show how the damage inside the Pentagon
0:23:57 > 0:24:03is likely to have happened. And it matches what this structural engineer saw
0:24:03 > 0:24:06when he went into the building.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11It blew out a bunch of columns.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16And then as it went through, the fuel exploded more and more.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21There were all these explosions that went out from where the plane was.
0:24:22 > 0:24:29That's why there's a big, round hole, because the explosive forces made the round hole.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35This is where what was left of the plane broke out of the building,
0:24:35 > 0:24:40but it was the explosive force of the jet fuel, not a bomb, that did the damage.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44I walked through the building and saw dead bodies. OK?
0:24:46 > 0:24:50Where were those people, the conspiracy...? They weren't there.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56And he saw plenty of evidence inside of a passenger plane.
0:24:58 > 0:25:04What I saw at the time was pieces of metal, green colour mainly, some aluminium colour,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06a lot of which were melted.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11We later found portions of uniformed people
0:25:11 > 0:25:15that had, um, airline uniforms on.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Then much time later the black box was found and I saw the black box.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31A simple memorial now marks the route the aircraft took
0:25:31 > 0:25:35and commemorates the 184 murder victims.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40A key eye witness has now come forward.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45She arrived within an hour of the crash and took charge
0:25:45 > 0:25:51as every piece of evidence was collected and catalogued by the FBI's Evidence Response Team.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57We set up line searches and cleared the area
0:25:57 > 0:26:04surrounding the outside of the Pentagon. There were definitely pieces of metal from the aeroplane,
0:26:04 > 0:26:09some with the red and white lettering of American Airlines' colouring.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13We actually had...
0:26:14 > 0:26:20..these large, wooden crates built specifically to hold the aeroplane parts.
0:26:22 > 0:26:28The FBI retains this section of the plane in its distinctive American Airlines livery.
0:26:28 > 0:26:34I personally collected the remains of victims that came from the plane.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39And DNA and fingerprint evidence was conducted by a lab
0:26:39 > 0:26:44that absolutely confirms that they were victims from American Airlines 77.
0:26:47 > 0:26:54Every year, she visits the memorial and she's concerned about the effect the conspiracy theories are having.
0:26:57 > 0:27:03I would hope that people would see what actually happened.
0:27:04 > 0:27:10And remember the victims from that day. They are the true people that should be remembered.
0:27:12 > 0:27:13It's...
0:27:14 > 0:27:21..unfair to their families and their friends to have these theories continuing on.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23I mean, it basically belittles
0:27:23 > 0:27:26these people's lives.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31It makes them...appear that they didn't ever exist.
0:27:32 > 0:27:39As Flight AA77 descended in a wide turn over the capital and lined up on its target,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43there was a military C-130 plane like this one
0:27:43 > 0:27:46flying above Washington.
0:27:46 > 0:27:53It's suggested the C-130 was a control vehicle and part of the conspiracy.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59It's very strange this debris, which was not present after the crash - you had this clear, clean lawn -
0:27:59 > 0:28:05starts showing up later. You can't have enlisted men rushing out to plant the debris.
0:28:05 > 0:28:11If it's trickling down from the air, however, it might seem like a natural phenomenon.
0:28:11 > 0:28:17I believe it was actually, in all probability, put out from the C-130. I believe that was its role.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22Whether the officer in charge was aware that that's what he was doing is another question.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27This is that aircraft.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Here's the chart of the Washington, DC, area...
0:28:31 > 0:28:33And this is the pilot.
0:28:33 > 0:28:40We departed out of Andrews and climbed to 3,000 feet, which took us by the south side.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45Lt Colonel O'Brien was on a routine flight, but as he flew over central Washington,
0:28:45 > 0:28:52air traffic control reported an unidentified jet fast approaching on his left-hand side.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56'Six miles south-east of the White House.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59'Six miles south-east of the White House?'
0:28:59 > 0:29:07It had that distinctive silver finish. In our minds it was definitely American Airlines.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09And as he moved
0:29:09 > 0:29:13to our 11 o'clock position, he started his turn.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18By the time he got to our 12 o'clock position, right out at the front,
0:29:18 > 0:29:24he was rolled up into about, I would estimate, 30-40 degrees of bank, which is considerable.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33And then all of a sudden we saw this big explosion.
0:29:33 > 0:29:39I keyed the mic again and said, "Washington, that aeroplane has hit the west side of the Pentagon."
0:29:39 > 0:29:43Later, when Steve O'Brien was back home in Minnesota, he found himself
0:29:43 > 0:29:50- at the centre of a conspiracy theory.- Not having ever been part of a major event like this before,
0:29:50 > 0:29:56you're somewhat detached, but when you're a witness to it, it's a lot more personal.
0:29:56 > 0:30:03And concerning to me that people would think that I would have the ability to do something
0:30:03 > 0:30:06or want to do something like this.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10So it's a little bit disconcerting, but, at the same time,
0:30:10 > 0:30:16it gives you another insight into how wrong a lot of these conspiracies are,
0:30:16 > 0:30:21but yet they continue and take on a life of their own, so to speak.
0:30:28 > 0:30:34Now a new theory has evolved about a third huge skyscraper that was destroyed on 9/11,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38but this one was not hit by a plane.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43World Trade Center 7 has become the focus for conspiracy theories.
0:30:44 > 0:30:50The New York City Command Centre for Civil Emergencies was based here.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54The Secret Service, Pentagon and the CIA all had offices in the building.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Some argue that's just too suspicious.
0:31:08 > 0:31:15The official explanation is that it collapsed because of uncontrolled fires that burned for 7 hours.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17But if that is the case,
0:31:17 > 0:31:23this is the first time a steel-framed skyscraper has collapsed because of fire.
0:31:30 > 0:31:35Now a retired Danish chemistry professor thinks he has discovered
0:31:35 > 0:31:41the smoking gun that will unlock the biggest conspiracy ever perpetrated.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45Three high-rises, only two airliners.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50You don't have to have a PhD in physics to count to three, OK?
0:31:50 > 0:31:53So what happened to Building 7,
0:31:53 > 0:31:58which was roughly a little less than half the height of the Twin Towers?
0:31:58 > 0:32:02It collapsed on its own, seven hours after the North Tower.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07And the way it came down indicates that it was a controlled explosion.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12There is no way a steel-framed high-riser
0:32:12 > 0:32:15can come down due to fire.
0:32:17 > 0:32:24The official investigators said the building had collapsed at near freefall for about two seconds.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31It's argued only explosives could make it collapse so quickly.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39These buildings were definitely brought down by demolition charges.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43The collapse of Building 7 here looks similar.
0:32:43 > 0:32:49Building 7 is coming down in freefall. Obviously a controlled demolition.
0:32:51 > 0:32:58He worked alongside Professor Steven Jones in the USA, analysing dust found in downtown Manhattan.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02They focused on a number of tiny red and grey chips.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08They're red on one side and grey on the other side.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13The red side is interesting because it shows all the signs
0:33:13 > 0:33:15of being a thermitic material.
0:33:15 > 0:33:21Thermite burns at 2,000 degrees Celsius and melts metal.
0:33:21 > 0:33:27The military use it to disable artillery. It's not known to have ever been used to destroy buildings.
0:33:27 > 0:33:34Professor Harrit thinks there's evidence that tons of thermite were planted in the WTC buildings
0:33:34 > 0:33:37and that both incendiaries and explosives were used.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42When you heat the chips up, they take off, they react.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46I will not call it an explosion, but they react violently and show
0:33:46 > 0:33:50all the characteristics of a thermite reaction.
0:33:50 > 0:33:56- What's been the reaction of scientists to your conclusions? - None. None.
0:33:57 > 0:34:02It is beyond doubt the best peer paper ever in my career.
0:34:02 > 0:34:08I would like to know how many times it has been downloaded, how many people have actually read it.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12Nobody has challenged the conclusions.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Steel City. Pittsburgh, USA.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Home to world-leading research on iron and steel.
0:34:26 > 0:34:32We asked two experts at Carnegie Mellon University to look at Prof Harrit's published theory.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35If you showed me
0:34:35 > 0:34:42a pile of dust, I could find almost anything in there, but not in a large quantity.
0:34:43 > 0:34:481.2 million tonnes of building materials were pulverised.
0:34:48 > 0:34:55The US Geological Survey took 38 dust samples. Later, the research group RJ Lee
0:34:55 > 0:34:59took about 100,000 samples and analysed them all thoroughly.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03Professor Harrit and his colleagues rely on four samples.
0:35:03 > 0:35:10They selected the particles they wanted to examine and then made the most dramatic verdict.
0:35:10 > 0:35:15They concluded that it was a highly energetic material.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18And on a kilogram basis,
0:35:19 > 0:35:24it gives off less energy than burning paper.
0:35:28 > 0:35:34His colleague, Professor Pistorius, thinks there may be a simpler explanation.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39- They found bits of paint, I think. - Paint?- Yes.
0:35:39 > 0:35:44It is not unusual to use as a primer
0:35:44 > 0:35:47or an intermediate coat of paint
0:35:47 > 0:35:53pigments of things like micaceous iron oxide, which is a flaky kind of iron oxide,
0:35:53 > 0:35:57and aluminium, which is what they found.
0:35:59 > 0:36:05The Danish chemist, Niels Harrit, and his colleagues have looked at one primer paint from the WTC.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10They say it doesn't match their mysterious red/grey chips.
0:36:10 > 0:36:17Any large structure like what the World Trade Center was would have lots of coatings on it.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22The interior coatings, these red and grey layers,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26they are typical for paint from structural steelwork.
0:36:29 > 0:36:35This type of primer is painted all over the Manhattan Bridge to protect the steel cables.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40And the temperature at which the red/grey chips start to react
0:36:40 > 0:36:45is exactly what you would expect from this type of paint.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50So why has Professor Harrit's theory gone unchallenged?
0:36:50 > 0:36:52This is how science works.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57A hypothesis is correct until proven wrong.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02So nobody has bothered to take the time to do this.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06It doesn't mean it's right. It just hasn't been proven wrong.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11There are lots of reasons why nobody would take the time.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13It's frankly, I think, irrelevant.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17It...it would be fairly easy to rebut,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21but everybody's got more interesting things to do, I think.
0:37:23 > 0:37:29There's something wrong here. If you have seen Building 7, there's no way back.
0:37:31 > 0:37:37So you can try to cheat on yourself or you can speak up and live with dignity.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46For the 9/11 truth movement, the fate of the fourth hijacked plane
0:37:46 > 0:37:53is clear evidence of a government cover-up. There were 44 people on United Flight 93.
0:37:53 > 0:37:59According to the official account, the passengers tried to seize back control of the aircraft,
0:37:59 > 0:38:04but as they fought their way into the cockpit, the hijackers crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
0:38:04 > 0:38:09- 'United 93. Have you got information on that yet?- Yeah, he's down.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13- 'He's down?!- Yes.- Where did he land because we have confirmation...
0:38:13 > 0:38:15- 'He did not land.- Oh, he's down?'
0:38:15 > 0:38:21That crater they show me looks like no aircraft crash I've ever seen in my life.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25We know F-16s are in the area. My government sources, high level,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30have even identified the squadron that was involved
0:38:30 > 0:38:32in the shoot down of Flight 93.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36And then you say, "Wait. I thought there was a stand down."
0:38:36 > 0:38:43Don't edit this. The point is the generals did not follow orders and ordered the shoot down Flight 93.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47It's argued the Boeing started to disintegrate in mid-air
0:38:47 > 0:38:50after being hit by a missile,
0:38:50 > 0:38:54so only part of the plane crashed in this crater.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59There have been reports of debris being found miles from this site.
0:39:00 > 0:39:06Ten years on, a new memorial is being built to commemorate the people who lost their lives
0:39:06 > 0:39:10when United 93 crashed.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14And this is where it was reported that wreckage was found.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18There was talk of parts of a wing and an engine.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23If debris had been recovered here, it would provide strong evidence
0:39:23 > 0:39:26to support the conspiracy theory because, it's claimed,
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Indian Lake is nearly 7 miles from the crash site.
0:39:30 > 0:39:37Journalists and 9/11 investigators came up with the distance by typing the two locations in search engines
0:39:37 > 0:39:40and used the result in their articles -
0:39:40 > 0:39:436.9 miles.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46It does seem to check out.
0:39:46 > 0:39:54But the road goes the long way round. In a straight line, it's just over a mile from the crash site
0:39:54 > 0:39:58and the wind was blowing in that direction on September 11th.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04OK. Don't go too fast and we won't get too cold.
0:40:05 > 0:40:11Local residents heard the crash and soon after watched debris come down on the lake.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16Debris was floating through the air. This was on the ground.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21Pieces similar to this. Nothing of any size. Just small pieces.
0:40:21 > 0:40:27- And no large parts of an engine or wings?- No.- Not at all. We had nothing of that.
0:40:28 > 0:40:34It was just scraps of paper and insulation that had blown here on the wind.
0:40:38 > 0:40:44On the internet and in the media, the story that it was actually much more than this,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48that it was heavy debris, circulated unchecked for years.
0:40:53 > 0:40:58I'm not so sure that we'll ever be able to totally dispel
0:40:58 > 0:41:03all of the opinions and rumours that have come from this.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08You think it will go on being talked about and speculated over for years, decades?
0:41:08 > 0:41:12I think there are people that will never change their minds on it
0:41:12 > 0:41:16because there's no way to really truly prove it
0:41:16 > 0:41:21because 92% or 93% of the remains of the aircraft
0:41:21 > 0:41:26and the people are still in that hole.
0:41:26 > 0:41:31So how could a passenger plane disappear into such a small crater?
0:41:31 > 0:41:34This whole thing is stage-managed.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38There's no evidence, no massive debris, no tail, no wings.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40Not even luggage or bodies there.
0:41:40 > 0:41:47The internet carries quotes from the local coroner that appear to support this conspiracy theory.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56I said I stopped being a coroner after about 20 minutes
0:41:56 > 0:42:03because it was perfectly clear what the cause and manner of death was. It was a plane crash, but a homicide,
0:42:03 > 0:42:09because the terrorists hijacked the plane and killed the people! And the terrorists committed suicide.
0:42:09 > 0:42:15- That was a misquote. - Yes, it was a misquote because the point I was trying to make was
0:42:15 > 0:42:20after that it more or less became a large funeral service.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Wally Miller can say whatever he wants,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27but look at the crater in Shanksville. Physical evidence.
0:42:27 > 0:42:33We've talked to the people who were there, to Wally Miller, the local coroner...
0:42:33 > 0:42:38- Who went public four times and said he didn't see any drops of bodies. - He said that.
0:42:38 > 0:42:45- He said it seemed as if the plane let its passengers off beforehand. - Exactly. And that was a simile.
0:42:45 > 0:42:51He was talking that it looked as if that had happened, as if someone had taken a scrap truck, dug a ditch
0:42:51 > 0:42:55and dumped trash in it, but he didn't mean that literally.
0:42:55 > 0:43:02- He was saying it as a simile.- The fact is if a 757 had crashed there, loaded with fuel and passengers,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06we'd have a lot more than a 20-foot crater.
0:43:06 > 0:43:12If there's a fringe of people out there that want to try to make something out of it that isn't,
0:43:12 > 0:43:18I don't have any control over that. That's what makes our country great. You do whatever you want to do.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20You sound very phlegmatic about it.
0:43:20 > 0:43:26I don't know that there's a lot you can do. I'm not going to get coronary artery disease over it.
0:43:26 > 0:43:31Photographs taken at the crash site tell their own story.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38But in the face of this, some still question the official account.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43They believe that United 93 could have landed somewhere else entirely
0:43:43 > 0:43:46and the passengers abducted.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50The whole business with the people is very strange.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56It looks as though this was some kind of elaborate charade.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00You have another story about 93 that it landed at Cleveland
0:44:00 > 0:44:06and went to a distant airport and over 200 passengers were offloaded from this plane.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10Even the Mayor came out and was interviewed by ABC.
0:44:11 > 0:44:16It's true that a passenger jet was diverted to Cleveland, Ohio, that morning
0:44:16 > 0:44:21after reports that it might have been hijacked, but it wasn't United 93.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26It was a Delta Airlines flight and this woman was on it.
0:44:26 > 0:44:32Delta 1989 took off from Boston, the same airport where two other jets were hijacked.
0:44:32 > 0:44:38It was also bound for the West Coast on the same air corridor as United 93.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42When that plane was hijacked and deviated from its flight path,
0:44:42 > 0:44:48air traffic controllers mistakenly thought they were dealing with a Delta plane.
0:44:49 > 0:44:56The air traffic controller Colin Scoggins was at Boston centre through all the confusion.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58'Another one!'
0:44:58 > 0:45:01There was no Delta 89.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04A Delta 1989 was not hijacked,
0:45:04 > 0:45:10I was incorrect when I made that call, but at that time anything that looked like a hijack
0:45:10 > 0:45:16we were treating as a hijack. If you missed a frequency transfer you were considered hijacked.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18That happened with Delta 1989.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22- 'Delta 1989 is a hijack...' - Thinking it had been hijacked,
0:45:22 > 0:45:27air traffic control ordered the Delta to land immediately.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30'Another one!'
0:45:31 > 0:45:36Suddenly, the captain came on and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen,
0:45:36 > 0:45:41"I regret to tell you we're going to have to make an emergency landing in Cleveland."
0:45:41 > 0:45:44And then the Mayor of Cleveland
0:45:44 > 0:45:50was holding a press conference to say we were hijacked and they might blow up our plane.
0:45:50 > 0:45:58'At this moment we have a Boeing 767 in a secure area of Hopkins International Airport.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04'The initial reports were that this plane was hijacked
0:46:04 > 0:46:07'and there was a bomb on it.'
0:46:07 > 0:46:11It was soon realised that the Delta plane was in the clear.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15Local TV rapidly corrected their earlier misleading reports.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19We do now know that plane was not hijacked. It was diverted here.
0:46:19 > 0:46:25But the original inaccurate news reports have continued to echo around conspiracy chat rooms
0:46:25 > 0:46:28and websites ever since.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32It's very clear what the facts were. I know - I was on that flight.
0:46:32 > 0:46:39This is my very boarding pass. It's hard for people to accept a simple or more elaborate explanation.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44There has to be something more than that. It's hard for people to believe
0:46:44 > 0:46:49that something this well done, frankly, could be just the product
0:46:49 > 0:46:52of a few al-Qaeda members.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57I think they just find that they have to have some other explanation
0:46:57 > 0:47:01and then it becomes whispered down the alley. That's what we say.
0:47:01 > 0:47:08One person will say one thing, then it gets repeated and distorted and the distortion gets repeated
0:47:08 > 0:47:10and it just goes on and on and on.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17There's one place where conspiracy theories are eagerly embraced.
0:47:20 > 0:47:26As a storyteller, I've thought a lot about conspiracies. I love them in fiction.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29They're very powerful and appealing.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Creating myths is one of the oldest activities of man.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37You can see them on the caves of early man.
0:47:37 > 0:47:43Depictions of myths that were important to them. We need them to make sense of the world.
0:47:47 > 0:47:52Frank Spotnitz became the subject of a conspiracy theory himself
0:47:52 > 0:47:56because of a film he made six months before 9/11.
0:47:56 > 0:48:02It tells the story of a government conspiracy to hijack a plane from Boston and fly it into the WTC
0:48:02 > 0:48:07as a pretext for a war in the Middle East.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11They could crash the plane into the World Trade Center.
0:48:11 > 0:48:17- Only, this being Hollywood, disaster is averted at the very last moment. - We've got manual override.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28There was some theory that we had done this to prepare the ground
0:48:28 > 0:48:34so people would be ready when this happened. It doesn't quite make much sense to me.
0:48:34 > 0:48:40We live in the age of anxiety and this is one of the prime components - we don't know who to trust.
0:48:40 > 0:48:46It's very appealing and powerful because it's like having the magic key
0:48:46 > 0:48:53that fits all these pieces together and opens the door. "Oh, that's what's going on! What a relief
0:48:53 > 0:48:58"to know this is what's going on." It relieves your anxiety in a strange way.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03No matter how, um...disturbing the conspiracy theory may be,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07it's still an answer in a world that doesn't offer many answers.
0:49:10 > 0:49:16If the government tells you the world is flat and you don't agree, you're a conspiracy theorist.
0:49:16 > 0:49:23Today conspiracy theory is the heresy, but they've used that so much, it doesn't work any more.
0:49:23 > 0:49:29Alex Jones is tapping into a rich vein of cynicism about America's leaders.
0:49:29 > 0:49:34His listeners have little trust in government because they've been misled before.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37I love my country, I fear my government.
0:49:37 > 0:49:43So I'm one of those guys that follows what the Founding Fathers, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, said
0:49:43 > 0:49:48and I think I'm in good company not trusting government,
0:49:48 > 0:49:52especially with the long history of governments lying.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57There can be no whitewash... at the White House.
0:50:00 > 0:50:05I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08The danger to our country is growing.
0:50:08 > 0:50:13The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons.
0:50:13 > 0:50:18When you can't trust your leaders, that creates anxiety and fear.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21People want to know what to believe, understandably.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27And if you can't trust the official leaders of your government, where do you turn?
0:50:29 > 0:50:36Nearly ten years on, the US military wrote what they hoped would be the final chapter of 9/11.
0:50:37 > 0:50:43An audacious helicopter mission carried US Navy Seals into the heart of Pakistan.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47They'd finally tracked the man responsible.
0:50:48 > 0:50:54Osama Bin Laden was shot dead and his body buried at sea,
0:50:54 > 0:51:00but in the absence of photographs, critics have questioned whether he was really killed there and then.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07It's utterly astonishing that we should be able to kill a man
0:51:07 > 0:51:12who actually died nine years earlier than this fantasy event in Pakistan.
0:51:13 > 0:51:19I guess I should have looked in my freezer because I participated in the CIA activities
0:51:19 > 0:51:23to hunt for Bin Laden, so we must have had thousands of people
0:51:23 > 0:51:27in a conspiracy not only to hunt for the guy when he was dead,
0:51:27 > 0:51:33but to keep it secret for nine years. I did not see one secret
0:51:33 > 0:51:37when I was at CIA that hasn't found the light of day. Not one.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43But is there a story where the evidence stacks up against the government?
0:51:43 > 0:51:49The FBI and CIA insist they had no specific warnings of the hijackings on 9/11,
0:51:49 > 0:51:55but it seems they did have important intelligence about al-Qaeda before the attacks.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02January, 2000.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06Two terrorists arrive in California from the Far East.
0:52:07 > 0:52:13Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar were known to be active members of an al-Qaeda cell.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19But it didn't arouse any suspicions when the smartly-dressed young men
0:52:19 > 0:52:25presented their passports at Immigration. Their names had not been added to the watch list
0:52:25 > 0:52:31for terrorist suspects. al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar were allowed on their way unchallenged.
0:52:31 > 0:52:39Welcome to Los Angeles International Airport. Please keep your personal belongings with you at all times.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43They soon moved into a San Diego suburb and lived openly
0:52:43 > 0:52:46under their real names.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53They had come on a mission.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58And this is where they learnt to fly.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03At about the same time, a CIA cable confirmed that one of them was in the country,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07but this lead wasn't passed on to the FBI.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13So, at the time, the local FBI didn't know they were here.
0:53:16 > 0:53:23We're just coming up here on the apartments where the two hijackers lived,
0:53:23 > 0:53:25over here on my left.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29Not fancy apartments by US standards.
0:53:29 > 0:53:36This is where they lived. Later, they moved on to the doorstep of the Feds. Literally.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40They rented rooms from an FBI informant, but he suspected nothing.
0:53:41 > 0:53:47What's more, one of the terrorists was actually listed in the San Diego phone book.
0:53:47 > 0:53:54I think we could have identified some of these potential hijackers before September 11th.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58It's very frustrating to me personally,
0:53:58 > 0:54:01It's very frustrating to everybody
0:54:01 > 0:54:05that worked on it so hard here in the FBI in San Diego.
0:54:06 > 0:54:12I think everybody has to ask themselves, "Was there something that could have saved 3,000 lives?"
0:54:12 > 0:54:17That's in the forefront of everybody's mind. It still hurts.
0:54:18 > 0:54:24Whilst the two terrorists were learning to fly, intelligence was streaming in to the FBI
0:54:24 > 0:54:28that al-Qaeda could be planning an attack.
0:54:28 > 0:54:35By the spring of 2001, the system was blinking red, according to intelligence chiefs.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39But there was nothing specific for the FBI to go on.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44When I was in the White House, there were lots of conspiracy theories. We investigated every theory.
0:54:44 > 0:54:49The former Chief Counter-Terrorism Adviser questions
0:54:49 > 0:54:55whether there was a conspiracy not to make 9/11 happen, but which might have allowed 9/11 to happen.
0:54:56 > 0:55:01I still don't have an adequate explanation as to why the CIA,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04so many people, 60 people,
0:55:04 > 0:55:12knew that Mihdhar and Hazmi were in the United States and didn't tell me or the FBI. That's an open book.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19At last, 19 days before 9/11, the FBI was finally told.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Had the two terrorists in San Diego been arrested,
0:55:23 > 0:55:27there was a chance that the whole plot could have been prised open,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31but they had long moved on and disappeared.
0:55:31 > 0:55:38CIA insiders say prior to 9/11 the focus wasn't on al-Qaeda and they were under-resourced.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44These aren't 60 people responsible for two guys in San Diego.
0:55:44 > 0:55:50They are 60 people responsible for a global counter-terrorism campaign,
0:55:50 > 0:55:56so to say that those two individuals coming into this country indicates a massive intelligence failure
0:55:56 > 0:55:58to me is entirely misleading.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04The evidence points to intelligence mistakes before 9/11.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10The 9/11 conspiracy theories are just that - theories.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12The evidence doesn't support them.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16But their authors insist they will fight on against what they see
0:56:16 > 0:56:20as a dangerous and ruthless government conspiracy.
0:56:20 > 0:56:26If they kill me, they'll turn me into a martyr, so the system attempts to assassinate my character
0:56:26 > 0:56:31and to edit and misrepresent what I've said and done
0:56:31 > 0:56:35as an attempt to assassinate the ideas that I put out,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39but that doesn't work because ideas are bullet-proof.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51I have no way back. If you fight, you might lose.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55But if you don't fight, you have lost.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00There is no way that our civilisation can continue
0:57:00 > 0:57:05without facing these unsolved questions of 9/11.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11Conspiracy theories, by and large,
0:57:11 > 0:57:17are, um, they're just that. They're theories with very little substance behind them.
0:57:17 > 0:57:23It's very upsetting to the people who cling to these beliefs. You're taking away from then a comfort.
0:57:23 > 0:57:30It's like attacking someone's faith and offering nothing in exchange except for uncertainty.
0:57:40 > 0:57:47The 9/11 conspiracy file seems certain to remain open for a long time to come,
0:57:47 > 0:57:53however distressing and painful that will be for the families of those who died that day.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04'United 93, do you still hear Cleveland?
0:58:06 > 0:58:10'United 93, United Niner-Three, do you hear Cleveland?
0:58:13 > 0:58:16'United 93, United 93...
0:58:18 > 0:58:23'United 93, United 93, do you hear Cleveland Centre?
0:58:23 > 0:58:25'United 93, United Niner-Three...'
0:58:40 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2011
0:58:45 > 0:58:47Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk