Just an Illusion: 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

 

On the morning of 11 September, 2001, the United States of America experienced four consecutive attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda, a terrorist organisation. Four airplanes were hijacked and their target was to crash into important buildings.
 
While 3 aircrafts were successful in doing so, one failed and crashed into a field. According to theorists, the attack was in retaliation of the United States supporting Israel and its presence in the Gulf war.
 
Several theorists believe that the militant group was only a medium of distraction and that the real attack was caused by the government of the States or that the government was aware about it but did not act.
 
The main cause of suspicion was due to the pattern in which the World Trade Towers fell. Theorists are of the opinion that it was controlled demolition since the Twin Towers fell into their own footprint.
 
Some are of the opinion that the towers collapsed due to an explosion in the building with reports of debris being seen falling out of the lower floors of the building. They deny that two commercial aircrafts could cause such vast damage to well-designed towers.
 
Due to lack of video evidence, theorists believed that the Pentagon was not struck by an aircraft but by a missile or a drone. 

They concluded this since no aircraft wreckage was found at the site and there was little structural damage which is highly debatable considering that an apparent amateur was the pilot of the aircraft.
 
Flight 93, the only aircraft to have crashed in a field in Pennsylvania is believed to be shot down by the military. The plane wreckage was found scattered over a large area which would not be probable if the plane had simply crashed.
 
America is said to have one of the most powerful air force in the world which raises important questions about why these attacks were not intervened by the government authorities. The power of the air force was questioned by several Americans too.
 
Some are of the belief that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) were aware about the attacks but did not stop the aircrafts from reaching their targeted buildings. 

The main reason for not intervening was that the government would use these attacks to justify the invasion of America in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Theorists found that the stock prices of the aircrafts, American and United had fallen down a few days before the 9/11 attacks. The hijacked aircrafts belonged to these companies and it was believed that the inside investors and traders were aware about the attacks due to which the stocks had reduced.  
 
The investigation carried out after the attack was funded by the federal government which further provided proof that the government is not revealing certain facts.
 
It is also believed that the Twin Towers collapsed due to a fire burning on one of the lower levels of the buildings or there were bombs and other explosives placed in different parts of the buildings for it to collapse the way it did.
 
A few minutes after the attacks, 5 Israeli men were arrested while they were recording the events at the towers. They did not seem to be shocked according to bystanders and portrayed suspicious behaviour.
 
The investigating agents believed that they were a part of the Israeli intelligence agency and were aware about the attacks. However, this theory was later found to be false and the men were unaware and not involved with the Israeli forces.
 
This further raised doubts in the minds of the U.S citizens that their government is finding a scapegoat to distract the citizens from the investigations and the consequences of the attacks.
 
Several documentaries, films, videos and series have been released and are now available to people around the world due to the easy access of internet. Loose Change and Spike Lee’s NYC Epicentres have gained recognition for the theories depicted.
 
In 20 years, these conspiracies have gained further recognition by the people around the world and the “truther community”, as the conspiracy theorists call themselves.
 
The media has increased and gained the trust of the people with these theories which many people believe to be true. There have been protests and even after 20 years of the tragedy, new theories are being developed and the citizens are on the streets demanding answers.
 
The 9/11 attacks resulted in around 3,000 deaths and about 20,000 were left wounded and injured and several were missing. The theorists should reach to a conclusion and the government of the United States should provide the answers for the sake of the families of the victims of that fateful morning.

Written by Jerusha Patel