Carl G wrote:
There is a little thing called resistance, little of which was shown in the 3 buildings in question. That's what happens in controlled demolition when lower supports are pre-blown by explosives.
It's indeed a
little thing compared to the for you hard to imagine force of the building crashing down. And not exactly with free fall, feel free to use a stopwatch.
why did not the central core remain standing. What caused those massive steel columns to disintegrate (not merely fail, even) all the way down? And why was there no stack of 100 pancakes at the bottom (but rather just a few stories high of rubble)?
Why do you think they were "disintegrated"? Enough pictures show core as well a perimeter structures in the rubble. They have shipped 100,000 tons of steel away and reused most of it. A stack of 100 pancakes? The floors would not have survived the impact in such form, it's the whole point of a relatively lightweight steel structure: other materials won't be very dense.
Building 7 had minor fires on parts of several floors..
No, serious, consistent and enduring internal fires, in part enabled by a fuel supply for generators, 12,000 gallons of diesel. It went on for hours and especially around major column 79 which went first.
There are recordings of firemen on the 79th floor of one of the towers, just before the collapse, stating that the fire was under control. Clearly from the footage showing the exterior of the buildings, the fires were smokey low temperature affairs.
That doesn't mean anything, those firemen cannot have had any clear picture of anything outside their direct environment. no one
outside the building had a clear picture either and neither did the news agencies. Many goofs were made in the reporting during and afterward and this only fueled the conspiracy fires. As I said before: too messy for most to handle.
Most of the jet fuel ignited outside the buildings in the initial fireballs.
But enough fuel blazed through the floor(s), starting many pretty hot fires all at once.
Again, there clearly was no firestorm.
A huge balloon of jet fuel was smashed against a building, penetrating the outer walls and many of the inner walls being destroyed on impact. What results is a short intense 'lighting' of the whole floor(s). The fires started immediately afterward.
Yes, I've wondered why in areas of the sub-basement there was molten steel found months after a paper fire caused a skyscraper to free-fall collapse. .... And why was thermite (thermate?) detected in the ruins?
It's not unusual with events like this to have confusing witness statements in abundance and some scientists seeking their fifteen days of fame. It doesn't mean it's anywhere accurate. In '92 after the Israeli 747 crash in a large building here there were a couple of years of this stuff floating around. The Internet wasn't that big yet though so rumors traveled more slowly, getting less repeated and less scientist getting in on the game.
Actually I think it's misleading to use passive tenses like "thermite was detected" and "molten steel was found". These are not common and verified facts at all. Perhaps you should look a bit deeper who exactly said it, what they said in a later stage and if perhaps something else was said or measured.
Also, why does footage of the collapse show what seems to be cutting charges going off in a series in the floors below the collapse? And why are there multiple reports of a series of explosions on lower floors preceding the collapse?
It has to be expected the air is pushed out because of immense pressure change when the first ceilings were coming down
fast.
The collapse of building seven has never been officially explained. Not plausibly. There were minor fires and then it collapsed neatly into its own footprint in a few seconds.
It was explained in detail in later reports. Your 'minor' fires which were not really minor were enough to weaken and collapse a supporting column after being heated for many hours without intervention. Instead of a mystery it's more additional proof of how consistent widespread fires over only a few floors can initiate collapse in these type of steel core 'hollow' structures.
I have examined them critically one by one, and none of them have evaporated. None of the 50. Its been 8 years and none have evaporated.
Disappointing. Don't you find it suspicious you haven't even been able to dismiss
one or two? I demolished at least a dozen the first year. And that fueled the healthy distrust and objectivity needed to tackle a few dozen more. Only five or so remain.
The only way NORAD would have ignored 4 errant commercial jets in one day is by official order to stand down. Otherwise the procedure is automatic. What other explanation would possibly fit?
The problem lied within air traffic control, it took almost 15 minutes to raise alert with air defense. By then it was too late. Hijacking cases
until now were supposed to give you a bit more time. Suicide runs were not part of the manual!
Even here I think the same formula applies: people and organizations found themselves in uncharted territory quite often that day. Just like real life.