Critique of "Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Completely Collapse" by Steven Jones

The paper is linked here.




Reasons #1 and #10 of the 13 reasons to question the govt account given by Steven Jones in his paper contain demonstrably false and misleading information.

Reason #1 spans pages 5 to 13,

and reason #10 is from page 29 to 31.






CLAIMS OF ANGLE-CUT COLUMNS


Within his paper, on pg 29, Dr Jones presents a photo of a very large core box column which he claims supports his assertion of "angle thermite cuts".




The photo is included in numerous documentaries and forum discussions.


The image is followed by 2 more photos, one of which is claimed to be another such cut.




Fig _, In his paper "Why Indeed Did....", Steven Jones uses only these 3 images in the 10th point made, called "Controlled Demolition Implosions Require Skill".



He is clearly implying that this angle cut was made by a linear shaped charge, and the cuts seen in the lower photo weren't made during the clean-up, but from the demolition. Most people familiar with his work will know that he claims that this cut was made using thermite or thermate.



But it appears that this column was in fact cut during the clean-up operations using an oxygen lance. In the group of photos shown below, one can see the angle-cut next to known oxygen lance cuts.




METALLIC BY-PRODUCT




Please notice the extreme similarities between the 4 pictures shown above. The once liquified, now solidified metallic by-products look identical.

Looking a bit further into thermic lance cutting, one can find that it is used to cut heavy thick sections which are not possible to be cut by oxy acetylene flame cutting. Whereas an oxy acetylene torch can cut steel thickness up to 60 cm, the oxygen lance cutting can cut steel up to 240 cm.





CHARACTERISTIC BORING HOLE:




In the group of photos shown above, the 2 images on the right show the use of an thermic lance to bore a hole through concrete. But if this is concrete, where did the metallic by-product come from?

The lance works by using a highly exothermic chemical reaction. The resulting metal is from the rod used in the lance cutter. The exothermic reaction continues after the cutter has been removed.

Please note that in the photo of the angle cut, the metallic drippings are in the inside of the box beam near the top of the cut, but are on the outside of the beam along the bottom edge, suggesting a cutting technique used by the clean-up crews.

First a hole is bored near the top of the cut to start the cut. The sides are cut from without. The lance is inserted into the hole and the bottom edge is cut by the long lance from within.





CUTTING




In the group of photos shown above, the one on the left was taken during the WTC clean-up. The 2 on the right are examples of a person using a thermic lance.

The similarities are unmistakable.




THE IMAGES COMPARED TO THE PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF THE DEBRIS

Dr Jones bases his argument on the supposition that "cutter charges" utilizing thermite or thermate severed key core columns within WTC 1 and 2.


This photo collection is so large that it can effectively serve as a comprehensive mapping of the resultant debris of WTC 1 and 2, capturing intricate details of the actual damage to individual columns. Information on the condition of column remnants can be cross-checked using mappings of the rubble layout originally compiled for this very purpose.



RUBBLE LAYOUT


The debris for each building was found within and near the footprints and was pushed, or fanned, outwards from the 4 exterior walls.

If WTC7 is ignored and only debris from WTC1 and 2 is considered, all debris exists in 8 natural regions as shown below.


Southward from WTC1 and westward from WTC2 share a region (called the "southwest complex") and eastward from WTC1 and northward from WTC2 share a region (the plaza area). Hence 8 natural regions total.

It is hoped that by rearranging all known useful debris photos by region, the readers can see for themselves how debris was distributed throughout the complex and in what condition without being overwhelmed with information.

The largest publicly available collection of debris photos are linked below:

Debris: WTC1 Around Footprint at here
Debris: WTC2 Around Footprint at here
Debris: From WTC1 Westward at here
Debris: From WTC1 Northward at here
Debris: From WTC2 Eastward at here
Debris: From WTC2 Southward at here
Debris: Plaza Area, Northeast Complex at here
Debris: Hilton Hotel, Southwest Complex at here


Anyone who wishes can use this information to verify in what condition the vast majority of core columns and perimeter column sections were found after the collapses of WTC 1 and 2.

The rubble mappings were originally compiled in 2007-2008 and shown to Steven Jones by the author.






CLAIMS OF FLOWING METAL


Near the beginning of the paper Steven Jones presents a series of photos which he claim are evidence of molten metal found at ground zero. The very first photo in the paper is an image of an excavator bucket picking up what seems to be an object dripping with molten metal. It is a digitally manipulated photograph.


The 2 photos at the top of page 2 are most probably forgeries, the first photo is provably falsified.

The same false representation, that of "Molten Metal: Flowing and in Pools", is continued on page 5, where he gives the first of his 13 reasons to question the Govt account of 9-11-01.





The geometrical (topological) layout of the resultant rubble did not exist as shown in the first photo. The 2 dominant core box columns shown in the photo could not possibly have existed in the locations shown relative to each other. It is shown that the geometrical relation between the two dominant beams within the photograph is contradictory to the large body of all other known ground zero photos of the same location in an argument linked here.


Another problem is that the person who digitally manipulated the photo, while removing the background (note that in the forged photo the New York City skyline completely disappears), accidentally left a piece of WTC 5 hovering in space that clearly does not exist in any other known photo of that region.



As for the second photo in his paper, it was supposedly taken by the same photographer as the first.





This information was available since early 2008. At that time, after these arguments were originally made at the STJ911 forum to Dr Jones personally, the author received an e-mail from Richard Gage admitting that the angle-cut column idea is something that should be abandoned.


The only other photographs that are used to support the claim that molten metal was flowing and in pools within the WTC debris are these:









Large portions of the 9-11 truth movement have been led to believe that giant thermite cutting devices spewing thermite and pools and streams of molten metal at ground zero are real. This mode of thought dominates 9-11 Blogger, the Journal of 9-11 Studies, 9-11 Research, ect.


The cited paper by Steven Jones mixes a few key points of bad information within good and useful information, hence discrediting the entire package.








CLAIMS OF MICROSPHERES



Counter-arguments to the presentation of micro-spheres were posted through the JREF forum by Frank Greening and a person with the user name "Crazy Chainsaw".

These counter-arguments cast serious doubt on the claim that the existence of micro-spheres is some kind of a "smoking gun" for the 9-11 truth movement.


Dr Greening recorded some very revealing e-mail exchanges between himself and Dr Jones. The author has extracted the essence of the most interesting JREF posts and placed them at this link.























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