An authentic video published by a Japanese photographer of the collapse of the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001 is circulating on social media, and it is claimed that the absence of planes in the video proves that „the towers were blown up“. The recording starts after the towers have been hit by planes. The video does not prove the conspiracy theories circulating for the third decade.
„23 years later a clip like this came out, there were no planes, these towers were blown up,“ wrote a Facebook user on June 27.
„Two weeks before the incident, there was maintenance going on, so there are people who claim that the drilling that went on there for those two weeks had TNT [explosives - ed.] planted on every floor. That explains everything about how those towers were actually brought down,“ the post continued.
According to Facebook data, the post has been shared 72 times and has almost 5,500 views.
On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda carried out a large-scale terrorist attack against the United States using four hijacked civilian aircraft. Two of the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, a third crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks killed 2,977 people.
In the video description, Japanese photographer Kei Sugimoto explained that he had found his own footage of the collapse of the Twin Towers while cleaning up. He filmed the incident from the rooftop of 64 St Marks Place in New York with a Sony VX2000 teleconverter.
„Here are some additional notes to address a few questions that I have been constantly receiving. I woke up that day and realized everyone was out on the streets staring south. When I looked, I saw the first tower burning. Once I saw the second airplane make impact, I thought this was no ordinary incident and ran to get my camera and tripod,“ Sugimoto explained after the video started circulating as „proof“ of conspiracy theories.
In the video, the Twin Towers can be seen burning over the places where commercial planes hijacked by terrorists had crashed in. Thus, the video starts after both planes had already rammed the towers. The video shows the collapse of both towers at 00:44 and 5:34.
Sugimoto later released his recording in full.
The north tower (WTC 1) was hit at 8:46 local time, causing it to collapse at 10:28 after a fire that lasted one hour and 42 minutes. At 9:03 a.m., the south tower (WTC 2) was hit and collapsed at 9:59 a.m. after a 56-minute burn.
The first 9/11 conspiracy theories appeared on the internet just hours after the attacks and have grown in popularity over the years. The most famous theory is that it was not a terrorist attack, but an „inside job“ by the US security services – there were supposedly no planes, and the buildings were destroyed in the explosions.
Extensive reports and studies by the 9/11 Commission, US government agencies, and expert groups have refuted any possibility of a covert conspiracy. The widely shared theory that such a total collapse is not possible as a result of ramming buildings is not true according to the analysis. Neither is the claim that the collapse was caused by previously planted explosives.
According to an official report by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers caused significant damage to the support columns of both towers. Some 38,000 liters of jet fuel spilled over several floors and caused extensive fires. Temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius caused the floors and steel beams to buckle. That way, both buildings collapsed.
Deliberately organized collapses of buildings are almost always carried out from the bottom up, but the collapse of the Twin Towers started on the upper floors. Despite extensive searches, no evidence of the presence of explosives has been found, and there is no evidence of pre-detonation of pillars or walls, which is usually done in controlled explosions.
Verdict: false. The newly released video of the collapse of the Twin Towers does not prove that hijacked aircraft did not enter the buildings. The video does not prove that the collapse of the buildings was caused by previously planted explosives. Both towers collapsed as a result of aircraft strikes.
