Could
transformers or other electrical equipment explain some of
what the firemen saw and heard? What about an acre of
concrete floor slamming into another? Would steel bolts
snapping under tremendous tension make a pop or explosive
sound? Assuming the towers weren't in the vacuum of space,
we can be fairly safe to say the things I mentioned are good
candidates to explain what the firemen heard. Even they
think so...
Assistant Fire
Commissioner: "I thought . . . before . . . No. 2 came down,
that I saw low-level flashes. . . . I . . . saw a flash
flash flash . . . [at] the lower level of the building. You
know like when they . . . blow up a building. . . ?”
But if you read
on...
"I don't know if
that means anything. I mean, I equate it to the building
cowing down and pushing things down, it could have been
electrical explosions, it could have been whatever."
This is a quote taken out of context. Now the
WHOLE QUOTE without the taking it out of context...
I know I was
with an officer from Ladder 146, a Lieutenant
Evangelista, who ultimately called me up a couple of
days later just to find out how I was. We both for
whatever reason -- again, I don't know how valid this is
with everything that was going on at that particular
point in time, but for some reason I thought that when I
looked in the direction of the Trade Center before it
came down, before No. 2 came down, that I saw low-leve]
flashes. In my conversation with Lieutenant Evangelista,
never mentioning this to him, he questioned me and asked
me if I saw low-level flashes in front of the building,
and I agreed with him because I thought -- at that
time I didn't know what it was. I mean, it could have
been as a result of the building collapsing, things
exploding, but I saw a flash flash flash and then it
looked like the building came down.
Q.: Was that
on the lower level of the building or up where the fire
was?
A: No, the
lower level of the building. You know like when they
demolish a building, how when they blow up a building,
when it falls down? That's what I thought I saw. And I
didn't broach the topic to him, but he asked me. He said
I don't know if I'm crazy, but I just wanted to ask you
because you were standing right next to me. He said did
you see anything by the building? And I said what do you
mean by see anything? He said did you see any flashes? I
said, yes, well, I thought it was just me. He said no, I
saw them, too.
I don't know
if that means anything. I mean, I equate it to the
building cowing down and pushing things down, it could
have been electrical explosions, it could have been
whatever.
These buildings,
as most office buildings in America had transformers and
other high voltage electrical equipment.
Electrical Fire Hurts 6 at Trade Center
Published: July 24, 1992
An
air-conditioning transformer
five stories below the World
Trade Center caught fire after
an explosion last night, the
authorities said. Six people
were injured, none of them
seriously, but the 110-story
twin towers did not have to be
evacuated, the authorities said.
The fire was first reported at
10:02 P.M. in a 13,000-volt
transformer in the Trade
Center's refrigeration plant,
which provides air conditioning
and ventilation for the complex,
the Fire Department and the Port
Authority said. The electrical
fire, which went to three
alarms, was brought under
control at 11:24 P.M., said a
Fire Department official,
Lieutenant Erick Weekes.
February 26, 1993. It
started like most other days. A 4 A.M. wake up, coffee
and a buttered roll while driving to work at the
Manhattan Central Office. At 12:18 P.M., lunch was being
served when we received a call via a street alarm box at
the corner of West & Liberty Streets. At the same time
Engine Company 10, whose quarters are across the street
from the World Trade Center, called us via radio and
reported a possible transformer vault explosion on West
Street near the Trade Center.
Transformer vault (also
called manhole) explosions are fairly common place in
Manhattan, especially during wet weather. They're highly
visible and normally generate numerous telephone calls
to the Central Office. We didn't think this one was
going to be any different. When Engine 10 advised us by
radio they had a working fire in the Trade Center, we
thought the transformer vault was located within the
basement of the complex. Not a routine event, but
still,it's only a transformer vault we thought.
"The Trade Center was never
designed for the amount of emergency power necessary for
all those trading floors they have there," Calabro said.
"Tenants would come in and need emergency power, and it
was not available."
To solve that problem, E-J Electric set four generators
on the roof of Tower 5, which was nine stories, as
opposed to the 110-story Towers 1 and 2. E-J then ran
high-voltage feeder cable to Towers 1, 2, 4 and 5,
installed three substations and distributed power to the
tenants.
"We pulled 6,000 feet of high-voltage feeder cable from
the roof of Tower 5, through the building, down through
the concourse, through the parking garages and to the
roof of Tower 1 and 2," Calabro said.
Current standard tenant power capacity is 6W up to 10W
per usable square foot depending on location. The World
Trade Center's electricity supply is segmented for
greater reliability and safety. Eight dedicated 13,800-V
feeders divide into 23 building substations. On-floor
electrical distribution is routed via at least two
electrical closets per floor, each with separate high-
and low-voltage bus ducts for tenant-dedicated use."
This is a
deceptive quote from a conspiracy theory site...
"When we got
to about 50 feet from the South Tower, we heard the most
eerie sound that you would ever hear. A high-pitched
noise and a popping noise made everyone stop. We all
looked up. At the point, it all let go...
...There was
an explosion and the whole top leaned toward us and
started coming down. I stood there for a second in total
awe, and then said, "What the F###?" I honestly thought
it was Hollywood."
Now let's examine
what he said in the context he said it. Here is the part
conspiracy sites leave out..
“When we
got to about 50 ft from the South Tower, we heard the
most eerie sound that you would ever hear. A
high-pitched noise and a popping noise made everyone
stop. We all looked up. At the point, it all let go.
The way I see it, it had to be the rivets. The
building let go, there was an explosion and the whole
top leaned toward us and started coming down.
He said
"The way I see it, it had to be the rivets"
but the
conspiracy sites remove this important insight. They
skipped over the sentence. There is only one reason to
do something like that. To mislead the reader by
removing all other possibilities for the sounds.
He also
says he thinks the rivets caused the building to fall
and not bombs. Interestingly, the NIST said most of the
failures were at the bolts and connections.
Even bodies
hitting the floor sounded like explosions.
“The
sight was amazing. I was just totally awestruck. I
reported to the command post, showed my ID and asked if
I could be of use. They said ‘Absolutely. Stand off on
the side with the other medical people.’ I couldn’t
fight any fires because I did not have that kind of gear
with me, but would have done it if asked.
“I
decided to walk closer to the South Tower. I was about
100 ft from the South Tower looking up when the bodies
started coming down. I counted 35. They were just piling
up on the Marriott Marquis hotel. They were 10 to 15
thick piling up one after another. You could hear them
hitting on the side streets. They were hitting cars,
and there were lots of explosions.
“I have
seen plenty of death in my life, and burned bodies and
so forth, but this was incredible. As I was looking up,
I saw a body coming down, hit a lamppost and explode
like a paint ball. Its arms and legs got torn off and
the head ripped off and bounced right by me.”
The person
saying it was an explosion also says bodies hitting the
floor sound like explosions. I'm sure they do. I'm sure
an acre of concrete floor crashing down onto another acre of
concrete floor also sounds like an explosion.
The building
was filled with electrical panels and cable feeding them.
Some would be no different than a powerline...
It's not
unreasonable to conclude, as at least one fireman did that
the flashes might have been electrical in nature.
We may never
know what exactly caused the flashes. But flashes alone do
not mean explosives. You would see more than flashes if an
explosive large enough to cut steel were set off. You would
see ejecta coming from the same place as the flash.
Then their is
William Rodriguez, a worker at the towers. He now says he
heard explosions in the basement but that's not what he said
before he became a media star and sued the government.
William Rodriguez worked on the basement level of the
north tower and was in the building when the first plane
struck his building.
"We heard a loud rumble, then all of a sudden
we heard another rumble like someone moving a whole
lot of furniture," Rodriguez said. "And then the
elevator opened and a man came into our office and all
of his skin was off."
As loud as
the collapse was, it sounded nothing like an actual
controlled demolition...
Conspiracy
theorists take quotes out of context in order to
sell the idea. An example of just how easy it is to take ear
witness accounts out of context is below...
[Example video transcript:]
Government
Train Wreck: How government covers up freight train
accidents…
"The noise sounded like two
freight trains going over a trestle right over your
head; it was an ugly roar. My wife said the noise when
the house went was like a giant pencil sharpener
working.”
While the
Titanic was sinking, passengers heard explosions in the ship.
In this case, the "Official Story" would be wrong, using the
same conspiracy theory logic. To this day, no one really
knows what exactly caused the sound, only that it sounded
like an explosion. Some say it was the steel snapping as the
ship broke in two. Others say it was the hot steam engines
hitting the cold water which exploded. Using Conspiracy
Theory logic, it was blown up because witnesses characterized
the sound as an "Explosion".
