Seems like that is supported by several eye-witness accounts. I am not one for conspiracy theories, but this one has some merit.
I'm with you! Many clues point to a missile. But none is as compelling to me as the change in FBI TWA 800 Chief Investigator James Kallstrom's demeanor and body language from the time he was indicating that a missile was his prime theory to his abrupt change that it was an internal explosion.
Someone directed him to change his tune - it was so abrupt, and he looked so uncomfortable in trying to pull off something he clearly did not believe, that it is prima-facia evidence of a cover-up to me.
Not to mention some 300 witnesses that said they saw a streak of fire going up from the surface of the ocean [missile track] that were suddenly discounted as hallucinating.
I know a woman who saw it and she says it was a missile.
I'm not "for" or "against" conspiracy theories. I like to keep my Occam's razor nice and sharp and let the chips fall where they may. The odds against the center fuel tank explosion occurring as officially described are astronomical. Now, given the flight hours logged over the decades by the 747 airframe, ask yourself what the odds are of this *systemic design flaw*, resulting in its one catastrophic event within the same three weeks as the Khobar Tower bombing....