No, that’s not quite accurate, Skydancer. 38º C is Jet-A’s flashpoint, the temperature at which liquid Jet-A will start to form a vapor with the air above it. To get it to actually ignite, that vapor has to reach an air/fuel ratio above ~14% fuel to air, preferably more, then you need an ignition source with sufficient joules for sufficient time to cause it to ignite. Here is a study in point. It’s quite interesting. One thing I found most interesting is that at the most probable temperatures of 46º-56º C, the greatest pressure was most likely only 2.5 to 3 atmospheres, at most 45 pounds per square inch, which the Center Wing Tank could easily have withstood being designed to hold 56.25 tons of fuel at 6.66 lbs per gallon. . . And that was with mixing the fuel air with a fan to get even distribution.
Boeing tests duplicating the TWA-800 flight conditions measured temperatures in the CWT:
”The issue of the thermal environment produced by the ACM operation during the gate hold must addressed through flight test and thermal modeling. A preliminary flight test was carried out by Boeing (8-26-97) and temperatures at 5 locations within the CWT were measured as a function of altitude. At takeoff, temperatures within the tank ranged from 85 to 96◦F (29 to 35◦C). After takeoff, a fuel temperature of 115◦F (46◦C) was measured at the rear spar for altitudes above 7 kft. The air temperatures within the tank decreased with increasing altitude up to about 10.5 kft and then returned to the takeoff values above 12 kft. This is an indication of the role of heat transfer since if the gas within the tank expanded adiabatically (no heat transfer) during climb, the temperature would drop by 44◦C. . .. . .This model suggests that the average air temperature in the tank is about 33.5◦C (92◦F). This is comparable to the average air temperature measured in the preliminary flight tests (85 to 95◦F).”
Note these values are below the 38º C theoretical flashpoint and the actual 44º-46º C stoichastical measured practical flashpoint of Jet-A fuel.
The white heat from a burning solid rocket engine and the white flare could have easily over rode the redness of a setting sun; in fact it would have enhanced it.
For most of the observers, the setting sun was either behind them or to their right and had little red component affecting what they saw. Nice try to distort the record.
I guess then it’s the conspiracy theory you like the best since there are several of them out there.