[archy]

"On Oct. 4, 2001, Defense Department satellites equipped with infrared sensors captured a Ukrainian missile striking a Russian airliner 30,000 feet above the Black Sea."

Could something other than a Stinger have hit TWA 800, in your opinion?

Thanks for your help.

I think it's probable that a missile nailed Flight 800, but very unlikely that it was the two-and-a-half pound warhead charge of a FIM-92A Stinger's warhead that did that much initial target damage. The subsequent FBI extreme efforts at the coverup, to include intimidation of witnesses and arrest of journalists, suggests that it was either a U.S. Navy missile that downed the aircraft, or possible a foreign missile supplied in an FBI undercover sting operation that went terribly wrong.

[Poohbah]

My personal vote for the missile type is the Saab RBS-70. Laser-guided (which neatly explains the center-mass impact: just center the death-dot on the target, the missile does the rest), the missile's booster gives an impressive visual signature (corresponding with the eyewitness descriptions), and it's team-portable, so it has a healthy warhead.