Salinger 'totally sure' TWA 800 missile theory is true
Pentagon, federal investigators insist he's wrong
March 13, 1997
Web posted at: 10:49 a.m. EST (1549 GMT)
In this story:
* Salinger: Video 'confirms a missile'
* Report: Russian satellite has proof
* Missile theory discredited
* Tape seized from pilot
* Related stories and sites
PARIS (CNN) -- Former newsman Pierre Salinger insisted again Thursday that a Navy missile downed TWA Flight 800, this time offering a 69-page document and a set of radar images to bolster his case.
"We have now reached the point where we are totally sure what we are saying is true," Salinger, a former ABC News correspondent and press secretary to President Kennedy, told a Paris news conference.
T R A N S C R I P T S
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:ggh8lToINi8J:www.cnn.com/US/9703/13/twa/+jim+hall,+ntsb,+twa+800&hl=en
Tape seized from pilot
Investigators say three possible crash theories remain -- a bomb, a missile or mechanical failure -- but they insist the investigation has ruled out an errant missile strike by the U.S. military.
The FBI this week launched a criminal investigation, hoping to stop missile theorists. On Tuesday, agents seized a videotape that former pilot Richard Russell claimed was FAA tape showing radar images of a missile near the doomed plane.
Salinger first based his friendly fire claim on a memo Russell wrote and circulated on the Internet.
The videotape was examined closely and found to have no indications of any missile, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The FBI also has been trying to question a former California police officer who said he obtained and did tests on an actual piece of the wreckage.
Paris Bureau Chief Peter Humi, Correspondent Peg Tyre, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
By the FBI, which was put in charge to ensure that the proper 'findings' were made, and any contrary evidence or testimony were to be re-investigated until they no longer existed.