[El Gato]

I don't know what to make of the Pentagon. There wasn't enough evidence about it released to the public although there are credible eye-witnesses. The wings shearing off makes sense, but I would expect more damage to the facia of the building regardless.

The Pentagon is a reinforced concrete structure, it doesn't have facia per se. That outer wall is structural, not just to hold the weather out. You couldn't build a tall building that way, it would be too heavy to hold itself, but it is strong. And it doesn't use nearly the steel a steel framed building would, which is why they built it that way, during WW-II's shortages of everything, especially steel (for ships, tanks, cannon, rifles, etc). The aircraft might as well have run into a giant rock. Parts of the aircraft did penetrate, but not large ones. That side of the building had just been updated, especially the windows, and that accounts for some of the lack of damage in areas not immediately adjacent to the impact point.

[Aliska]

I'll accept your explanation for now, and it is not my intention to post something so inciendary if I didn't question *some* of it. Evidently a minority of posters aren't buying *all* of it either.

I would have expected to see more pieces of the plane on the grounds at the Pentagon; all I saw was a few bits and that one obvious plane part. They could have "planted" it there as far as I am concerned, not because I believe that but because I wasn't paying attention to anything like that initially. In the initial hours and days, I wasn't looking at hows and whys, believed everything 100% that was claimed to be known by the officials, and like most everybody else, I was numb with shock.

I hate the conspiracy stuff, and I know that group is left of left, and thought it was kook stuff. Maybe most of it is. I'm still not 100% sure of all the official explanations now.

I haven't talked to anybody on a plane with a cell phone lately, actually never that I know of, haven't flown for years, and only vaguely understand how the signals are transmitted/lose communication until the next tower is approached/contacted, etc., etc.

How high altitude can a plane be and still make contact with the ground towers via regular cell phones? Are some cell phones more capable than others? It kind of blew me out of the water when I read that theory, can't remember where. I know aircraft air-to-air and air-to-ground/reverse communications are different, so that is not an issue, especially with terrorists at the controls.

I appreciate not being flamed because I have questions and wish I'd paid more attention to it early on. I did read the Popular Mechanics article which made sense from a lay person pov and have seen one tv documentary twice.