Posted on 04/06/2006 8:20:08 AM PDT by CyberAnt
Researcher verifies testimony of key FBI witnes
A researcher of the TWA Flight 800 downing says his use of the map program Google Earth to verify the claims of witnesses bolsters his belief that the 747 jetliner was shot down by a missile, contrary to the official explanation.
Robert Donaldson, who has carried on the investigation of his brother, the late Cmdr. William Donaldson, re-interviewed a key witness, Mike Wire, whose testimony was used to create the government's explanation.
Nearly 10 years ago, after an extensive investigation, the FBI and National Transportation Safety Board declared "mechanical failure" the cause of the July 17, 1996, disaster but failed to adequately explain how it happened.
Donaldson said the investigation created an "environment of suspicion and distrust in the government's motives and conclusion."
"Throughout all of this, they have ignored and tried to discredit more than 100 eyewitnesses who saw a streak, or fireworks rise from the surface and impact Flight 800," he said.
Wire's case is a perfect example of this bias, contends Donaldson, who went with the Pennsylvania man back to Long Island to take a photograph of the view and analyze it.
Donaldson said what he created is nothing like the CIA described in its now-discredited video that featured a distorted version of Wire's testimony.
Wire, according to his testimony to the FBI, was looking south-southwest toward the beach. At approximately 8:30 p.m. he saw a white light traveling skyward from the ground at approximately a 40 degree angle. He described it as a white light that sparkled and thought it was some type of fireworks.
Wire stated the light "zigzagged" as it traveled upward and at the apex of its travel, it "arched over" and disappeared from view. He estimated the light was in view for about 15 seconds and its speed was consistent with normal fireworks.
The CIA video contended that what the witnesses saw was "a Boeing 747 in various stages of crippled flight." The video climaxed with an animation purporting to show the nose of the aircraft blew off from an internal explosion.
TWA Flight 800 then allegedly "pitched up abruptly and climbed several thousand feet from its last recorded altitude of about 13,800 feet to a maximum altitude of about 17,000 feet." The CIA video claimed this was what the eyewitnesses had seen – not missiles, but a rocketing, noseless 747 trailing fire.
Donaldson said Wire's testimony was used extensively by the CIA in developing its theory.
But Wire says the agency completely distorted his statement and never interviewed him.
After his recent interview with Donaldson, Wire went to the location and took a digital photo, on which he then drew black lines indicating the route of the smoke trail he saw and the path of the burning debris falling to the ocean.
Donaldson then edited the picture to show more of what Wire described to him.
Using Google Earth, Donaldson then plotted Wire's position on the bridge, the exact location of Flight 800 according to the Islip radar and then overlaid his drawing on the perspective in Google Earth.
"This has resulted in an extraordinary match up between his recollection and where the events took place according to the Islip radar," Donaldson said.
The pictures show the CIA's explanation is "complete bunk," he said.
Flight 800 already was at 13,700 feet, well above the rooflines of the building Wire was looking at and high in the sky. A climb of 3,000 additional feet would be imperceptible, Donaldson argued, only 20 percent higher than its original position.
It also would not look like a zigzagging streak with a smoke trail that originated behind one of the beachfront houses.
Furthermore, Donaldson contended, if Flight 800 did manage to climb 3,000 feet, it would take between two to three minutes, yet the Islip radar only shows it in the air for only 37 seconds after the initial transponder was lost.
"The only conclusion that can be drawn from this and other similar eyewitness accounts is that they saw something that was supersonic," he said.
Donaldson said readers can link to his Flight 800 Google Earth Project, after installing Google Earth, by following the instructions below.
Open Google Earth.
On the top menu bar, click on "ADD".
Then click on "Network Link".
Fill in the name field with "TWA 800" or another name to describe it.
Add the following link in the "Location" box: http://twa800.com/google-earth/flight-800.kmz This should open a network link to the Flight 800 data. Click the triangle beside the link to expand the data. Double Click any link to "fly" to that location. Clicking on and off the check boxes will display or hide that information.
If you'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll.
Go to the link to see a picture of Donaldson's findings.
They don't call it WorldNutDaily for nothing.
There is even a certain logic to that strategy, but it turned out to be too clever by half. The result was escalation rather than reduction of terror.
Well .. I see the nuts have come out in the open as soon as anything about TWA 800 shows up. Glad to see you all are paying attention.
Sooner or later .. it will be proven (beyond a shadow of a doubt), that the Clinton admin did cover-up a terrorist attack upon this country.
And .. I don't give a rip if you believe that or not.
The FBI specializes in cover-ups.
Basically, the terrorists saw it as cowering in the corner. A sign of weakness instead of "tolerance".
Where's the link to buy the book? /sarc
It wasn't provided!
And .. the Clinton FBI was almost treasonous.
thanks for the find...interesting read.
pathetic if true.
Go to Google-dinkus to see the proof that a plane never hit the Pentagon on 9-11.
Go to Google-idiot to see the proof that a USAF plane shot down Flight 93 in PA.
The question still arises: If this take-down was the result of a terrorist missile strike then why weren't they crowing about it in Al-Jazeera and everywhere else they spew?? Ya' gotta wonder...SSZ
Relevant excerpts:
In the last few weeks several political insiders have forgotten themselves and referred to TWA Flight 800, the airliner, which exploded in July of 1996 just east of New York City, as a terrorist incident. But only one has done it twice.
That person is Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Appearing on "Larry King Live" on Sept. 11 of this year, Kerry suggested that TWA Flight 800 was brought down by a terrorist act.
The second admission took place on Sept. 24 on "Hardball" with Chris Matthews. On this occasion, Kerry casually recited a number of terrorist attacks against the United States, among them TWA "Flight 800." Like Larry King before him, Chris Matthews either did not catch the remark or chose to let it pass.
There is more evidence to consider. On Sept. 20, one mainstream newspaper released the story of how the so-called Gore Commission failed conspicuously to address airline safety. The paper claimed that this failure "represents the clearest recent public example of the success that airlines have long had in defeating calls for more oversight."
The paper traced that failure to a series of campaign donations from the airlines to the Democratic National Committee in 1996 in the wake of the crash of TWA Flight 800, donations likely solicited by Al Gore himself. That newspaper just happened to be John Kerry's hometown Boston Globe.
Kerry and the Globe are cracking open a Pandora's box that is deeper and darker than most Americans can imagine. As we have reported elsewhere, the complete story is much more chilling. Yes, Clinton and Gore did abandon airport security planning for sake of campaign cash. But worse, they concealed the real cause of the crash, in no small part to justify that abandonment.
In fact, on the same day in September of 1996 that Al Gore sent the airline's lobbyist a letter signaling his intent to roll over, the National Transportation Safety Board reversed its spin and all but ruled out a bomb or missile strike. Arguably, had the NTSB openly and honestly pursued the real cause of that first New York incident, it might have prevented the second one five years later.
John Kerry seems to have his sights on Al Gore's Achilles heel. After the events of Sept. 11, the story of how Al Gore helped subvert the investigation into TWA 800 and undermine airport security is a career-killer.
I just can't figure out how they could dismiss so many eyewitnesses who saw what obviously was a missle rising to hit the plane. The official explanations I have heard do not make sense.
Richard Clarke and Jamie Gorelick know the real truth about this incident. IIRC Clarke convened a group of people within the WH to deal with the suspected act of terrorism - he was immediately shot down and guess who took over - Jamie Gorelick.
I remember the animation video of the plane produced by the CIA. The entire nose section supposedly drops off and the body of the plane then allegedly shoots skyward. If the entire forward section of the fuselage dropped off, the center of gravity of the plane would move far behind the center of pressure. The plane would tumble end over end.
Oh my, you poor thing .. been reading those posts over at DU and MoveOn again .. tsk tsk!
Hmmm?? I don't think Al-Jazeera existed then .. did they?
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