No actually they felt they had to explain what it was that all those witnesses saw, so they came up with the CIA Cartoon. (The CIA is regularly involved in airplane accident investigations, right?) They claim the stricken plane soared up to 17000 feet, and that's what the folks on the ground saw going up: TWA800 not a missile.
The only problem with this is they forgot to talk to the witness most likely to be in a position to know whether TWA800 climbed at all after the explosion. You say you are a pilot so you know that one of the things a pilot is taught early on is how to judge if traffic is above, below, or at nearly the same altitude as he is.
The NTSB failed to talk to Eastwind Airlines pilot Dave McClaine. Yeah, maybe his FBI 302 is probably in their Appendix with the rest of them. I don't even know what it says. (The FBI interviewed McClaine a day or two after the accident. McClaine told me that as soon as he told them he didn't see a missile, they were done with him and they never talked to him again.) But MacClaine was flying at 16,000 staring at opposite direction TWA 800 about 20 miles distant when it exploded. He says TWA 800 was below him, stayed below him, and never went up.
Maybe with all the excitement the NTSB/CIA just forgot to ask McClaine about their cartoon, or maybe they weren't interested in what he would have had to say?
I wonder: do you think your fellow pilot Dave McClaine is incapable of judging the altitude of other aircraft; or do you think the NTSB et al., need to come up with a more reasonable explanation for all those witness reports they thought they needed to explain?
ML/NJ
As I previously mentioned, the CIA video had nothing to do with the NTSB, or the NTSB report. It was part of the FBI's criminal investigation of the incident. The FBI believed TWA 800 was the result of an international terrorist incident. That is how the CIA became involved. But as the investigation continued, it became clear that there was no criminal actions involved in what happened to TWA 800.
"The only problem with this is they forgot to talk to the witness most likely to be in a position to know whether TWA800 climbed at all after the explosion."
That is completely untrue. The NTSB was especially interested in the Eastwind Pilot and not only interviewed him specifically, but included a specific analysis of his statements in their report. But...you wouldn't know that since you've proven time and again that you have no idea what is actually in the NTSB report. Here's a link to the report. Go to page 243 titled "The Pilot of Eastwind Airlines Flight 507". NTSB Report
"You say you are a pilot so you know that one of the things a pilot is taught early on is how to judge if traffic is above, below, or at nearly the same altitude as he is."
I am a pilot, and one of the first things I learned was you can never put all your trust in what your eyes are telling you. Especially during twilight hours and when all you can see of another aircraft is its lights. But does it interest you in the slightest that the Eastwind Pilot, the person with perhaps the clearest view of the whole event, very clearly states that he saw no signs or indications of anything hitting TWA 800 before it exploded?
"The NTSB failed to talk to Eastwind Airlines pilot Dave McClaine."
As I've already stated, you are wrong again. Just read the NTSB report. You will realize that your fascination with the CIA video is irrelevant to the NTSB investigation. The NTSB does not support what was in the CIA video and did not include it in any part of its investigation.