Power cut concealed placement of explosives

Claim

There were several power cuts and a flurry professionals in the buildings with cables etc. in the weeks leading up to 9/11⁰.

Background

The claim is taken from a flyer handed out by the Danish Truth Movement i11time.dk and points to a conspiracy having faked a widespread power cut in order to be able to send a lot of people into the buildings to place explosives without being caught.

Facts

The claim originates with one person, Scott Forbes¹, who claimed that there was a power cut for up to 36 hours in the World Trade Center 2 the weekend before the terror attack (video).

The Twin Towers were one of the most photographed landmarks in New York City and served, together with the Statue of Liberty, as a symbol of the metropolis. There would have been thousands of photographs and videos of the Twin Towers by night, showing the lit World Trade Center 1 but only a half-lit World Trade Center 2. No witnesses have noticed anything, and nobody has taken any photographs of the remarkable sight of a half-lit World Trade Center on the days in question. Such a photo would look like the manipulated one below:

There will always be some form of renovation and maintenance going on in huge buildings. Since the Twin Towers were primarily office buildings for major companies, these would suffer financial losses from not being able to keep normal working hours. Even if it would take place over one weekend, there would still be a lot of people at work. That is why a fair warning is given even for minor power cuts, so everybody knows what goes on.

If the power cut was unexpected, it would certainly have caused a chaotic situation on the following Monday, September 10 2001: Computer systems, servers, refrigerators, vending machines, and other electronic equipment cannot be turned off unexpectedly without any consequences. Yet, nobody reported any irregularities of any kind, be it employees or the media, either before or after the terror attack.

Logic

It is possible that there could have been a power cut on the 97th floor, where Scott Forbes was, but that the whole top half of the World Trade Center 2 should have been blacked out without any of the millions of witnesses in New York, among those the thousands in the buildings themselves, did not notice anything, is quite implausible.

Two days of power cut in the World Trade Center 2 would not have been enough time to place the many tons of explosives. A power cut does not prevent that witnesses would spot the many trucks and workmen required to place such an enormous quantity of explosives required to blow up just one of the towers. These witnesses simply do not exist.

It is self-contradicting that there is no claim about a similar power cut in the World Trade Center 1 which also collapsed. If power cuts played a role in the attack on one tower, it should also play a role in the attack on the other.

It is implausible that the World Trade Center 1 and 2 would not have been photographed when the power was down. This alone must be seen as a final piece of evidence that Scott Forbes’ claim is false.

Conclusion

The claim is therefore:

Implausible
Without witnesses
Undocumented
Illogical
Self-contradicting

Sources

Løbeseddel, i11time.dk
Email fra Scott Forbes

“On the weekend of 9/8,9/9 there was a ‘power down’ condition in World Trade Center tower 2, the south tower. This power down condition meant there was no electrical supply for approx 36hrs from floor 50 up. I am aware of this situation since I work in IT and had to work with many others that weekend to ensure that all systems were cleanly shutdown beforehand … and then brough back up afterwards. The reason given by the World Trade Center for the power down was that cabling in the tower was being upgraded … Of course without power there were no security cameras, no security locks on doors and many, many ‘engineers’ coming in and out of the tower. I was at home on the morning of 9/11 on the shore of Jersey City, right opposite the Towers, and watching events unfold I was convinced immediately that something was happening related to the weekend work …”