Isolated explosions under the collapse front

Claim

Photographs and videos of the World Trade Center 1 and 2 show isolated dust clouds from explosions 20 – 40 floors below the collapse front, the so-called “squibs”. These “squibs” is evidence of controlled demolition⁰.

Background

The claim is used to support the theory that the World Trade Center 1, 2 and 7 did not collapse due to the terror attack but because many tons of explosives and nanothermite were placed in the buildings prior to the attack.

One of the most popular videos used to support the theory was shown on the tv station KTLA-5. The dust cloud in question can also be seen on numerous photos.

Similar dust clouds can also be observed, albeit less so, during the collapses of the World Trade Center 2 and 7.

The claim stems, partly due to an interpretation of a statement, from an expert in explosives and vice president of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in the Albuquerque Journal:

“…there were some explosive devices inside the buildings that caused the towers to collapse”.¹

The article also stated that:

“Romero said the collapse of the structure resembled those of controlled implosions used to demolish old structures.”¹

Facts

A “squib” is not a dust cloud from an explosion but a very small incendiary device designed to create a small explosion. Typically, squibs are used as special effects in movies and in contraptions intended to create small localized pressure waves without harming the surroundings or nearby persons. A known example is an airbag in a car².

Any building will contain large amounts of air. When a building collapses, the air inside the building has to escape in some way. The air pressure will disperse downwards through the building faster than the building collapses. That is the reason why the air escapes in various places where the air pressure can escape the easiest.

A comparison would be an inflated plastic bag: When you squeeze the bag with your hands, the plastic will be pressed outward through the gaps of your fingers. If the bag bursts, the air will be pressed out through the hole. The pressure depends on how hard you press.

The claim has been tested, e.g. by Popular Mechanics in their March 2005 issue¹. Romero stated that he had been quoted wrongly and demanded – and got – a retraction from the Albuquerque Journal, on Septemner 22, 2001¹.

Logic

If it is not air that is being pressed out so violently, it is unknown what happens to the air inside the buildings, since that air cannot disappear just like that.

If the three buildings had explosives on all floors, it would not merely be few and small dust clouds on a couple of floors. It would be on all floors and in an easily recognizable rhythmic patterns as seen on real controlled demolitions.

Conclusion

The claim is therefore:

• In conflict with the laws of nature
• Literally false

Sources

0. Løbeseddel, i11time.dk
   “The concrete clouds shooting out of the buildings are not possible from a mere collapse. They do occur from explosions”.
   Avisreklame, New York Times, for bogen Painful Questions: An Analysis Of The September 11th Attack, af Eric Hufschmid
   “Also captured on video and still photos were isolated explosive jets of material expelled from the sides of the structure 20-60 stories below the so-called “crush zone”. These precisely mimic what are known as “squibs” in the controlled demolition industry. Normally such charges are used to cut structural steel members so that the structure is able to fall with little to no resistance.”
   Richard Gage, AE911Truth.org
1. “Like all office buildings, the WTC towers contained a huge volume of air. As they pancaked, all that air–along with the concrete and other debris pulverized by the force of the collapse–was ejected with enormous energy. “When you have a significant portion of a floor collapsing, it’s going to shoot air and concrete dust out the window,” NIST lead investigator Shyam Sunder tells PM. Those clouds of dust may create the impression of a controlled demolition, Sunder adds, “but it is the floor pancaking that leads to that perception.”
   Debunking the 9/11 Myths, Popular Mechanics, Marts 2005
2. Squib (explosive), Wikipedia

Q & A