I remember when this movie came out last year – I was eager to watch it. Since then, however,
I have discovered that many “documentaries” that purport to tell the truth about some mysterious event often are contaminated by cognitive infiltration and end up making the “conspiracy theory” look ridiculous whether it has merit or not. These types of films get us further from the truth rather than closer to it, so I usually avoid this stuff altogether. Recently, however, I decided to watch this film as I dug into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, and I gotta say, I am now totally convinced that TWA Flight 800 was downed by missile and that the “investigation’s” main purpose was to cover it up.
Perhaps I would have watched it sooner if I had discussed the topic with my mother. She is a Brooklynite born and bred with parents straight off the boat from Ireland. Most of the family moved to Long Island by the third generation, though we moved in the other direction – “Upstate” – where Bronxites move, not Brooklynites; where Yankees fans abound and so too, suspect my city-cousins, lumberjacks! (Not kidding!) So Long Islanders are my mother’s people – down to earth, no-nonsense Brooklynites-once-removed. Upstate or not, though, my mother’s no hayseed. With 85 years under her belt, she has been around enough to tell the difference between the masterful con artists that only New York can breed and the no bullshit New Yorkers who rightly cuss you out if you don’t start moving fast enough when the light turns green.
She also doesn’t follow me down the rabbit hole if she can possibly help it. She’s skeptical of everyone – the government, her doctor, me – everyone! She won’t even listen to my “theory” that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, with his CIA connections, might not be exactly as he was portrayed, or that Edward Snowden with HIS CIA connections, also might not be exactly what he is portrayed as being. So when I mentioned TWA Flight 800 to her during a conversation about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, I was shocked to hear her shoot back in her inimitable Brooklyn accent: “Oh, yeah, a ship shot that down! That’s what they said. People saw it.”
I was totally convinced by the documentary and wouldn’t have changed my mind no matter what my mother said, but it was like a “Mikey likes it” moment of, “Wow, if SHE thinks it was a missile….”
Anyhoo, a long-winded way of saying: highly recommend.
20 minutes and 29 seconds into the flight, cockpit area recorder 1 recorded the words, “Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four.” Two minutes later the pieces of the plane were in the water.
Can you get me the link for that? the plane crashed 12 minutes after take off…i think you’re getting some disinfo! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800
I corrected in another comment, below. Sorry. I’d recommend reading at these two links anyway. I’m still going to watch the documentary. Haven’t yet.
https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/AAR0003_app.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800
I’m sorry. It wasn’t 20 minutes and 29 seconds into the flight. It was at the time of 2029:15 UTC. I’m on dental drugs. :/
http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/AAR0003.pdf I’m reading through the ntsb report which is the source cited in wiki for that comment from the cockpit, and weirdly the section of the transcript which should be on page 315 isn’t in this document! i would like to track this down…please give me a link to your source.
It’s on p. 48 of this .pdf. (Looks like maybe p. 360 of the paper version.) https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/AAR0003_app.pdf)
I would never make it through the whole ntsb report. Those guys are *thorough*! The wiki article is a very good summary, I think. The original report is good for particular details, though.
btw, looks like it was the FBI that screwed things up with those witnesses (no surprise), but I thought ntsb worked around it the best they possibly could have. They don’t leave too many stones – or grains of sand – unturned.
You know, if we decided to abolish as many agencies of the federal government as we possibly could, the ntsb would be at the top of my list of ones to keep. I have that much respect for them. The FAA would be way, way below them.
You don’t have to read the whole report – most of it is just technical, factual data. The analysis and conclusions is where the evidence is pulled together. The significance of the captain’s words are discussed in section 2.3.2.1.2.3 Factors Suggesting the Likelihood that a Short-Circuit Event Occurred on TWA Flight 800. (p 289-90)
“Further, as noted previously, there are several indications that possible anomalous electrical events occurred in the airplane just before the explosion. First, the captain’s CVR channel recording has two dropouts of background power harmonics, indicating some type of electrical anomaly, less than a second before the CVR lost power.620 Second, captain’s comments about a crazy No. 4 (right outboard engine) fuel flow indicator were recorded on the CVR about 2 1/2 minutes before it lost power, which also suggests that some type of electrical anomaly occurred that affected that wiring. And third, the recovered CWT fuel quantity gauge from the cockpit displayed a reading of 640 pounds, which does not agree with the quantity recorded by the ground refueler (300 pounds).621 Safety Board testing showed that applying power to a wire leading to the fuel quantity gauge can cause the digital display to change by several hundred pounds in less time than is required to trip the circuit breaker. This suggests that an electrical anomaly might have affected the reading of the cockpit gauge (accounting for the discrepancy). These electrical anomalies were not necessarily related to the same event. However, it is possible that one or more of these anomalies were a manifestation of an electrical event that resulted in excess voltage being transferred to the CWT FQIS wiring. On the basis of this and the other evidence previously discussed, the Safety Board concludes that a short circuit producing excess voltage that was transferred to the CWT FQIS wiring is the most likely source of ignition energy for the TWA flight 800 CWT explosion.”
I remember this issue from the documentary (though I obviously don’t remember them mentioning the captain’s statement). They pointed out that the only wires in the tank were for the fuel indicators which are all low current wires that cannot spark for the very reason that a spark in the fuel tank could cause an explosion. Makes sense!
The connection between the captain’s comment and the explosion are obviously speculative since there is no direct evidence that a short circuit caused the explosion. I do remember that a congressman put the NTSB on the spot during a hearing and forced them to admit this. As stated in the report, “These electrical anomalies were not necessarily related to the same event. However, it is possible that one or more of these anomalies were a manifestation of an electrical event that resulted in excess voltage being transferred to the CWT FQIS wiring.”
I’m not saying it didn’t happen because they don’t have evidence, just that this connection is speculative, as the NTSB admits, and must be weighed against alternative explanations. To me, the evidence presented in the documentary that a missile or missiles brought down the plane outweighs the short circuit theory as the most likely cause of the crash. I highly recommend the documentary as well as the NTSB report to anyone who really wants to assess the available evidence himself.
It *would* be nice if there were always direct and conclusive evidence, wouldn’t it?
WE CAN SEE NOW, IT IS TIME TO CREATE OUR OWN PERSONALIZED UFOS TO GO FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, AND SOME HOW IN SOME WAY BECOME OUR OWN PILOTS. YOU ARE ONLY SAFE WITH YOUR OWN SOUL, AT LEAST THAT IS THE WAY IT SEEMS. IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE BACKPACKS WITH WINGS SO THAT WE CAN GO PLACES. SERIOUSLY FOLKS, WE NEED TO CONSIDER OTHER OPTIONS. BE SAFE, AND LOOK IN ALL DIRECTIONS WHEN YOU ARE CROSSING THE STREETS TODAY.
Er, no! Death by private aircraft accident is a frequent occurrence in the political sphere. Unfortunately, if “they” want you out of the way, they can make it happen. If “they” want someone else out of the way and you just happen to be on the same plane, you lose!
WE CAN SEE THAT THESE PLANES ARE BECOMING DEATH TRAPS AND BOXING RINGS. YOU NEVER KNOW WHO HAS TO DUKE IT OUT WITH WHOM. LAST NIGHT I WAS LISTENING TO THE SCHNITT SHOW ON THE RADIO, AND HE WAS COUNTING DOWN THE AIRPORTS IN THE USA, WHO BREAK INTO PEOPLE’S LUGGAGE AND STEAL THEIR PROPERTY. THESE ARE THE TSA AGENTS HE WAS REFERING TO, AND THE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF PASSENGERS HAVING PROPERTY MISSING. AS WE HAVE INCREASED TECHNOLOGY, SO HAS EVERYTHING ELSE BEEN INCREASED. AN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE STILL MAY BE A WAY TO TRAVEL???
Monica, I haven’t seen this movie and may not get a chance anytime soon but I watched a documentary about it a year or so back and I came to the same conclusion, that the evidence stacks up heavily on the side of a missile attack and cover up.