Updated Jun 18, 2013
Previous updates have been overcome by events and it is time to provide a new, more realistic, update that conforms to reality. I have been busy with personal family affairs; that situation will continue in the near term and may well extend into next year. Hopefully, I can get some work done this summer. I am updating this post to reflect what is actually in the works. Following is what is currently in my queue, not necessarily in priority order.
AA11A. Thanks to a FOIA request by John Farmer (not Dean John Farmer of the Commission Staff) the public domain now has the data files pertaining to the new track for American Airlines flight 11 (AA11) entered into the air traffic control system by the FAA’s New York Center (ZNY). Those files, together with air traffic control audio files, clearly establish a second track, AA11A.
In a separate, but related action, the National Archives (NARA) has filed a mandatory declassification review with the Department of Defense to release the infrared impact times recorded by the Defense Special Missile and Astronomics Center (DEFSMAC). The National Security Agency has the action. No response is anticipated soon.
Based on both the AA11A track and the infrared data, John Farmer’s radar team will make an assessment of the impact time for AA11. I am a participant in that analytical process.
MidEX Flight 7. The story of Midwest Express, Flight 7, forms the basis of Lynn Spencer’s account of UA175 in her book Touching History. Darlow Smithson Productions asked me to provide related air traffic control files for use in their September 11, 2012 special, “9/11: Voices From the Air.” There are no supporting audio files that relate Midex 7 to UA 175, as told by Spencer.
The MidEx 7 story is interesting, but does not correlate directly to UA175. At the time UA 175 impacted, MidEX 7 was still over New Jersey. Its path twice crossed that of UA175, but well before the impact time and well separated in both time and distance.
The Andrews Story. The Washington Post told the Heather Penney story in a two-part series on Sep 8, 2011, and Sep 14, 2011, furthering the notion that the Andrews fighters actively participated in the hunt for United 93 on 9/11. Air traffic control communications from Andrews Air Force Base Tower, and Reagan National Airport traffic control are explicit that the Andrews fighters participation was in the aftermath; thye had no target and were not part of the battle.
The August 6, 2001 PDB.
The August 6, 2001, President’s Daily Brief (PDB) did not become actionable in the Intelligence Community (IC) for a very specific reason. The companion August 7, 2001, Senior Executive Intelligence Brief (SEIB), distributed to a wider senior audience than the PDB, did not have IC concurrence. That non-concurrence is explicitly stated in the logs of the Team Chief, Duty Director for Intelligence (DDI), and Terrorism Desk, National Military Intelligence Center (NMIC, now NMJIC).
The SEIB item did not contain the law enforcement information included in the PDB. Specifically, the Defense Intelligence Agency non-concurred because the intelligence information was old and the title of the PDB/SEIB article was not supported by the intelligence information. The same title was used for both the PDB and SEIB articles.
I was the action officer for the analysis of the SEIB articles while on the staff of the Congressional Joint Inquiry.
United Airlines Flight 175, Mode 3 code changes 3020 and 3321.
The transponder code for UA 175 was changed to 3020 at the same time that AA 11 impacted the World Trade Center, North Tower. That single code change was sufficient to make UA 175 a Mode 3/Mode C intruder in the national airspace system. It had become a new plane separate from UA 175.
Air traffic controllers are familiar with intruders and the standard procedure is to ask the pilot to recycle his transponder; except UA 175 did not respond to the request. By that time the transponder code had changed a second time, to 3321, a minute after the first change.
There was no tactical reason to make a second change, yet it happened. We will likely never know why, but there is an interesting story that has the ring of truth.
AA 77 Radar Story.
The false flag theorist, Paul Schreyer, has made an assessment of the radar sort box issue that occurred in Indianapolis Center (ZID) airspace on 9/11. The issue is of long standing; not new now, and not new to FAA before 9/11. The net result of algorithms in place at the time was that AA77 did not display on relevant scopes at ZID when the transponder on AA77 was turned off. Lacking situational awareness, ZID determined the plane to be lost and reported that loss to its higher headquarters, Great Lakes Region, and to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.
That is what happened. Schreyer, however, is not content to let the facts speak for themselves. He makes unwarranted and unsupported speculations that suggest the fact of the radar sort box issue was fed to the terrorist hijackers by unspecified knowledgeable government sources. Therefore, the hijackers knew precisely where to turn the transponder off and turn the plane back towards the nation’s capital.
Such speculation, of course, supports the work of false flag theorists and becomes yet another false data point that they can meticulously cite and footnote. The speculation has no connection to reality.
The Status of 9/11 Research
It is time to take stock of what is in the public domain and what is not. Historians, especially, need a guide that explains what is missing, what to look for, and where to look in the out years. I will provide any insight I can to facilitate future research.
That concludes the current update. Below are previous updates that may be of interest to some.
Updated Sep 16, 2011
Completed a review of the draft Team 8 “Audio Monograph” recently published by the Rutgers Law Review. My thanks to the Rutgers students who came to my home office to complete the transcription of the embedded audio recordings. I’d forgotten what a near all-nighter meant. The Monograph could not have been published with0ut the help of the students.
Three parts of the story of 9-11 from the perspective of Major Nasypany have been posted. I am working on Part IV beginning with Nasypany hearing for the first time about Delta 1989
Finalizing presentation “9-11; It Was Chaos Out There” for the Air Force Symposium on Nov 17-18 of this year. I am on a panel with John Farmer and General Arnold
Attending a Team 8 reunion, today, to catch up on Team news and activities
Began work on a fine-grained analysis of the Andrews Story to put the recent Washington Post articles about Major Heather Penney in perspective. Hers is a remarkable personal story of heroism in the face of the chaotic unknown. Ths project is a complex undertaking, involving radar analysis, review of NEADS tapes, review of air traffic control tapes, and review of tapes from the Herndon Center. A recently released, staff-derived transcript of the NMCC’s Air Threat Conference will also be considered. United flight 93 is a critical piece of the story and I will review that information in the context of the Andrews Story.
Updated Apr 24, 2011
This update aligns this page with reality. I accomplished three of the four tasks listed in the previous update: Vigilant Guardian, NSA Critic release, and the Herndon open line to FAA Headquarters. I continue to work on chaos theory as an overarching construct.
I have four new tasks on my plate. First, I am supporting other researchers and authors as they accomplish their own work. To that end I’ve created new pages for quotes of interest and for audio clips of interest.
Second, I have been invited to be a panelist at an Air Force-sponsored biennial symposium to be held on November 17-18, 2011. The theme is Air Power and Global Operations: 9/11 and Bey0nd. The working title for my paper and presentation is “9-11: It Was Chaos Out There.” Preparation for that symposium will constitute my primary effort in the days ahead.
Third, I will work on the stories of two intervening variables that need to be put in context. One is the E-3 AWACS story as it affected NEADS. The NEADS MCC/T log is inaccurate when compared to the primary source information and that needs to be clarified. The other is a specific example of disruptive feedback into the system across all echelons in FAA, NEADS, and, likely, the national level. That is the story of the Attorney General, November 4 (also N4 and Nan 4), as he forced the system to accomodate his return to DC under fighter escort.
Fourth, I will again tell the story of 9-11 from yet another perspective. Previously, I have told that story as a battle in a larger war on terror, as reflected in the Moussaoui trial concerning Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and as illustrated using the language of chaos theory. The fourth telling will focus specifically on the voice of the one person through or to whom every aspect of the battle that morning flowed, Major Kevin Nasypany, the Mission Crew Commander, Northeast Air Defense Sector.
Updated Nov 25, 2010
I have four primary tasks. They are:
Vigilant Guardian. I am sifting through the extensive audio files in the .wav DoD delivery to the Commission, one day at a time, beginning with Sep 3, 2010. I have posted articles covering up through Sep 7 and am currently about half way through Sep 8 using Itunes and my Apple laptop. I will finish Sep 8 sometime in early December when I again have access to Adobe Audition to upload the key conversations.
NSA Critic release. I have a first draft of an article completed to put the recent National Security Agency release of its 9-11 CRITICS and ancillary material. The important point is that NSA did not, not, release an original CRITIC, it simply retransmitted what it received from NORAD. What NSA did do was provide its summary of the NOIWON conference. I will correlate the two–CRITIC and NOIWON–in a way that makes sense. (DONE)
National Level Descent into Chaos. I am working on an article that places into perspective the actions at the national level after UA 93 crashed.
Herndon-FAA Open Line. I have the third hour of audio files (1015-1115 EDT). There are multiple items of interest in this file, including primary source evidence that NORAD/NMCC was not of the FAA net. The file identifies three things of interest that FAA passed up the chain-of-command: approach of UA 93; what to do with international flights; and fighter escort support for Air Force One. (DONE)
Other items in the queue. I still need to complete the UA93 and AA77 stories that are partially complete. I will also work on the hunt for AA11 and the UA175 story as I find time.