NIST Responds

Over five weeks ago I sent the following e-mail to wtc@nist.gov:

Dear NIST Investigators--

Can you please tell me if you can absolutely rule out the use of pre-planted explosives in the WTC 1 and 2 towers as well as in WTC7 that caused or accelerated their collapse?

Also, could you please tell me if you tested any of the pieces of metal you recovered for traces of explosives?

As you may know, there has been a lot of speculation about the causes of the WTC collapse, and I was hoping if you could help settle the issue.

Thanks very much,XXX

Well they actually finally responded (on a Sunday afternoon for some reason):

Thank you for your interest in the NIST World Trade Center Investigation. NIST’s investigation of the collapse of the World Trade Center towers includes a thorough review of data on the buildings and analysis of plausible collapse scenarios. As part of the investigation, NIST is carefully analyzing thousands of photos and video clips taken from the time of aircraft impact to the time the buildings collapsed. NIST’s efforts also include first-person data collection from survivors, family members who were in touch with victims after the aircraft impacts on the buildings, and first responder emergency personnel. Among the contents of these first person data are observations of the damage conditions in the buildings following the impact of the aircraft. NIST has reviewed this extensive body of visual evidence and first person data collection and has not found any evidence of explosive or incendiary materials in the buildings. NIST has determined that the fuel load that existed in the furnishings and office equipment in the towers was sufficient to sustain the fires that were observed.

Computer modeling performed by NIST and its contractors indicates that a number of support columns were damaged or severed during aircraft impact. NIST has determined that the damaging or severing of columns and other structural members, and the dislodging of spray-applied fire resistant material from many other building structural members as a result of the aircraft impact, rendered those remaining structural members sufficiently susceptible to heating by the fires to account for the building collapse.

NIST issued a June 2004 progress report on its federal building and fire safety investigation into the WTC disaster and information on this update is available on the WTC investigation web site at http://wtc.nist.gov. Also available on the web site are the presentations from the fifth National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee meeting that was held on October 19 and 20, 2004.

The NIST World Trade Center Investigation web site is a good source of information about the investigation. Updates on the progress of the investigation and published technical reports that result from the work being conducted are available through the web site.

WTC Administrative Support Team

See? They have found no evidence of explosives!

That settles that!

Ha ha, just kidding.

Note-- they didn't say if they actually tested for explosives.