The NIST World Trade Center Report: A New Standard for Deception

1. The NIST World Trade Center Report:A New Standard for Deception Kevin Ryan 911 Truth Conference: Revealing the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future Chicago, IL June 4, 2006

2. Introduction • I’m a former manager at Underwriters Laboratories (UL), fired for publicly questioning the October 2004 draft NIST WTC report • NIST* is a government agency, reporting to Bush cabinet member Gutierrez (Commerce). The director of NIST is also a Presidential appointee • NIST’s WTC report is a product of the Bush Administration (i.e. Bush Science) *National Institute of Standards and Technology

3. “Bush Science” • The Bush Administration has been “deliberately and systematically distorting scientific fact in the service of policy goals” Open letter from 60 prominent scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates • “We found a serious pattern of undermining science by the Bush Administration” Union of Concerned Scientists • “[We] found numerous instances where the Administration has manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings” House Committee on Government Reform

4. Important WTC collapse considerations • No tall buildings have ever collapsed from fire, but on 9/11, we’re told there were three • No building exhibiting all the characteristics of demolition has ever NOT been a demolition • 99.7% of steel evidence destroyed despite outraged cries from public and fire experts • More than a year passed before full investigation began

5. Demo remembers • The collapse of the WTC towers looked like a classic controlled demolition, said Mike Taylor of the National Association of Demolition Contractors, “It cascaded down like an implosion” • “It appeared to me that charges had been placed in the building” -- Ronald Hamburger, structural engineer and contributor to FEMA and NIST reports • Official investigations never considered demolition

6. Early support for the official story • “Experts” said jet fuel fires melted the steel • BBC (Chris Wise, etc.) • Scientific American (Eduardo Kausel) • NOVA video (Matthys Levy) • Henry Koffman from USC • Tom Mackin from Univ. of Illinois • The New Scientist • Temperatures exaggerated • National Geographic Today - 2,900 F • A&E /History Channel video – 2500 F

7. Jet fuel fires melted steel? • Steel melts at ~2800 F • Jet fuel fires burn at maximum of ~1500 F unless in special combustion chamber • Gas temps are not steel temps • Thermodynamic calculations suggest steel temperatures in impact zones could have reached maximum of 600 F

8. Where are the real experts? • Our nation’s air defenses don’t stand down • Terrorists don’t come back to life after stealing our freedoms • Tall buildings do not collapse from fire • Because these are unique events, there are no experts on these subjects

9. But there is always an official explanation for terrorist events • Disturbing questions about the OKC Murrah Building bombing • Survivors reported multiple explosions • Many media reports and witness accounts of un-detonated bombs left in building • FBI confiscated videos and would not release them • Experts said demolition charges required • Official story stuck with one guy, one truck bomb • Small group of engineers provided report

10. Official “investigations” into the collapse of the WTC buildings • ASCE • FEMA BPAT • Turned ASCE investigation into an “assessment” • Report released May 2002 • Silverstein/Weidlinger • report released October 2002 • NIST • report released September 2005

11. Initial ASCE team leaders (9/14/01) Gene Corley Charles Thornton Paul Mlakar Mete Sozen Other volunteers OKC Murrah building report authors Gene Corley Charles Thornton Paul Mlakar Mete Sozen ASCE Team = Murrah Building Team ASCE says there are 1.5 million US engineers. Why so few when it comes to terrorism?

12. Pre-determined conclusions • Gene Corley -- knew once the jets hit the building that the WTC would collapse as it did, “I just didn’t know when it was going to happen”, said Corley (reported by St. Petersburg Times) • Charles Thornton -- "Karl, we all know what caused the collapse." (From Karl Koch’s book Men of Steel) • Shankar Nair -- "Already there is near-consensus as to the sequence of events that led to the collapse of the World Trade Center.” (Chicago Tribune September 19, 2001)

13. The first official leaders • Gene Corley in charge of ASCE investigation • NYC put Thornton-Tomasetti in charge of site • Richard Tomasetti (Thornton’s partner) “cleared” the decision to recycle the steel, later saying had he “known the direction that investigations into the disaster would take, he would have adopted a different stance.” Anyone smell a rat?

14. Restrictions on ASCE investigation • No access to blueprints • Not allowed to ask for help from public • Team members threatened with dismissal for speaking to press • No access to steel until first week of October • FEMA obstruction

15. FEMA BPAT • ASCE expanded and was named FEMA BPAT • John Gross, NIST engineer with oil and gas history • Therese McAllister, Greenhorne and O’Mara (G&O) • Other government contractors (Arup, Hughes) • When FEMA took over, $1 million was allocated, but only $100,000 was spent by December • At the same time, Bush was telling us “It costs a lot to fight this war. We have spent more than a billion dollars a month…”

16. By January, it was a half-baked farce • Bill Manning, editor of Fire Engineering magazine, said the “official investigation…is a half-baked farce that may already have been commandeered by political forces whose primary interests, to put it mildly, lie far afield of full disclosure.” • Dick Cheney called Senate leader Tom Daschle and asked him to “limit the scope and overall review of what happened [on 9/11]”, claiming resources would be pulled from the War on Terrorism. President Bush met with Daschle privately and asked him to limit the investigation.

17. Meanwhile • Astaneh-Asl, a lone scientist working on a National Science Foundation study, got access to the steel before the ASCE/FEMA team • “The impact did nothing to this building” (reported by CNN) • “So now we know, the column did not fail, it was a failure of the floor in most cases” (reported by Wired)

18. Who would design a building for plane crashes but forget the jet fuel fires? • Eduardo Kausel – The WTC buildings were designed to withstand Boeing 707 impacts but were “never designed for the massive explosions nor the intense jet fuel fires that came next – a key design omission.” • Loring Knoblauch (CEO of UL) – the jet fuel fires were not “reasonably foreseeable.” • What? How would the planes get to the buildings? Who would really do this?

19. Not the WTC’s design Engineer • Towers designed by John Skilling • Skilling had this to say in 1993 when asked if he considered plane crashes in his design. “Our analysis indicated the biggest problem would be the fact that all the fuel would dump into the building. [But] the building structure would still be there.” City in the Sky, Glanz and Lipton

21. Where’s the fire? Windsor building, Madrid, February 2005 Twin towers shortly after WTC2 hit

22. ASCE / FEMA findings • April 2002 NOVA video by commentators Corley and Thornton • Fireproofing easily blown off • Floors collapsed • Columns buckled outward • May 2002 final FEMA report • “a pancake-type of collapse of successive floors”

23. June 2002 – NIST drafts plan • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Director is Presidential appointee • Repository for national reference standards • First meeting included “Public” comments by • Gene Corley • Richard Tomasetti • Shankar Nair • Other contributors to official reports

24. FEMA authors become NIST authors • FEMA Chapter 1 authors • Therese McAllister: co-wrote NIST report 1-6 and 1-7 • John Gross: co-wrote NIST report 1-6 and 1-7 • Ronald Hamburger: NIST contributor • FEMA Chapter 2 authors • Ronald Hamburger: see above • William Baker: NIST contributor, Freedom tower • Harold Nelson: co-wrote NIST report 1-5 and 1-7 • FEMA chapter 5 authors (WTC 7) • Ramon Gilsanz: co-wrote NIST report 1-6F • Harold Nelson: see above

25. Oct 2002 - Silverstein / Weidlinger report • Corley and Thornton-Tomasetti involved in study to establish Silverstein insurance claim • Report results • No floor failure of any kind • Column failure only • Directly contradicts FEMA report, NOVA video and most other experts (e.g. Astaneh-Asl) • Apparently floor failure would have meant design failure and therefore “one event”

26. They knew from the start what happened? • ”Experts” Towering Inferno • Steel melted • FEMA • Floor failure: “A pancake-type of collapse of successive floors” • Silverstein/Weidlinger • Column failure only • NIST • External column failure from sagging floors and softened core columns ,etc…leading to pile driver collapse (TNRAT – They’ll Never Read All This theory) TNRAT

27. Sudden onset Straight down Nearly free-fall speed Total collapse Sliced steel Pulverization of concrete Dust clouds Horizontal ejections (squibs) Demolition rings Sounds of explosions Pools of molten steel Demo points out characteristics of demolition All supported by photographic evidence and eyewitness testimonies

28. Sept 2005 - The NIST WTC Report • 42 sub-reports and 10,000 pages • Only for Twin Towers • Like others, focused only on political story • Same people as FEMA TNRAT

29. NFPA 921 used?Standard for fire investigation • Sec 6-5: Important to remember that conflict of interest should be avoided • NIST used specialists/contractors who were dependent on government contracts or on the official story itself • Sec 12-4: Unusual residues …could arise from thermite, magnesium or other pyrotechnic materials • NIST report does not mention FEMA’s puzzling sulfur residue

30. Our focus • NIST’s stated goals • Goal 1 – Why and How three buildings collapsed • Goal 3 – What design factors should have prevented this? • NIST’s approach and final story • 5 methods to investigate • 7 steps to collapse

31. NIST’s investigation methods A. Review of documents B. Interviews with eyewitnesses C. Analysis of steel D. Laboratory tests E. Computer Simulations

32. A. NIST’s review of documents • Reports of original design claims? • No, many relevant claims not mentioned • Fire resistance test data (e.g. UL test documents)? • No, documents came up missing • Skilling’s fire resistance analysis? • No, documents missing

33. Original design claims • “The World Trade Center towers would have an inherent capacity to resist unforeseen calamities.” • For the perimeter columns (83% of total columns), “live loads on these columns can be increased more than 2,000% before failure occurs.” • One “could cut away all the first story columns on one side of the building, and partway from the corners of the perpendicular sides, and the building could still withstand design live loads and a 100 mph wind from any direction.” All quotes from Engineering News-Record, 1964

34. A. Were the WTC steel components tested for fire resistance? • NIST said they found no documents, yet states the buildings were rated as Class 1B (3 hours for columns and 2 hours for floors) • Underwriters Laboratories’ CEO -- UL tested the steel to NYC code (meaning 40 years ago) • Port Authority -- “there are no test records in our files” • ASTM E119 is used for testing both steel components and floor assemblies

35. ASTM E119 Time-temperature curve

36. A. UL comments on testing the WTC steel • September 2001 • Loring Knoblauch, UL’s CEO, told staff that UL had certified the steel used in the WTC • November 2003 • I asked Knoblauch in writing about UL’s involvement, and he responded in December confirming details. • “We tested the steel with all the required fireproofing on, and it did beautifully.” • “As we do not do follow-up service on this kind of product, we can give an opinion only on the test sample which was indeed properly coated.” • “We test to the code requirements, and the steel clearly met [the NYC code] requirements and exceeded them.”

37. A. Our “Public Safety Guardian” (UL) lying? • August 2004 • UL performed tests of WTC floor models • Floors barely affected and didn’t collapse • Loring Knoblauch resigned suddenly • October 2004 • NIST report update showed contradictions • November 2004 • My letter to NIST became public • UL quickly backtracked, saying • “No evidence” any firm tested the steel • They played only a “limited” role in investigation

38. B. NIST’s performance on interviews • NIST started planning for eyewitness interviews in April 2003 (7 months after start of investigation, and 19 months after 9/11) • By October, still no NIST interviews and no NIST access to NYC interviews • NYC finally agreed to allow NIST access to original interviews by December 2003 …but only in NYC offices (sound familiar?)

39. B. Eyewitness interviews not used • Paramedic Daniel Rivera – “[Did] you ever see professional demolition where they set the charges on certain floors and then you hear ‘Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop?’…I thought it was that.” • Witness Timothy Burke – “the building popped, lower than the fire…I was going oh, my God, there is a secondary device because the way the building popped. I thought it was an explosion.” • Firefighter Edward Cachia – “It actually gave at a lower floor, not the floor where the plane hit. We originally thought there was like an internal detonation, explosives…” • Assistant Commissioner Stephen Gregory -- “I thought…that I saw low-level flashes…[at] the lower level of the building. You know like when they demolish a building?”

40. B. Eyewitness interviews not used • Firefighter Richard Banaciski – “It seemed like on television [when] they blow up these buildings. It seemed like it was going all around like a belt, all these explosions.” • Deputy Commissioner Thomas Fitzpatrick – “My initial reaction was that this was exactly the way it looks when they show you those implosions on TV.” • Battalion Chief Brian Dixon – “the lowest floor of the fire in the south tower actually looked like someone had planted explosives all around it because…everything blew out on the one floor.” • Firefighter Kenneth Rogers – “there was an explosion in the south tower…I kept watching. Floor after floor after floor. [It] looked like a synchronized deliberate kind of thing.”

41. C. Analysis of steel • Most of the steel evidence destroyed • Tomasetti decision (Thornton’s partner) • 236 samples saved for testing (0.3%) • NIST tests • Paint test indicated low steel temps (480 F ) “despite pre-collapse exposure to fire” • Microstructure test showed no steel reached critical (half-strength) values

42. NIST comments before and After • Before steel temperature analysis (12/02/03) • “Regions of impact and fire damage emphasized in selection of steel pieces.” • After steel temperature analysis (final report) • “None of the samples were from zones where [high] heating was predicted.”

43. D. Laboratory tests • Tests to prove loss of fireproofing? • Fifteen rounds from a shotgun • Workstation burn tests • Gas temperatures, not steel temperatures • Used double the average amount of jet fuel • Used “Over-ventilation” • UL floor model tests evaluated Pancake Theory

44. Pancake Theory • “I could see it in my mind’s eye: The fire burned until the steel was weakened and the floors above collapsed, starting a chain reaction of gravity, floor falling upon floor upon floor, clunk – clunk – clunk, the load gaining weight and momentum by the nanosecond, unstoppable. Once enough floors collapsed, the exterior walls and the core columns were no longer laterally supported and folded in.”-- Karl Koch (from Koch’s book Men of Steel)

45. WTC floor model tests by UL (Aug 2004) • Used less fireproofing than was known to exist in WTC1, and then reduced fireproofing further • Used “maximum load” (i.e. applied doubled the weight known to have been on floors) • Heated floors according to ASTM E119 • Minimal floor sagging • No floor collapse • “The results established that this type of assembly was capable of sustaining a large gravity load, without collapsing, for a substantial period of time relative to the duration of the fires in any given location on September 11th.”

46. NIST comments before and after • Before UL floor tests • “[Tests will] determine the fire rating of typical WTC floor systems under both as-built and specified conditions” • After UL floor tests • “The Investigation Team was cautious about using these results directly in the formulation of collapse hypotheses”

47. E. Computer Simulations • Input parameters could be tweaked • “Realistic” parameters tossed in favor of “More severe” parameters • Animations generated to “compare with observed events”

48. E. NIST’s computer simulated “animations” Does your future depend on these cartoons?

49. NIST’s investigative practices were deceptive and unscientific • Documents needed just happened to be missing • Eyewitnesses to demolition characteristics were ignored • Physical tests that disproved pre-determined conclusions were downplayed or ignored • Entire theory is built on fudged, inaccessible computer simulations TNRAT

50. NIST’s Final, Computer-Based Story 1. The aircraft severed “a number of columns” 2. Loads were redistributed (from -20% to +25%) 3. Insulation (fireproofing) was widely dislodged 4. High temperatures softened columns and floors 5. Some floors began to sag 6. Sagging floors pulled exterior columns inward causing them to buckle 7. Instability spread around entire building “Global collapse ensued”