Conspiracy v. fact 9/11

[tomk52]

63. Depends on what the word "survive" means...

Last edited Fri Apr 5, 2013, 05:59 AM - Edit history (1)

If you mean "will fires ignite it?", then the answer is "possibly, but not for certain". Takes a high temp to ignite. The igniters are hi temp (magnesium powder, IIRC). Grab a sparkler, put the tip (non-igniter) end in a fire, then in a barbecue, & see. I doubt that it'll ignite, but you might find a spot hot enough. Contrary to amateur opinion, fires do not burn at any one temp. They have a wide distribution of temps. You might find a hot spot.

"One experiment is worth 1000 theories."

But "resistance to ignition" is the least of the problems of collapsing columns with thermite. The biggest problem is keeping reacting termite physically in contact with column. (Yeah, I've seen Jon Cole's - really dumb - videos) and timing. The thermite wants to fly in all directions when it ignites. That's why most demos, the thermite cuts downward. Gravity holds it down. Tougher to do when trying to cut sideways.

The timing is impossible. Even if possible, it would take about 20 ±5 seconds (IIRC) for thermite to cut thru a 6" thick column. In order to execute the brain-dead "collapse at free fall speed" Truther delusion, the cutting of the columns would have to be sequenced within about 0.03 seconds. Impossible on its face.

There is a short list of reasons why the whole "thermite" thing is really, really stupid.
1. Despite the ballyhoo, no thermite was ever found in any dust. The people who claim it were incompetent amateurs who had never once performed that sort of analysis before.

2. The real confidence in ANY study comes only after replication by unbiased, independent, competent investigators.
2a) Harrit, Jones, et al have had years to get their results replicated. They've made zero effort to do so.
2b) When another qualified expert (James Millette) replicated tests, the results were conclusive: no thermite.
2c) When asked to share his samples with Millette, Jones & Ryan refused. This is the action of charlatans, not "seekers of the truth".

3. When one has earth-shaking, revolutionary results in ANY field, you bring your results (including absolute transparent disclosure of evidence, test methods, error analyses & any weaknesses you know about your own assertions) to bona fide experts in the explicit field. In other words, you cooperate with those who think that you are wrong. The truth has nothing to fear from being attacked. In fact, competent attack from competent attackers is the quickest way for some theory to be accepted.
You do NOT:
3a. present to college kids or "the public"
3b. present to "truther conventions"
3c. post on YouTube.
3d. create an "us vs. them" environment, and attribute disagreement to prejudice &/or evil
3e. ask amateurs to "decide for themselves"

Origins of thermite claim: From Steven Jones, in order to explain lack of "booms".
Jones' sequence of 'certainty':
"Thermite!"
"Oops, thermate.!"
"Sorry, thermite. For sure!"
"Uhh, nanothermite. Absolutely."
"Ahhh, weapons-grade superthermite. This time for sure."

And now...?
I have heard that he has joined Harrit in the "hundreds of tons of high explosives, with thermite used as fuses" delusion. It's difficult to know for sure, because he has chosen to abandon the whole discussion, and has moved on to "US underwater nuclear detonations have caused Asian tsunamis" garbage.

The "thermite as fuses" is simultaneously hilarious & incompetent, because:
1) thermite will NOT detonate high explosives.
2) after 5 incompetent years, it brings him right back to where he started: unable to explain the lack of "booms", the impetus for this Path of Stupidity in the first place..!!!

Better proofs that [ETA] NO thermite (nor explosives of any sort) were used:
Photos from Ground Zero, which you can examine today.

Look at the ends of the columns. If they were destroyed with explosives or melted with thermite, you'd be able to see that from 20' away with the naked eye. The resolution of these photos is plenty good enough to see the proof.

If melted with thermite, you'd see massive "slumps" of metal, as it transitioned between unmelted, semi-melted, melted steel. There is NOT ONE such end seen.

If cut with explosives or cutter charges, you'd see clear melted & "rubber-banded" (melted, forced in one direction from blast & quick re-solidified) metal. This metal would be unmistakably obvious to anyone experienced in detonations, & 100% provable from the grain structure. There is NOT ONE such end in the photos.

The vast majority of the ends of columns seen are "clean machined surfaces". That means that the connecting bolts snapped in tension. The column itself acted like a 36' long claw hammer, with its claw under the heads of 4 7/8" diameter bolts. Given the weight of those columns, I'd be shocked if the bolts would not fail if you just tilted a single upper column by 10° or so, just under its own weight, with no additional side load.

The remainder of the ends are "distorted machined surfaces", which means that the bolts held a little longer, enough to distort the end plates & tear a few welds, before the bolt heads snapped or the bolts pulled thru the plates.

There are zero melted column ends in the pile.
There are zero high-shear rate, explosive deformed ends in the pile.
Therefore there was zero explosives & zero thermite.

The whole 5 year tail-chase has been one, giant, amateur cluster-fork.

Most specifically not "JMO".
Fact.

Tom