RECOVERED HISTORY

THE MYTHOLOGY OF MYTHOLOGIES
TWA 800 revisited

One way to get rid of problem is to declare it a myth. This increasingly
frequent technique is used against uncomfortable speculations and
hypotheses but often is nothing more than a myth itself, an attempt to
spin the story away from doubts and reality.

A case in point is the TWA 800 case from nearly a decade ago. The
official story is that the plane crashed because of a structural
malfunction. But if this is so, then is it not criminal negligence that
so little has been done to correction this alleged malfunction on other
aircraft? And what if this theory is not correct? What if the plane was
brought down accidentally by a Navy test missile or intentionally by a
terrorist? How differently would we view the history of the last few
years?

As usual in these matters, the Review offers no solution to the mystery
but only insists the case remains unsolved.

1997

THE NEW YORK POST reports that "more than 150 'credible' witnesses --
including scientists -- have told the FBI and military experts they saw
a missile destroy TWA Flight 800." Says one top federal official, "Some
of these people are extremely, extremely credible. " The Post story is
at odds with one five days earlier in the New York Times headed,
"Conspiracy Theories Rife on Demise of Flight 800."

IMPORTANT RADAR TAPES are given to the White House before that are
provided the National Transportation Safety Board The FBI assumes roles
normally carried out by the NTSB . The FBI has also gags an Air National
Guardsman who witnessed the explosion of TWA 800 and repeatedly told
authorities he thought a missile had hit the plane.

AVIATION WEEK AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY reports that two Air National Guard
pilots, "with the best view of the crash of TWA Flight 800" both believe
a violent explosion tore the plane apart "propelling some of its
passenger high enough that they did not hit the water's surface until
3-4 minutes after the initial explosion.

1998

PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - Although much of the media is acting as though the
case is just about closed, in military circles the crash of TWA 800 is
still attracting serious concern. For example, a group of retired Navy
officials, led by former Chief of Staff Thomas Moorer, held a news
conference to question the official findings and to suggest that the
most likely cause of the crash was a missile explosion outside the
aircraft's forward cabin. Admiral Moorer is a missile expert. . .
Meanwhile, Col. David Hackworth's newsletter raises a number of critical
matters:

Over 150 persons saw a streak of light heading for the plane before it
exploded. These included two airline pilots, and two National Guard
pilots, one of whom has stated that "I saw what I swear to God was
military ordinance explode." . . . After the crash, President Clinton
issued an executive order denying whistleblower protection to Navy
divers. The FBI washed off recovered debris with high pressure hoses
before examining for explosive residue. . .

1999

SEATTLE TIMES: Boeing said this week that the lack of evidence as to
what sparked the blast that downed TWA Flight 800 three years ago points
to an "external source," such as a bomb or missile. Boeing's statement
in court documents Tuesday is the strongest to date revealing an
aggressive legal defense that blames the 747 crash on a bomb or missile
- which the FBI and National Transportation Safety Board long ago ruled
out. "That the NTSB in over three years of exhaustive investigation has
been unable to identify any potential ignition source aboard the
aircraft suggests that an external source caused the explosion," Boeing
said. "Unless and until such time as a cause is determined, ignition
sources external to the aircraft - of any type - cannot be ruled out."

AGENCE FRANCE PRESS: Two groups that claim a missile brought down TWA
Flight 800 in July 1996 said Friday that just-released radar data
showing an unidentified ship near the blast back their theory .... The
data, obtained in June from the National Transportation Safety Board,
show many ships in the area, including one five kilometers from where
the plane went down. "There were 30 surface vessels in the area. Only
one, the closest, has not been identified," Tom Stalcup, the director of
the Flight 800 Independent Research Organization, told a press
conference.

ROBERT DAVEY, VILLAGE VOICE: As the investigation's third anniversary
passes, the [TWA 800] mystery is deepening. A few months ago, a retired
army officer bearing impressive credentials approached the Voice as an
intermediary for a missile expert with a story to tell. This expert is
extremely fearful of losing his job -- for more than 20 years he's been
a military engineer who specializes in infrared missile technology.
Assured of anonymity, he submitted to lengthy interviews by telephone
and e-mail, detailing why he believes the investigation of TWA Flight
800 is a cover-up . . . Prior to the official embrace of this
mechanical explanation, the missile expert was among several scientists
invited by FBI agents to explore the missile theory. He was made privy
to evidence suggesting that TWA 800 could have been shot down,
consisting of eyewitness accounts of a "flare-like object" shooting
skyward moments before the plane exploded. Later he examined the debris
in the Calverton hangar. The missile expert has also been in contact
with military labs where, he says, the chemists have been unable to make
jet fuel vapor explode as the NTSB says it did in TWA 800's center fuel
tank. "The labs told the NTSB there's a big problem -- it can't happen."
The NTSB wouldn't listen. He says, "They were adamant that [the labs]
had to find something." The evidence adds up, the missile expert
believes, to a "70 percent chance" that TWA 800 was downed by a
shoulder-launched missile.

PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - The latest developments in the TWA 800 case
indicate that for some period of time, the FBI, CIA and BATF had
dramatically different views of what happened in the crash. The FBI is
now being blamed for not having quickly accepted the view prescribed by
the CIA, BATF, NTSB and much of the media, namely that the crash was due
to structural faults, pursuing instead the still highly likely
possibility that the plane was brought down by a missile. . .

PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - Regarding the TWA 800 mystery, are some key points
to keep in mind:

-- Major media outlets such as The Washington Post and New York Times
have long attempted to squash any consideration of a missile attack. The
Times early went after such a possibility as the fantasy of conspiracy
theorists, even though it is now known that among those considering such
a possibility were the FBI and the plane's manufacturer. The Post and
Times coverage has been counter-journalistic, aimed at suppressing
doubts about the investigation.

-- There is at least reasonable evidence to support the theory that the
plane was brought down by a hand-held missile known as a MANPADS. The
main proponent of this theory -- which was also apparently held by the
FBI until it caved to the government consensus -- is a retired Navy
Commander, William S. Donaldson, who has collected an impressive array
of facts challenging the official explanation.

-- Key to Donaldson's theory are the eyewitness accounts of over 100
persons who saw a streak of light moving towards the plane before it
crashed. These witnesses have been discounted, ignored, and ridiculed by
law enforcement and the media.

-- The highly anti-FBI story was broken by the CIA-cozy Washington Post,
which suggested that the FBI's failure to accept the view of the agency,
the ATF, and the NTSB had delayed needed repairs to the 747s' central
fuel tank. The article ended with this gratuitous scolding: "Under
Director Louis J. Freeh, the FBI has been trying to change its image as
the playground bully of law enforcement, but the TWA probe is unlikely
to enhance its reputation for getting along with other agencies."

Here is just some of what Commander Donaldson has charged:

-- "We can provide testimony that immediately after Flight 800 was shot
down, Mr. Clinton called an FBI command post supporting the Olympics and
informed them Flight 800 was downed with shoulder-fired missiles."

-- "The White House, the CIA and the FBI political leadership have waged
an unrelenting disinformation campaign from the onset. This has ranged
from the White House spokesman stating, 'Anyone in government that says
this was a missile only has half a brain,' and to the CIA cartoon that
libeled hundreds of eyewitnesses."

-- "We have access to 107 witnesses on 4 aircraft, 19 boats, and 31
locations ashore. They were located in a 360° circle around the missile
engagement. Their live testimony alone will prove the aircraft was shot
down."

-- "In December 1996, FBI missile team members told military experts
that two separate commercial fishermen dredged up and threw back a
MANPADS first stage, the missile ejector-motor can. The ejector motor,
about the size of a Coke can, fires in the tube, ejecting the missile,
then drops in the water when the missile 2nd stage booster ignites."

-- "The $5 million trawling operation was funded by NTSB, contracted to
civilian scallop boats through the Navy Supervisor of Salvage from 4
November 1996 until it was suddenly terminated on 30 April 1997. The
trawlers were manned 24 hours a day by teams of FBI agents. Up until 30
April 1997 the scallop boat captains had been told the operation would
continue indefinitely for months or even years. FBI agents got the word
via cell phone to shut down the operations. On two of the boats, when
the captains refused to stop until the Navy contractor on board told
them to, the agents threatened force to make the captains shut down. The
first agent backed down when the captain told him he would go anywhere
at gunpoint, but the agent could expect to be charged with piracy on the
high seas when they got ashore. The second agent backed down when the
captain informed him that he was armed also and he was the captain and
they weren't going anywhere."

PROGRESSIVE REVIEW: CONSPIRACY THEORISTS AT TWA, BOEING. . .At least
that is what Newsweek seemed to imply in a story that began, "Conspiracy
theorists who still believe that TWA Flight 800 was shot down by a
missile will get a boost when statements of more than 400 eyewitnesses
collected by the FBI after the crash are released. . . ." Newsweek then
proceeds to buy into the CIA's dubious theory that all four hundred were
victims of an optical illusion but then ends by saying "lawyers for TWA
and Boeing, anticipating the accounts' release, have told the court
handling lawsuits against them that they cannot rule out the possibility
of a missile." You've got to watch out for those conspiracy theorists.
They're all over the place.

2000

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE: An independent panel of experts on Monday
lambasted the results of an official investigation into the 1996 fatal
TWA Flight 800 crash, and maintained its theory the plane was downed by
a missile. According to the Flight 800 Independent Research
Organization, the official investigators had concealed crucial pieces of
information from a final report to be presented Tuesday and Wednesday .
. . Many former investigators, military experts, and airline pilots
continue to insist the Boeing was shot down by a missile. . . NTSB
investigators have explained that bystanders may have been looking at an
arc of fire in the sky that occurred after the airplane broke in two and
a part of the fuselage was briefly hurtled into the sky in flames. The
FBI initially tried to probe the missile theory, but later abandoned it
and withdrew from the investigation altogether in the fall of 1997.

JOE BRANCATELLI, BIZ TRAVEL: A day after the downing of TWA 800 four
years ago this week, an executive of an international airline invited me
to lunch. From the moment I slid into the banquette at his stodgy
private club, I knew this was going to be a different kind of lunch
altogether. "What's your take on TWA 800?" he asked before I could
settle in . . .

"Well," I stammered. "There's no 'good' news here. If it was a missile,
there's gonna be hell to pay. If it was terrorism, the recriminations
and the security measures will be positively fascist. And if it was
mechanical, it was catastrophic failure like we've never seen before."

"It was a missile," the executive said evenly. "Friendly fire. We kept
telling the military this would happen one day. And the bastards just
kept doing it and doing it. And now hundreds of people are dead" . . .

2001

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC: There are facilities in the White House, not
the normal situation room, which everyone has seen in the past, has seen
pictures of. There is a second situation room, behind the primary
situation room, which has video conferencing capabilities. The director
of the Pentagon, the defense chief, can speak from a national military
command center at the Pentagon. The Secretary of State can speak from
the State Department, the President from wherever he is, and they'll
have this capability for video conferencing throughout this crisis. In
my time at the White House it was used in the aftermath of the Oklahoma
City bombing, in the aftermath of the TWA Flight 800 bombing, and that
would be the way they would stay in contact through the afternoon."

FORMER FBI INVESTIGATOR JAMES KALSTROM on TV: This is the first time
since TWA 800 [referring to the WTC attack]

BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC: Do you think the US is still under the threat of
terrorist hijackings, of aircraft being used as flying bombs? With your
knowledge of the terrorism business, do you think they won't just move
on to another mode of delivering terror? . . . ISAAC YEFFET, FORMER
DIRECTOR OF SECURITY FOR EL-AL AIRLINES: We thought in the past, in the
'70's, that what happened with the US air carriers, this would be the
end of the terrorist attack. Look what happened since Lockerbie, Pan Am
103? What happened to TWA 800? Look now what happened. Who can guarantee
us that the terrorists will decide no more attacks in the US, unless
somebody will tell me that we took control over the terrorist
organizations and we let them know that here, they cannot come."

JAMES SANDERS, WORLDNET DAILY: In the last few weeks several political
insiders have forgotten themselves and referred to TWA Flight 800, the
airliner, which exploded in July of 1996 just east of New York City, as
a terrorist incident. But only one has done it twice. That person is
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Appearing on "Larry King Live" on
Sept. 11 of this year, Kerry suggested that TWA Flight 800 was brought
down by a terrorist act. The second admission took place on Sept. 24 on
"Hardball" with Chris Matthews. On this occasion, Kerry casually recited
a number of terrorist attacks against the United States, among them TWA
"Flight 800." . . .

2004

NICK WELSH, INDEPENDENT - In his book [journalist Peter] Lance claims
that in 1996, high-ranking FBI and Justice Department officials turned a
deliberate blind eye on documentary evidence provided by a high-ranking
mob snitch that a key Al Qaeda terrorist, Ramzi Yousef, behind bars for
the original bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, was actively
plotting to blow up what turned out to be TWA Flight 800, which exploded
13,000 feet in the air above Long Island in the summer of 1996, killing
all 230 passengers and crewmembers on board. After a 16-month
investigation, the FBI blamed that tragedy on mechanical failure. Given
that Yousef's uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was one of the masterminds
behind the September 11 plot, Lance contends the FBI blew yet another
golden opportunity to prevent 9/11 from ever occurring. . . When the TWA
Flight 800 blew up, investigators found trace explosives favored by
Yousef on the plane, but rejected sabotage as a cause in favor of
mechanical failure. Lance suggests that decision was based solely on
political considerations rather than the forensic evidence. . .

NEWSMAX - The 9/11 Commission rejected evidence that al-Qaida may have
played a role in the 1996 downing of TWA Flight 800, investigative
reporter Peter Lance claims. . . Documents uncovered by the former
network news reporter show that weeks before TWA Flight 800 exploded off
the coast of Long Island, Ramzi Yousef - mastermind of the 1993 World
Trade Center bomb plot and the author of the blueprint for the 9/11
attacks - warned the FBI he was preparing to blow up a U.S. airliner.
"They had an informant in a federal prison cell in lower Manhattan who'd
been passing notes to the FBI from Ramzi Yousef," Lance told Batchelor.

2005

REUTERS - After the TWA crash, the NTSB urged the Federal Aviation
Administration to order airlines to immediately change operating
procedures to cut the chance of the tanks exploding as well as require
aircraft design changes, which would take longer. While the acting NTSB
chairman, Mark Rosenker, said fuel tank explosions were "rare events,"
he pressed the FAA to stop dragging its feet, particularly since the
agency said early in 2004 it was close to proposing design changes. . .
[This is nearly nine years after the incident]
For the record

Here is part of a statement issued November 18 by Boeing on the FBI's
TWA 800 investigation:

"The FBI's assessment that it has not found any criminal evidence in the
investigation of the loss of TWA Flight 800 does not change the role of
the Boeing Company in the continuing effort to determine the cause of
this tragedy . . . Boeing provided information about the design,
operation and performance of the 747 to the FBI throughout their
criminal investigation. However, Boeing was not involved in the
production of the video shown today, nor have we had the opportunity to
obtain a copy or fully understand the date used to create it. While we
provided basic aerodynamic information to assist in the CIA's analysis
of the airplane's performance, we are not aware of the data that was
used to develop the video. The video's explanation of the eyewitness
observations can be best assessed by the eyewitnesses themselves. Since
the beginning of the investigation, Boeing had never subscribed to any
one theory. . . ."

PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - There is also the problem that the FBI's
description of what TWA 800 witnesses saw conflicts with what they said
they saw. While it is possible that some of more than 150 witnesses
mistook the meaning of what appeared to be the trail of an object that
eventually ended in an explosion, the wide spacing of these witnesses
alone militates against them all suffering the same illusion. Here are
some of the early news and witness reports:

Several witnesses . . . saw a bright, flare-like object streaking
towards the jumbo jet seconds before it blew up (Washington Times
7/24/96)

"We saw what appeared to be a flare going straight up. As a matter fact,
we thought it was from a boat. It was a bright reddish-orange color.
Once it went into flames, I knew that it wasn't a flare." (Lou Desyron
on ABC 7/21/96)

"It looked like a big skyrocket going up, and it kept going up and up,
and the next thing I knew there was an orange ball of fire." (New York
Daily News 11/09/96)

"Victor Fehner wondered who was shooting flares in the sky . . .Then he
saw a flash overhead and watched a fireball that grew larger and larger.
(St Louis Post-Dispatch 7/1/8/96)

AND IT WASN'T JUST amateurs who saw the phenomena. For example, two
helicopter pilots also witnessed the streak, described initially by one
as a missile and later as a shooting star. The other pilot, still
employed by the government, has been barred from elaborating on the
matter.