-Caveat Lector-
MONDAY
DECEMBER 13
1999
THE DOWNING OF FLIGHT 800
New evidence
of missile attack
Metal plume seen emerging
from side of doomed airliner
By David M. Bresnahan
� 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
New evidence from radar data and analysis on
the crash of TWA Flight 800 is "as convincing
as a fingerprint in a murder case" that a missile,
according to an independent investigator
brought down the plane.
Radar images only recently available and
analyzed by Ret. Naval Cmdr. William
Donaldson show what he describes as a plume
of metal debris coming from the right side of
TWA flight 800 at a very high rate of speed.
"Only a missile
body, with its
hundreds of
thousands of foot
pounds of kinetic
energy would
have the inertia to
perform this way
on radar,"
Donaldson
explained in a
report sent to
Duncan's
committee
Wednesday.
Donaldson claims
the evidence is
now irrefutable
that a missile is
responsible for
the downing of
TWA flight 800.
He also claims
that the FBI, CIA,
and the National
Transportation
Safety Board have known about this evidence
from the beginning.
Donaldson received help with the analysis of
the recently acquired radar data from a
member of the U.S. Air Force weapons
guidance systems division. That source, who
asked to remain anonymous because of fears of
reprisals from Air Force officials, agrees with
the conclusions of Donaldson.
Radar sends a signal out which is reflected off
any object it hits and comes back. Each sweep
of the radar creates a new echo, or image on the
screen. The time between sweeps is 4.69
seconds, according to Donaldson.
"The one thing that you're going to focus in on
tightly when you look at the radar is the sweep
after the initial breakup of the aircraft. If it's hit
by a weapon, you're going to have metal pieces
going in the direction that the weapon hit the
airplane. No matter if it's an anti-aircraft shell
or a missile," explained Donaldson.
In the event of a missile strike to a large
commercial aircraft, the extremely high speed
of the missile would carry the warhead right
through the plane "almost like it's not even
there," said the Air Force source.
"I can't over emphasize this point. This is not
theory, not speculation, but hard physical
evidence," Donaldson told Rep. John Duncan,
R- Tenn., in a recent report to the
Subcommittee on Aviation. Duncan has not yet
replied and could not be reached over the
weekend.
TWA flight 800 crashed off Long Island, New
York July 17, 1996 and the investigation has
been one of controversy ever since. The FBI
and National Transportation Safety Board have
ruled out the possibility of a missile or bomb
as the cause of the crash, but Donaldson insists
they are ignoring or covering up the facts.
Donaldson is the chairman of the Associated
Retired Aviation Professionals, formed in early
1997. Its members are former military, civilian,
and aviation professionals who organized to
independently investigate the downing of
TWA Flight 800. Donaldson has many years of
aviation and investigation experience, as do
many of the members of his organization.
Donaldson has testified before Congress, and
continues to pursue evidence and witnesses.
WorldNetDaily learned the FBI had been given
preliminary information immediately after
TWA flight 800 went down from the same Air
Force office. Even at that time, the Air Force
advised the FBI to look for missile debris on
radar. They even told the FBI where to look in
the water for the debris.
"They (the Air Force) told the FBI that in order
to find the missile body, you go to the radar
and you look at the first sweep where you see
the aircraft in trouble. If there's anything
displaced laterally, take a look and get the
ballistic line of that and when you search for
the missile body it's going to be on that line
when it hits the water," Donaldson explained.
The Air Force told the FBI that the missile body
would be in the water between 1 and 3
kilometers beyond the track of the aircraft, if it
were a shoulder-fired weapon, according to the
Air Force officer.
"What you're describing is exactly what we
told the FBI," he said. He didn't think the FBI
agents recognized the importance of what was
told them at the time because they didn't
appear to show any interest in looking for a
missile.
WorldNetDaily previously reported the
discovery of secret FBI documents that
revealed a search was made for missile parts.
The captain of a scallop trawler used in the
search operation made known that a part was
found and the FBI very abruptly called off the
secret search.
A number of private boats were used with FBI
agents on board. Each captain was given a
document describing items the FBI was
looking for. A copy of the document was made
available to WorldNetDaily. The items on the
list were parts from a small surface to air
missile that can be fired from a shoulder
launch device.
The FBI has refused to comment on the
document.
The radar data not only seems to verify
Donaldson's theory, but it also supports
accusations of a deliberate cover-up of the
facts. Donaldson will present his evidence
today at a press conference at the Surveillance
Expo in Crystal City, Md.
"To me that's as good as any fingerprint would
ever be in any kind of a mystery case. That
takes away any doubt. It is (an) extremely high
probability that is the actual missile body. I
mean, how do you get a piece of metal to go
that far -- half a nautical mile -- in seven
seconds? There is no way. You're not going to
get that amount of displacement in that amount
of time (unless it is a missile)," described
Donaldson in a phone interview from his home
over the weekend.
Donaldson believes that just after the final
transponder signal from TWA Flight 800 was
received, the plane was hit by a missile. The
loss of a transponder signal indicates that the
plane lost power. The next radar contact shows
debris to the side of the plane, which
Donaldson claims is an indication that a high
velocity projectile went right through the plane
at that point.
Each sweep of the radar shows a radar echo for
that moment only. There are 4.69 seconds
between sweeps. Each radar contact upon
successive sweeps shows the debris rapidly
moving away from the side of the plane at a
very high velocity.
Although the missile does not appear on the
radar prior to hitting the plane, Donaldson said
that is not unusual. It travels so fast that there
were only one or two radar sweeps before it
hit, and a missile is configured in such a way
that it does not reflect radar very well. The
jagged pieces of the missile exiting the plane
are better radar reflectors and would show up
more easily, according to Donaldson.
Some of the parts were blown as far as 3,200-ft.
by the second sweep, in less than 9.4 seconds
but more than 4.69 seconds. By measuring the
course of the ejected material and back tracking
to its intersection with the aircraft's track, the
time of the explosive event can be calculated.
The missile debris exited the plane and
covered 3,200 ft. in 7 seconds, according to
Donaldson.
"It's just like a murder detective in a shooting
in an apartment. He'll stick a pencil in the
bullet holes in the wall to see the angle the
bullet entered the wall. You do the same thing
here and it's pointing right back at a boat that
was in range of a shoulder fired missile," said
Donaldson.
"There's just no way that metal could be where
it shows up unless it was hit by a missile," he
added.
The radar blip showing a "suspicious boat"
raises an important question about the
possibility of a deliberate attempt by the FBI to
cover up evidence, according to Donaldson.
The FBI provided a written report to Congress
in which it claimed that all boats on the surface
of the water had been identified except for one
which was 2.9 nautical miles to the southeast of
the plane. That would imply the FBI knows the
identification of the "suspicious boat," because
it was located 2.9 nautical miles to the
northeast.
"If that statement is true, the FBI is guilty of
withholding the existence and the identity of
critical material witnesses from the interested
parties, the Congress, and the people," accused
Donaldson.
He also accused the FBI of discrediting nearly
100 witnesses who claimed to see a flare streak
through the sky and hit TWA Flight 800. The
FBI says those witnesses are all in error and
what they really saw was the plane explode
and come crashing down.
The FBI claims there were no witnesses closer
than 10 nautical miles, but one witness was in
the air less than 5 miles away, and Donaldson
has interviewed 8 witnesses who were within 8
nautical miles.
"Navy Chief Petty Officer Dwight Brumley was
on U.S. Air Flight 217 seated in seat 5F at the
window on the right side of the aircraft. He saw
a streak of light overtaking his aircraft from
right to left. As he lost sight of the streak
underneath his aircraft he saw a large fireball
emerge from underneath his aircraft going
from his left to his right. He then lost sight of
the fireball as it disappeared underneath the
right wing.
"This witness disproves the CIA and NTSB
theory that the streak seen by eyewitnesses was
the aircraft climbing and burning after an initial
explosion. He clearly saw a streak coming from
his right to left and TWA Flight 800 was
coming from his left to his right," explained
Donaldson.
Witnesses are not the only ones who have been
discredited, according to Donaldson. Boeing,
the maker of the plane, refuses to give in to
demands from the NTSB to declare their own
plane as being defective.
Boeing, the nation's second-largest defense
contractor, recently filed court documents in a
case involving some family members of
passengers on TWA Flight 800.
"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. Unless and until such
time as a cause is determined, ignition sources
external to the aircraft -- of any type -- cannot
be ruled out," said Boeing in the statement.
Boeing does not go so far as to claim a missile
brought down the plane, but they refused to
rule out the possibility. The NTSB has tried to
blame the accident on a mechanical defect for
which Boeing may be held responsible.
The NTSB has promised to wrap up the more
than three-year investigation and release a full
report on their findings early in 2000. The
NTSB has consistently dismissed claims by
Donaldson and others. An NTSB spokesman
previously told WorldNetDaily that
Donaldson has no credibility. An NTSB
spokesman was not available over the
weekend for a comment on the most recent
claims by Donaldson.
David M. Bresnahan is an investigative
journalist for WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/19991213_xex_new_evidence.shtml
Bard
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