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Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure what the legitimate national security concern would be for "we accidentally shot down an airliner 26 years ago".
IANAL, far from it, but normally the other party gets emails and other communications. How does that work when everything is classified?
Well, they're - vaguely - claiming to have found a smoking gun in FOIL requests.
Wow, how does discovery work when there are legit natsec concerns?
This is one of those conspiracies that always seemed probably true, based on my cursory examination of the evidence. Or the other way, assume a weapons test went horribly wrong; what would the result be?
I was always curious about how so many witnesses saw a streak of light shoot up to the plane which then exploded. I was never convinced by the video the CIA released that explained what those witnesses actually saw was a trail of burning jet fuel going away from the plane.
I was always curious about how so many witnesses saw a streak of light shoot up to the plane which then exploded. I was never convinced by the video the CIA released that explained what those witnesses actually saw was a trail of burning jet fuel going away from the plane.
Yeah the fact that it was the CIA releasing the video always seemed like a red flag to me. Why were they even involved in the investigation? Why didn’t those statements come from the FAA?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800
> At the start of FBI's investigation, because of the possibility that international terrorists might have been involved, assistance was requested from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
> Why didn’t those statements come from the FAA?
They wouldn't normally; without any potential of criminal activity, they'd come from the NTSB.
I was always curious about how so many witnesses saw a streak of light shoot up to the plane which then exploded. I was never convinced by the video the CIA released that explained what those witnesses actually saw was a trail of burning jet fuel going away from the plane.
I'll remember that when I'm teaching my kids its bad to lie about stealing an extra cookie. Thanks CIA, etc
This is one of those conspiracies that always seemed probably true, based on my cursory examination of the evidence. Or the other way, assume a weapons test went horribly wrong; what would the result be?
Missile damage to aircraft leaves very distinct and VERY obvious traces as you would expect from a bunch of shrapnel suddenly slicing through the fuselage at hundreds of different points. If you want an example look at the reconstructed fuselage Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 which got shot down over Ukraine. 95% of the fuselage of TWA 800 was recovered. It was not hit by a surface to air a missile.
"However, instead of allowing the National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”), the agency tasked with investigating all domestic aviation incidents, to lead the investigation of the TWA 800 incident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”)took charge. The FBI also enlisted the assistance of the Central Intelligence Agency(“CIA”). Indeed, the FBI essentially froze the NTSB out of the investigation. The FBI removed all copies (original and duplicates) of Navy radar tapes from the Navy, placing them out of the NTSB’s reach, and refused to allow the NTSB to conduct eyewitness interviews or review the FBI’s records that indicated the true cause of the TWA 800 crash.
Eyewitnesses who were interviewed by the FBI recall being threatened by the organization. For example, one eyewitness recalls being told to keep quiet about the “rocket” she saw in the sky or risk her citizenship application being denied. Despite this, eyewitnesses have consistently maintained that they saw something arcing toward TWA 800 before the plane erupted into flames and fell from the sky. For example, one eyewitness testified that she saw a “rocket go up” and explode, and then saw TWA 800's flaming wreckage fall from the sky. Two other eyewitnesses, Air National Guard pilots, Captain Christian Baur and Major Frederick “Fritz” Meyer, similarly stated that they witnessed events that indicated a missile struck TWA 800. On the day TWA 800 went down, Captain Baur and Major Meyer were flying in a Black Hawk helicopter near the area of the TWA 800 incident. Captain Baur recalled seeing an object with a “rocket type motor "moving quick” toward TWA 800. After the crash, Captain Baur flew to the area and conducted a search and rescue. Captain Baur’s co-pilot, Major Meyer, testified that he recognized a “flak” explosion at the site of the TWA 800 explosion, which is what military anti-air explosives create.
Despite this evidence, the CIA concocted materials to discredit eyewitnesses who could confirm that TWA 800 had been downed by some kind of projectile. These materials included a video and animation that was displayed during a nationally-televised FBI press conference that attempted to reconcile the eyewitness testimony that the plane was struck by a projectile with the U.S. Government’s official position that the crash was caused by a defect in the plane’s center fuel tank.
Despite outwardly proclaiming that the cause of the TWA 800 explosion was, in the CIA’s words, “NOT A MISSILE,” several internal government communications (that have only come to light in the recent FOIA litigation) indicated that a missile was involved."
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Obviously these documents are going to be attempting to paint the case in favor of the plaintiff, but seems "strange".