B is for Building 7: 9/11's Smoking Gun?

Image: By Jeffmock (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The terrible events of September 11, 2001 are the subject of arguably the biggest conspiracy theory of them all: that the US government was involved in order to gain popular support for the invasions into Afghanistan and Iraq. As part of this conspiracy, many people believe the Twin Towers did not collapse due to the impact of jetliners and the subsequent fires, but were brought down with explosives.

The smoking gun? The collapse of Building 7 (the reddish-brown building on the left, see above)

Although this 47 story structure was not struck by a plane, it collapsed at 5:20 pm, about seven hours after being struck by the debris of the North Tower and set ablaze. (These buildings were 370 feet apart from each other.)

Here a few details conspiracy theorists find suspicious:

1. The near-perfect symmetry of the collapse looks exactly like a controlled demolition.

2. Eye witnesses accounts and video recordings both give evidence of loud bangs (explosions?) before the collapse. (Ditto for the Twin Towers.)

3. Dust collected on 9/11 contains evidence of nano-thermite or super-thermite, a powerful explosive only available to the military.

Image: Investigate911.org: Scientists find Nano-thermite explosives (estimated at over 10-tons) at the World Trade Center catastrophe.

4. The tenants: Besides housing financial institutions such a Salomon Smith Barney and American Express Bank, Building 7 also had offices for the IRS, the Secret Service, the Security and Exchange Commission, and on floor 23, the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

From accusations of banking or investment fraud to theories that the OEM directed the planes into the towers remotely, motives to destroy this building are numerous. (Including rumors that hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of gold and other precious metals stored in basement vaults went missing—perhaps fodder for a deeply disturbing Oceans 11-type plot.)

Image: Bullion Vault

Supposedly, there was also a secret office for the CIA.

5. The rubble, including the steel beams, were scooped up and sent off to China for recycling before a thorough investigation could be conducted.

6. If Building 7 did collapse from fire alone, it would be the first steel-frame high-rise in history to do so.

There's plenty more, but I'll stop here. I suppose the idea is that if proof of a controlled demolition of Building 7 can be established, it will be much easier then to prove the Twin Towers were also brought down with explosives as well. 

A number of documentaries for both conspiracy theorists and debunkers on this topic are free for your perusal on YouTube. One that shares both sides of this story is WTC 7 - BBC The Third Tower - Conspiracy Files. 

Have you ever watched Loose Change or any other 9/11 documentary or film?

Note: This post was written for entertainment purposes only and may contain inaccurate statements, exaggerations, or even outright lies, and should not be used for anything remotely associated with scholarly research. Go look this stuff up yourself, y'all.