From The 9/11 Article Series –
Article #3: Pentagon
Recall from the first article in the 9/11 series: Critical Insights the words of Captain Wittenberg:
“[T]here was absolutely no possibility that Flight 77 could have descended 7,000 feet in two minutes, all the while performing a steep 270 degree banked turn before crashing into the Pentagon’s first floor wall …
To expect this alleged airplane to run these maneuvers with a total amateur at the controls is simply ludicrous.”
Additionally, we have the declaration of Ralph Kofstad a certified Top Gun Navy Pilot with over 28,000 flight hours including 6,000 flying Boeing 757s who stated:
I COULD NOT HAVE FLOWN IT THE WAY THE OFFICIAL STORY DESCRIBED. I WAS A NAVY PILOT AND AIR COMBAT INSTRUCTOR AND HAVE EXPERIENCE FLYING LOW ALTITUDE HIGH SPEED AIRCRAFTS.
I COULD NOT HAVE DONE WHAT THESE BEGINNERS DID. SOMETHING STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sALa-E56Zms 1:01:30 Minutes
Incidentally Hani Hanjour the leader of the hijacking terrorists who allegedly piloted the 757 Boeing into the west wing of the Pentagon tried to rent a plane from Freeway Airport in Maryland. After several failed attempts to land a single-engine Cessna he was refused.
http://web.archive.org/web/20151105090953/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-te.md.terrorist09sep09-story.html
At 9:48 AM an eyewitness told CNN’s Chris Plante that he saw a helicopter circle the Pentagon and disappear. Immediately afterward a fireball flared into the sky. Here is the CNN live broadcast:
Well, and speaking to people here at the Pentagon, as they’re being evacuated from the building. I’m told by several people that there was, in fact, an explosion.
I was told by one witness, an Air Force enlisted – senior enlisted man, that he was outside when it occurred. He said that he saw a helicopter circle the building. He said it appeared to be a U.S. military helicopter, and that it disappeared behind the building where the helicopter landing zone is – excuse me – and he then saw a fireball go into the sky. …
Initial reports from witnesses indicate that there was in fact a helicopter circling the building, contrary to what the AP reported, according to the witnesses I’ve spoken to anyway, and that this helicopter disappeared behind the building, and that there was then an explosion. That’s about all I have from here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a-8TUdrN04
On September 11th a violent event caused the helipad tower clock to stop at 9:32:30 AM. That clock was put on display at the Smithsonian.
The powerful explosion of the white aircraft at or near the helipad is most likely the violent event that caused the Pentagon wall clock to stop. Which establishes the time of the explosion at 9:32:30 AM.
The inference that a helicopter caused the white plane to explode is consistent with the events reported by Chris Plante on CNN:
a U.S. military helicopter, … disappeared behind the building where the helicopter landing zone is … he then saw a fireball go into the sky
Let’s consider the account of officer worker April Gallop:
“I sat down at the computer to actually turn the computer on as soon as I pressed the button BOOM! I thought I had triggered a bomb. While I was coming out of the Pentagon I didn’t see any evidence of metal, airplane seats, luggage; nothing that would give me any indication that it was a plane that hit the building.
I did not have any jet fuel on my body, my (toddler) son did not have any jet fuel on his body. The people that helped me did not have jet fuel on their bodies.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sALa-E56Zms
1:43:29 – 1:45:01 Minutes
She claims that the violent explosion caused her watch to stop at 9:30 AM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sALa-E56Zms
1:21:58 Minutes
Gallop’s office, located more than 100 feet from the alleged impact site of Boeing 757, experienced a violent bomb at 9:30 AM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sALa-E56Zms 1:22:44 Minutes
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller interview with Denmark Radio P3, September 12, 2001, 6:15 am Denmark time stated, “…I saw smoke and fire rising from the Pentagon at 9:32…My first impression was that a bomb had been detonated at the Pentagon.”
www.unmask.dk
Even Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Hugh Shelton, the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. chain of command, experienced what he thought was the residue of explosives. On page 434 of his biography Without Hesitation, Gen. Shelton noted that upon his arrival at the Pentagon he was struck by an overpowering smell of cordite, or gun smoke, “The smell of cordite was overwhelming,” he wrote in his book.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Without_Hesitation/8H47MngWhq0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=cordite (Emphasis added.)
Pentagon worker Don Perkal told MSNBC, “People shouted in the corridor outside [my office] that a bomb had gone off. Even before stepping outside, I could smell the cordite. Then I knew explosives had been set off somewhere.” https://web.archive.org/web/20170907231850/http://911research.wtc7.net/pentagon/evidence/witnesses/explosive.html (Emphasis added.)
Department of Defense attorney Gilah Goldsmith reported that immediately after hearing “an incredible whomp noise,” she “saw a huge black cloud of smoke” that “smelled like cordite or gun smoke.”
https://web.archive.org/web/20030129132017/http://www.jewishsf.com/bk010921/usp14a.shtml (Emphasis added.)
John Bowman, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and a contractor, was in his office in Corridor Two near the main entrance to the south parking lot.
“Everything was calm,’ Bowman said. “Most people knew it was a bomb. Everyone evacuated smartly.”
https://web.archive.org/web/20010919102435/https://www.dcmilitary.com/army/pentagram/6_37/local_news/10380-1.html (Emphasis added.)
Navy Lieutenant Nancy McKeown yelled “Bomb!” when she heard and felt a major explosion, after which tiles fell from the ceiling.
https://archive.org/details/pentagon911alfre00wash/page/30/mode/2up?q=Nancy
According to LTC Victor Correa, the group continued calling until they felt everyone was out. In trying to get out of the Pentagon, the self-appointed rescuers went down to the first floor and saw gaping holes in the walls.
“We thought it was some kind of explosion. That somehow someone got in here and planted bombs … .”
https://web.archive.org/web/20020918003808/http://www.army.mil/usar/news/2002/09-11anniv/herotellsall.html (Emphasis added.)
Let’s sort through this. April Gallop says she thought she triggered an explosion that stopped her wristwatch at 9:30 AM after activating her computer. Then there is another explosion outside at/near the helipad at 9:32:30 AM. Even though the explosions are close together in time they are most likely separate events: the helipad explosion happened outside while the explosion Gallop triggered occurred inside. Neither of the explosions broke the integrity of any Pentagon walls.
Statement of Military Witness. From Redacted 9/30/2025 Newscast:
Infantryman Adam Eisenberg assigned to Alpha Company, the Third US Infantry stationed at Ft. McNair was part of the initial response team reporting to the Pentagon on 9/11. He spent approximately 240 hours on site at the Pentagon between September 11th and September 30th. According to Eisenberg:
“I can just say without a shred of doubt, uh, that what we pulled out of that building, and we pulled everything out. We weren’t pulling out airplane parts. There’s absolutely no way.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RgRjZ2fXx0&t=2340s
13:11 – 13:19 Minutes
When asked what he was pulling out, he replied, “I would say office furniture.”
Later in the broadcast (at 19:20 minutes) he said, “I never saw any personal effects that looked like luggage.”
– National Security Correspondent Mark Adams