Generally Accepted Account
The Pentagon was struck by American Airlines Flight 77, a hijacked Boeing 757 going from Dulles to Los Angeles. In the midst of this tragedy, 59 people on board and 125 workers inside the Pentagon were killed, plus the 5 hijackers.
Alternate Claim
The Pentagon was not hit by a hijacked plane at all, but by an American cruise missile fired as a false flag operation.
A false flag is an operation designed to deceive. This deception creates the appearance of a particular party, group, or nation being responsible for some activity that covers up another thing (RationalWiki, 2020).
The Facts
Derived from a Brian Dunning, highly acclaimed writer and producer of science and skepticism, podcast.
- When talking about this tragedy, articles, stories, and officials refer to it as the “official story.” This leads people to believe that it is a story, shrouded in doubt, or tainted by political corruption. “The official story” sounds like weasel words.
- The security video shows a missile hitting the building. Of the 85 video tapes seized by the FBI that may have shown the plane striking the building, only one actually shows the impact of an object with the building. And this object is too small to be a 757.
- Donald Rumsfeld’s office was on the opposite end of the building. Rumsfeld is the former Secretary of Defense under George W. The implication being that Rumsfeld, presumed architect of the false flag attack, was carefully protected by having the hit far from his office.
- There was no debris from an airplane at the site. Thus, there was no plane. Iit must have been a missile.
- The pentagon’s missile defenses would have shot down an actual encroaching aircraft. You'd expect the Pentagon to be one of the best defended buildings in the world. But apparently, this alleged missile defense system is nonexistent.
Credibility Leads to Belief
This information was obtained from a podcast created by Brian Dunning, an American writer and producer who focuses on science and skepticism. He is relatively well-known, having 65,000 followers on twitter. His work gets published for many listening ears to judge and form their own opinions. He is a very credible, published author too. Having a credible source with the ability to reach many listeners on large platforms contributes to the spread of conspiracy theories like this one.
The Psychology
According to a scholarly article from the Association for Psychological Science, belief in conspiracy theories appears to be driven by motives that can be characterized as epistemic - understanding one’s environment, existential - being safe and in control of one’s environment, and social - maintaining a positive image of the self and the social group (Douglas, 2017). The epistemic motive behind this theory is the explanation is stable, accurate, and internally consistent understanding of the event. There’s too much curiosity and unknown about this “official story.” The existential motive leads people to feel safe and secure in their environment. The notion that the Pentagon couldn’t protect from a plane leads people to find another reasoning, it wasn’t a plane. Lastly, the social motive is the desire to belong and to maintain a positive image of the self and the in-group. When a man like Brian Dunning puts this information out there and a group starts to believe it, the social motive is to join the groupthink.
References
Douglas, K., Sutton, R., Cichocka, A. (2017). “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories.” Association for Psychological Science. Retrieved
from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963721417718261
Dunning, B. (2013, March 19). "The Pentagon and the Missile." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media. Retrieved
from https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4354
RationalWiki. (2020, February 3). “False Flag Operation, a definition.” RationalWiki. Retrieved
from https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/False_flag_operation
U.S Department of Defense. (2019, September 11). “A 9/11 Reflection: The Pentagon in Photos.” United States Department of Defense.
Retrieved from https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Features/Story/Article/1939053/a-911-reflection-the-pentagon-in-photos/
from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963721417718261
Dunning, B. (2013, March 19). "The Pentagon and the Missile." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media. Retrieved
from https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4354
RationalWiki. (2020, February 3). “False Flag Operation, a definition.” RationalWiki. Retrieved
from https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/False_flag_operation
U.S Department of Defense. (2019, September 11). “A 9/11 Reflection: The Pentagon in Photos.” United States Department of Defense.
Retrieved from https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Features/Story/Article/1939053/a-911-reflection-the-pentagon-in-photos/