The Case For Explosives At The World Trade Center: North Tower Sublevel

I will not attempt the blame game with this premise. I am not a structural engineer or an explosives expert. I do have reasonable doubts about the official story. My research to this point on a personal level has been with a trained explosive expert in the U.S. military and with a construction engineer from Purdue University. I have read reports in support of the NIST (National Institute of Science and Technology)and rebuttals to the NIST report. I have also read the NIST report summary as posted online. The reason for this hypothesis is to consider what was responsible for the event that took place in the World Trade Center North Tower basement levels. The existence for this hypothesis is four-fold.

1. The NIST did not attempt to explain the reason for a global collapse nor consider the explosive device hypothesis because they saw no evidence. Does that make the existence of explosive devices(ED) invalid? No.

2. NIST provided no evidence to support their view that the collapse of upper floors led to a progressive collapse or more importantly a global collapse. We have no idea if the event in the basement assisted in the collapse of the North Tower.

3. The NIST made a conscience decision not to test for explosive residue at the WTC complex despite the overwhelming evidence that something occurred in the sub levels of WTC North Tower. This would have proven one way or another whether an explosive device was used in the sub levels of the North Tower, however, no test by any Federal Agency was conducted.

4. The historical record of terrorism against America is another valid reason to explore the ED hypothesis. I'm sure you are all aware of the 1993 WTC attack using a truck bomb in the subbasement at the WTC. If terrorists could use this tactic of placing an explosive device in their target once, isn’t it reasonable to suggest they might try that tactic again, especially when combined with the use of planes? The reasonable person would think so.

5. The FBI's original working hypothesis was a car or trucked packed full of explosives and detonated under the towers at the same time as the impact. I find that yet another reason to test for explosive residues, especially in the basement. You can view the USA Today news report about the FBI's theory here:



Please do not confuse the use of an explosive device with controlled demolition. As Implosion World stated the collapses did not have the same characteristics of a traditional controlled demolition. With that issue, I do agree to a point. The collapse did not start at the bottom as per a traditional demolition but the attack on the structure began with the plane impact and in the basement sub levels and centered around the core where the elevator shafts were located. There is some testimony supporting an explosion taking place in the basement prior to impact, however, the timing of the event is not the premise of this examination, only the fact that an explosive event did occur that can not be attributed to a fireball from jet fuel.

My first piece of evidence for arguing for an explosive device is the logical sequence of events that followed the explosive sound. Numerous things can sound like explosions. I do not dispute this. However, it is the reaction and change of the surroundings, the injuries to people, and their reactions and thoughts following the sound of the explosion which points to a device in the basement sub levels. All of the accounts below follow this logical sequence.

The second piece of evidence is the damage to the structure and victims surroundings. A few examples of structural damage include: walls that are cracked or destroyed, a parking garage is obliterated , a machine shop is destroyed, failing ceilings, as well as a multiple cave-ins 4 levels below the ground.

Numerous witnesses in the sub levels have stated on record regarding the damage in the substructure of WTC-North Tower. To avoid the accusation of cherry picking or quote mining, I have provided the relevant link after each account. Also with each witness I have tried to use their words verbatim in the description of events that they experienced.

The conclusion of the paper will show that it is impossible for a fireball from the first impact of the plane to have caused the type of personal and structural damage experienced and reported. Bsbray of studyof911.com has provided an excellent analysis refuting the fireball theory so I have no intention of reinventing the wheel.

A. Employees of WTC-North Tower Who Describe The Event In The North Tower Sub-levels

1.Mike Pecoraro, Stationary Engineer and unnamed Co-Worker
a)Location: Sub-level C
b) Sees 'lights flicker, the Asst. Engineer reports to him hearing a large
explosion,
c) Sees white smoke, and reports the smell of kerosene.
d) The smell he thought coming from perhaps a burning car in the parking garage above them.
e) Kerosene smell, not a kerosene fire. Burning Kerosene does not produce white smoke.
f) Damage after the sound of an explosion: When the two arrived at the C level, they
found the machine shop gone. "There was nothing there but rubble, "Mike said.
"We're talking about a 50 ton hydraulic press gone!"
g) Location of damage-C-level
h) The two made their way to the parking garage, but found that it, too, was gone.
i) "There were no walls, there was rubble on the floor, and you can't see anything" he said.
j) Parking garage and walls are gone.
k) As they ascended to the B Level they were astonished to see a steel and concrete
fire door that weighed about 300 pounds,wrinkled up "like a piece of aluminum foil" and lying on the floor.
l)Comments, "They got us again referring to the WTC 93 bombing. He saw similar things
after that bombing.
m) He was convinced a bomb had went off in the building.
n) Observes two victims, badly burned an injured.
Brief summary of experience: An explosive sound heard, followed by white smoke
with massive damage on multiple floors, a parking garage destroyed, with burned and injured victims. All of this damage reported by this witness but no mention of fire damage or one iota of a fireball. There is also no soot reported in the lobby from the fireball from the plane that supposedly caused the damage. Keep in mind as you continue to read the accounts, that a single fireball from the impact zone almost 80 floors above traveled down a single elevator shaft, failed to kill or even burn the elevator operator, Arturo Griffith, but causes all of this damage in the various levels of the basement.
Source: Chief Engineer http://www.chiefengineer.org/article.cfm?seqnum1=1029

2. Jose Sanchez, Maintenance Worker & co-worker, Chino
a)Location: Sub level 4 workshop.
b) Hears the sound of an explosion,” It sounded like a bomb went off."
c) Sees lights flicker.
d) Fireball in the freight elevator.
e) Singes hair and drops co-worker Chino to his knees.
f) Room fills with smoke, "I believe it was a bomb that blew up inside the building."
g) Chino's leg and knee apparently broken. He can't walk and gets assistance from Sanchez.
h) Fireballs do not break legs, however, concussion force can and does.
i) Exits at parking level lot on sub level 4 and sees many people fleeing.
j) "It took about 15 or 20 minutes to get outside and for me it was like a bomb with huge smoke all around.”
i) Comments he is lucky to be alive because he wasn't near the stairwell.
Brief Summary: The sound of an explosion is heard, damage to a freight elevator takes place and the victim feels that a bomb caused the damage. He does experience a fireball, but it will be shown not to orginate from jet fuel at impact, but from at least the detonation of at least one explosive device.
Source: Second Janitor Story

3. Phillip Morelli, construction worker, 7 year employee at WTC 1
a) Location-4th sub level, B-4 main freight car
b) "That is when I got blown. The impact of the explosion or whatever
happened threw me to the floor. And that’s when everything started happenin'. It knocked me right to the floor. You didn't know what it was, you just assumed something fell over in the loading dock. Something very heavy, something very big. You don't know what happened then all the sudden you just felt the floor movin' and you get up... the walls, you know now I'm hearing that the main freight car, the elevators, you know what I mean fell down so I was right near the main freight car so I assumed what that was. Then you heard that comin' towards ya. I was racing I was goin' towards the bathroom, all of the sudden I opened the door I didn't know it was the bathroom and then the big impact happened again and then all the ceiling tiles started falling down the light fixtures were falling swinging, swinging out of the ceiling. I came runnin'out of the door and everything,the walls were down and I started runnin' towards the parkin' lots."
c) Nearly 100 floors below where the first plane hit.
d) Thought a car or something exploded on B-1 or something big and heavy got
delivered and fell over.
e) Knew it was something big floor was moving underneath him
f) Reports smoke and people screaming
g) Got to parking lot and describes a lot of smoke, people screaming, and helping a
person with a broken leg.
h) He and others run up the ramp from 1 to 2, as you have to do that to get out of
the subbasement, it happens all over again. And got thrown to the floor. But
unaware of a second plane hit.
i) Walls in the basement caved in.
j) Knows people got killed, broken legs, and reconstructive surgery because the walls hit them in the face.
k) No matter where you were in the building, you weren't safe.
l) Reports no fireball as the official story proposes.
Brief Summary: An explosion throws Phillip to the ground and causes the floor to move underneath him. The explosion destroys walls and a freight elevator that he was near. He runs to the bathroom and another explosion causes damage to the ceiling and lights and injured people are seen in parking garage. All of this damage people and the structure but not a single mention of the raging fireball that NIST states caused all of this damage. Phillip attempts to escape by going to Tower 2 exit and gets thrown to the ground for a second time!
Source-NY1 News
Watch Phillip's testimony here:




4. Marlene Cruz, Carpenter, employee for 15 years
a) Location: elevator subbasement B, WTC 1
b) Hears an explosion that blows up the elevator, the elevator falls, and gets stuck
at B level.
c) Herself and the elevator operator are injured.
d) She reports her body felt like it was run over by a truck and has a sprained leg.
e) After hearing the explosion she states, "Here we go again another bomb" in
reference to her experience with the 1993 truck bombing.
f) States seeing her friend Arthur Delbianco who was fine after she got hurt. They hear screams. He was going around looking for other people, trying to break through doors to see who he found. She states Arthur got hurt after her. No description is given of how he was hurt. However, in Arthur's account a blast from behind them throws them 25-50 feet.
g)In the interview with Matt Lauer, when asked based upon there location if there are people still alive, Marlene states she believes there are people still alive because that building is pretty strong and the first bombing did not bring that building down. This comment can be found in the video source of Hersley Lever's account below.
Brief Summary: Marlene hears an explosion, elevator is blown up, stops at B-1 Marlene and the elevator worker suffer injuries. She gives no mention of burns from a raging fireball. She mentions no smoke or fire at all from a jet fuel. However, the explosion reminds her of the 1993 truck bomb and she thinks it is another bomb.
Source: ABC News Special Report with Peter Jennings
Watch Marlene's testimony here:




5. Arthur Delbianco-
a. Location: Above the basement but below the impact zone and eventually subbasemen B,WTC 1
b. Aruthur after the impact, assists in taking people down to the lobby. He mentions
no fire or fireball in his elevator or his elevator shaft.
c. He then travels to sub level 1 and finds his friend Marlene Cruz and Hursley Lever, a
mechanic.
d. He sees sprinklers are spraying water and ceiling tiles collapsed after arriving in the basement.
e. As the three are running through the chaos, when something occurs.
f. "The blast came from behind us and just pushed us down. We just slid for 25 or 50 feet."
g. He suffers personal injury in the form of a separated shoulder and broken knee.
h. A fireman rescues him.
Brief Summary: Here is a man that rescues several people below the impact zone and then travels to the sub level B. All this time, no fireball is experienced or secondary fighters reported. When he ends up in the sub level B, another explosion that reminded Marlene of the 1993 truck bombing takes place causing his personal injuries. Yet no mention of a fireball in the basement.
Considering that the event that took place in the basement was so near the impact of the plane, when did a firefighter arrive a B level and why only one?
Source: San Fransico Chronicle, September 14, 2001

6. Hursley Lever-ABM Employee Maintenance Worker
a. Location-assigned to B-3 level but was in B-4 level sheet metal shop when the first explosion took place.
b. He hears a bomb thinking it was probably a transformer again and continues to work.
c. He starts towards the door again when he experiences a big blast and a big ball of fire and that is when he got hit and knocked down onto the ground.
d. He realizes that his ankle is shattered.
e. A guy was with him in the sheet metal shop is unhurt but crying. He convinces the man to help him out and to a closed door.
f. The door opens and a secret service police man was right on B-4 level parking lot.
g. The secret service police man wraps his ankle and he is helped into a van by another man and asked what to do. No ambulances were available. The man in the van drives Hursley out and asks him what he wants to do and that is when the second plane hits and he is left alone again.
Brief summary-Hersley experiences two explosions. One he attributes to a possible transformer explosion and the second one is unclear. One might assume that it was a jet fuel fireball from the impact causing the second explosion, however, you will notice no mention and you will not see any burn marks on Mr. Lever in the interview. He is knocked down and his ankle is broken by a concussive force, not a jet fuel fire conflagration.
Source: NBC Today Show's Matt Lauer Interview With Arthur Delbianco, Marlene Cruz, and Hursley Lever.
View the interview below:




7. Felipe David, employee of Aramark Co.
a. Location-office sub level 1
b. Explosion heard below sub level 1.
c. The building started shaking.
d. Dust was flying everywhere.
e. It got real hot.
f. Reports feeling burned.
g. “I threw myself onto the floor, covered my face because I felt like I was burned."
h. "I sat there for a couple of seconds on the floor and felt like I was going to die, saying to myself ‘God, please give me strength.”
i. Severely burned on his face, arms and hands with skin hanging from his body.
j. Reports to several others in an office that there was an explosion.
k. Other state that it is good he is alive despite his appearance.
Brief Summary: Explosion heard below him, feels heat and is burned severally, and reports an explosion. The event that caused personal damage was below him and reports no fireball.
Source: Colombia television programming in Spanish on the Red Continental
De Noticias (RNC) with Gurisatti a Colombian reporter as a part of
an in-depth 9/11 documentary after the foreign station spent a month
in New York in 2002 shooting the project.
View the interview in Spanish below:



8. Salvatore Giambanco, a WTC office painter, just getting off of an elevator
a. Location, sub-level 1 opposite side of Felipe David.
b. Hears an explosion, reports smoke came from all over.
c. "An incredible force of wind swept everything away."
d. Standing with another man, he hears a screaming woman.
e. As a reaction to the wind, Salavatore and the unidentified man jump back into the elevator.
f. The elevator descends to between sub-level B-2 and B-3.
g. Witnesses other people through the slot running and screaming.
h. Water begins to enter the elevator apparently from the sprinkler system.
i. Salvatore begins to fear for his life and is screaming.
j. "God, please help us.’ At that point, I was resigned to the fact I was going to die". He then hears William Rodriguez ask, "How many people are down there?"
k. Rodriguez rescues the two men.
l. Rides in an ambulance to the hospital.
m. “I remember riding in the ambulance that morning and looking back, thinking it had to be a bomb."
n. Upon learning an airplane had hit the tower: “Later they told me it was an airplane that hit the towers, but how could it just be an airplane? I know all the newspapers were saying that,but it was just too incredible to believe if you heard and experienced what I did. It had to be a bomb.”
Brief Summary: Salavatore hears an explosion, observes human damage from the explosion, and reacts to the environmental impact of the explosion, and believes it was a bomb. He mentions no fireball descending the elevator shaft that he jumped back into.
Source: Colombia television programming in Spanish on the Red Continental
De Noticias (RNC) with Gurisatti a Colombian reporter as a part of
an in depth 9/11 documentary after the foreign station spent a month
in New York in 2002 shooting the project.


9. Bobby Hall-ABM Engineering Employee
Location: 50 feet underground apparently B-1, possibly B-2 walking from the garage into the building to the office.
a. “We were going to our shop to make a call and find out what the first explosion was and the place just came apart on us,” “What we found out later was the hot wind was the number 50 freight car falling from the 88th floor and it just came into the area where we were and just blew us back out into the parking lot.”
b. He is thrown into a steel door.
c. Assists two other injured men after struggling to his feet.
d. He suffers an injury to his hand, numbness in his hand, and has had surgery.
Brief Summary: A key point to Bobby’s account strangely enough lacks a fireball traveling down the elevator shaft. He hears one explosion and is on the way to his office to find out what it was, and then the place came apart on us. The fact that he is told that wind from the elevator is what blew them back into the parking lot is strange. This elevator air does not match Arturo’s account of Number 50 freight car’s breaks stopping his elevator at floor 15 or 16. In People Magazine October 1,2001 the elevator finally comes to rest at the lobby. So it is highly doubtful it is air from an elevator that impacted Mr. Hall and his co-worker, as they were told. His account of a hot wind gust matches Salvatore Giambanco’s account of large amount of wind sweeping everything away after the explosion. In reality, in Bobby's case it appears it was the pressure force from an explosion in the sub-basement area that was separate from the plane impact that injured Bobby not wind from a elevator stopping 15 floors above. This involuntary action of being thrown to the ground matches Phillip Morelli account of being thrown to the ground by an explosion in the sub-levels as well. Bobby's account describes two explosions, possibly one from the plane and certainly one in the subbasement. Bobby could also be one of the male caller's in the PA transcripts calling from a cell phone to report injuries to victims and/or damage to the structure.
Source: NY1 For You: Engineer Injured In WTC Attacks Still Needs Help With Surgery Costs
In Life In Limbo After Layoffs-Chicago Tribune


10. Kenny Johannemann-ABM Janitorial Services
a. Location: Awaiting the arrival of an elevator in the basement.
b. "The lift door exploded open. there was a man inside half burnt. His skin was hanging off.(Felipe David?) "I dragged him out of the lift and somebody (William Rodriguez?)helped me get him out for the building."
c. "Elevator blew up!"
d. Reports no fireball exiting the elevator door when it opens or no fireball prior to the elevator arriving, and finally no fires remaining in or around the elevator.
Source: People Magazine, September 24th
Watch his testimony here:





11. William Rodriguez-WTC Janitor
a. Location: Office Sub-level 1
b. "When I heard the sound of the explosion, the floor beneath my feet vibrated,
the walls started cracking and it everything started shaking."
c. Was huddled together with at least 14 other people in the office.
d. States Anthony Saltamachia, supervisor for the American Maintenance Co., was
one of the people in the room who stands ready to verify his story.
e. "Seconds after the first massive explosion below in the basement still rattled the floor, I hear another explosion from way above," said Rodriguez.
f. "Although I was unaware at the time, this was the airplane hitting the tower, it occurred moments after the first explosion."
g. He encounters Felipe David.
h. Felipe David stormed into the basement office with severe burns on his face and arms, screaming for help and yelling "explosion! explosion! explosion!"
i. "He (David)was burned terribly," said Rodriguez. "The skin was hanging off his hands and arms."
j. "I don't care what the government says, what scientists say. I saw a man burned terribly from a fire that was caused from an explosion below."
k. "I know there were explosives placed below the trade center. I helped a man to safety who is living proof, living proof the government story is a lie and a cover-up."
l. "I have tried to tell my story to everybody, but nobody wants to listen. It is very strange what is going on here in supposedly the most democratic country in the world. In my home country of Puerto Rico and all the other Latin American countries, I have been allowed to tell my story uncensored. But here, I can't even say a word."
Brief Summary: William hears an explosion below him, the floor vibrates, walls
crack, and everything starts to shake. He encounters a victim who suffered the
effects of the explosion, and concludes bombs were placed in the basement. Originally he testified to NIST that it was a fireball in 50 freight elevator. However, reading his account, he could not have witnessed a fireball from his location, which leads me to believe he was told what happened and then repeated this to NIST. After learning more information, William changed his mind and concluded an explosion in the basement caused the destruction. William's has received substantial personal attacks from supporters of the official story for changing his story despite being honored as a hero by President Bush. One has to wonder, why those who accept the official story as gospel would choose to attack this man's character, considering all of the testimony that collaborates the story he tells today regarding the detonation of an explosive device in the basement of World Trade Center: North Tower.
Source: WTC Basement Blast and Injured Victim Blows Official 9/11 Story Sky High
Watch his testimony here:


12. Anthony Saltalamacchia. -Morning Supervisor 100 workers-WTC:North Tower.
a. William Rodriguez Supervisor.
b. Location: Office Sub level 1 with William Rodriguez
c. He along with William hear a massive explosion in the WTC at about 8:46 am.
d. He first believed it came from the mechanical room.
e. Then he hears a series of other explosions from the above levels of the building and realizes something is wrong and a major problem.
f. 14-15 people come running into their office. They got together as a group in and shock and unsure what to do and William settled everyone down.
g. After that, the floor started shaking, the tile above them started falling on them and they knew something seriously wrong was happening.
h. A black man comes into the office shaky and in shock with multiple wounds and arms bleeding, covered in blood, his skin was peeling off and you could basically see his flesh. William R. grabs a cloth and wraps it around him.
i. As they were standing there, more explosions were happening, lot of screaming and confusion, William said it was time to get out of the building.
j. As they left it was very smoky and very cloudy and very serious.
k. They first went to the fire escape to get to the lobby but it was full of smoke and was a bad situation so they ran the opposite way towards the truck dock.
l. They ran up the truck dock and got outside. Kenny, me, and Derrick helped the black man. They see people starring at the upper levels, the damage at the impact area, and jumpers.
m. William in opposition to the order by Anthony returns multiple times to the building to help firefighters. Later in the evening, he sees William on TV and recalls that he is the one he was with when the explosion happened.
n. The amount of explosions I've heard from 8:46 until the time they got out were so many at least 10.
o. It was like multiple explosions to where I felt like different grenades being set off in the building.
p. It was one MAJOR explosion and then different explosions throughout that period of time until they got out.
q. Anthony reflects over the last 6 years and doesn't know the truth and doesn't believe a word they (government) say. Everything they say is a cover up.
r. Believes we should get documents to get to the truth of what really happened on 9/11.
Brief Summary-Anthony and 14 to 15 other workers in WTC: North Tower basement level 1 experience a massive underground explosion and at least 10 secondary explosions prior to exiting the building. Again, no secondary fires are reported, no smell of jet fuel, no sign of a jet fuel fireball.
Source: Eyewitness video for "Last Man Out"
View his testimony below:




13. Edward McCabe-Engineer
a. Location: refergeration plant sub level 4.
b. He feels a shifting of the building
c. 30 seconds later,I froze right where I stood and listened....nothing.. about 30 seconds past and to my left about 30 feet from me was a stairway leading up to a door. this door explodes off its hinges and white smoke came into the plant.
Seconds later through the smoke came people who worked beyond that door for the construction company.they were all secretaries,they walked like zombies not speaking I can smell their burnt flesh.one was bleeding pretty bad and i started to walk her to path train station across the plant. 1 woman seemed unharmed and i asked her what happened..she told me a bomb blew up their offices.when we got to the PATH platform i layed the woman down ,she thanked me,and i returned to the blown door to see if i could find anyone else.Sure enough there were more,.the smoke was being sucked up the shaft now and i can see there were no longer any walls just rubble.1 woman was under her desk refusing to come out.after a little coaxing she came and at this point a few of my colleuges,were sifting through the rubble,trying to find anybody .we did about 3 trips .everyone was out.i returned to the plant and called for ems on the radio(walky talky),I couldn't get through there was chaos on the radio.I switched on the am radio we had in the plant to the all news station and heard "ONCE AGAIN A PLANE HAS HIT THE86FLOOR OF ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER"i started running towards the area where we had brought the injured when i see about 9 fire men running my way.they approached me an asked "where are we getting all these people from." I told them over there pointing about 25yards away to the staircase with the blown door.they asked me to show them exactly where and I told them "there is no one left lets get the hell outta here",they told me to calm down and lead them to the offices beyond the blown door.I said "ok lets do this " so we start running for the stairs as we started to ascend the lights went out just the little exit signs over the doors were illuminated.I started to panic .(I found out later on the lights were lost when the second plane hit.)not one of the firemen had a freakin flashlight ,I couldn't believe it ,i guess in all this chaos they forgot them.the firemen in charge said to me,"wait here we will be right back",and just like that they all ran back the way they came .Not 1 of them stayed behind.I stood there at the bottom of those stairs scared shitless ,in the dark ,listening to the eery sound of the smoke sucking up that elevator shaft.Maybe a minute passed when I said to myself "what am I a fuckin' idiot."and proceeded to run past the area where we brought the injured in path station,EMS was taking care of them and for that i was thankful.I noticed the owner of the deli/restaurant bar was locking himself in . I guess to guard from looters.the escalator leading up to the concourse level was (believe it or not )running.AT this point i stopped and rode the escalator up. Catching my breath,when i reached the top I noticed everyone was evacuating in a calm and orderly fashion.I started to feel a little more at ease.i ran up another out of order escalator to the plaza level and started running towards daylight i noticed debris coming down.as I got closer I realized there were people hitting the ground exploding on impact among office furniture and luggage i was sickened by the sight.I waited for a lull and ran for it out the doors to the open air it was chaos fire engines all over people screaming.i looked up and saw both towers on fire,i couldn't believe my eyes .people were jumping ,I saw a couple holding hands freefalling from at least the 90 -95th floors.I ran to broadway and watched from there i still was in shock,when over the walky talky my supervisor makes a general announcement "all WTC mechanical personnel rally at the pump station".I start running back towards the pump station which is up the block across from 1 wtc.as i pass 1wtc people are still hitting the ground ,i'll never forget the sound. when i arrive everyones hugging and happy to see each other .i lean up against the wall and slide down on my ass and look up at the towers burning people still jumping. i will finish this some other time i'm emotionally drained just writing this..God Bless.
Edward McCabe, Story #936, The September 11 Digital Archive, 25 July 2002

Brief Summary: Astute readers of the above commentary who examine the source, will notice I left out the description of the fireball and jet fuel in the above account. I did this not due to dishonesty, but for the simple fact Edward was TOLD this to him by somebody after the event. In fact he states, "I later on found out the reason there was an explosion was the jet fuel filled the elevator shaft and seconds later a spark triggered an explosion." Not his words mind you, but someone who TOLD him the excuse that he repeats in his account. Not only that he doesn't report a fireball or secondary fires in the doorway but does describe destroyed walls and rubble. So he was not a witness to a fireball or jet fuel that was ignited by a spark. Second he describes white smoke exiting a stairwell, not black smoke as produced by burning jet fuel. Another female victim believes a bomb blew up in their office, resulting in the injury of secretaries. He mentions that the lights went out , but again learns later it was the second impact.
He also mentions no smoke or fire when he arrives on the Concourse level where people are exiting in an orderly fashion.

The one thing I find very disturbing is his encounter with 9 firemen in sub level 4. Although we are unaware of the exact time Edward encounters them, we know it is shortly after the plane strike as announced by the radio according to his account. The firemen ask Edward where all of the people (secretaries) are coming from and he directs them to the offices beyond the destroyed doorway. All of the sudden the lights go out, leaving only the exit signs illuminated. None of the firemen have a flashlight and the firemen in charge tells Edward to "wait here, we'll be right back". All 9 firemen run off in the opposite direction from which they came.

My question is, how did 9 firemen get to sub level 4 so quickly after the impact and what were they doing down there? Why did they tell Edward to "wait right here, we'll be right back" but do not return? Many people who support the official story would like to know how explosive devices were planted in the building? Was it via a delivery truck? Or were explosives placed or prepared to detonate by the terrorists? I'm not implicating anyone with this next statement nor would I implicate firefighters and I state this because some will twist my words. But could terrorists have posed as firefighters in order to help facilitate the detonation of a device in the World Trade Center: North Tower basement? Could they have been the people who kept telling survivors of the basement blast that it was a fireball from jet fuel that caused the explosion, the damage, and the injuries, and not an explosive device?
If anyone could point me to a source, preferably from PA or Firefighter transcripts to confirm the presence of 9 firemen in the basement level 4 shortly after impact, I would greatly appreciate it and it would put my mind to ease. .


B. Police, Port Authority, etc. Transcripts In Response To An Event In The Sub levels of WTC: North Tower

The following accounts are from Port Authority transcripts that revolve around an event that took place in the basement of WTC: North Tower. Many of the callers are unidentified but could possibly be matched to some of the eyewitnesses above.

1. Unidentified Male Caller to Port Authority Police Department-
a. Location-Turner Construction right outside the 50 car, across the hall from 50 car.
b. “Officer, help.” We’re down on the B-4 level. There’s been a big explosion. We’ve got water lines open. There seems to be smoke and steam in the area.”
c. The caller goes on to report “smoke but unsure whether it is from fire or dust” with “broken water lines and water all over”.
Brief Summary: Do you see something missing in this call to the police? If you said burning jet fuel, a fireball, or secondary fires from the fireball you would be correct.
Port Authority Transcript
Source: http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-transcript036.pdf

2. Male Caller on Portable Device call to PAPD Officer Brady
a. Location-B-1 level
b. “We had a ….minor explosion (inaudible). Or a major explosion.
Brief Summary: Again, the fireball and expected secondary fires are missing.
Port Authority Transcript
Source: http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-transcript010.pdf

3. Male Caller on Radio Channel W to Police I (it appears to be the same caller as above but recorded on a different channel)
a. Location-B-1 level, One World Trade Center
b. “(inaudible) B-1, level , One World Trade Center. It’s (inaudible),we had a minor explosion or a major explosion, something happened down here.”
Brief Summary: Another call and no mention of a fireball or secondary fire or burning fuel.
Port Authority Transcript
Source: http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-transcript047.pdf

4. Male Caller Recorded on Radio Channel X-Security
a. Location-B-2 between red and yellow lots
b. ASAP, six-three, be advised, I have to ABM workers down here on B2 ah...between the red and yellow lots. Be advised I’ve got two ABM workers hurt.”
c. “I need an ER ESP down here ASAP!”
d. After being asked where he needs assistance, the caller responds.
e. "B2 between the red lot and the yellow lot, the walkway where the ABM office is."
Brief Summary: This could be Bobby Hall's call. He was in the area described and matches his account of helping two individuals. He also used someone's cell phone to make a call after his experience. The person's cell phone he used was crushed by debris outside of the tower shortly after Bobby borrowed it. Yet again, we have another call to the police that reports injury but no fire, no fireball, and no burning jet fuel.
Port Authority Transcript
Source: http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-transcript048.pdf

5. PAPD Officer 33 responding to a Cave in at B-4
a. Location: Traveling to sub-level B-4, WTC North Tower
b. “Myself and (inaudible) to the Trade Center responding with scott packs to the B-4 Level. There’s a report of a cave-in and people trapped.”
c. PAPD Desk-“Roger, three three and eight-two Houston, World Trade responding B-4 level on a report of a cave in.
d. Officer 33- “There’s also been a cave-in at the platform of the PATH plaza…there’s a live electrical, and water running. Turn off the power in that area.
e. PAPD Desk reports to other responders-“Three-three is reporting that
there is a cave in, B-4 level, at the World Trade Center, copy? A possibility of people trapped."
Brief Summary: Again not only is a fire not reported, not only that no fireball is described. Officer 33 is responding to the damage that occurred after the explosive device was detonated. This account is perhaps highlights largest amount of structural damage in the sub-levels recorded by the police. What is described is actually two cave-ins, one at B-4 level and one at the PATH plaza platform. You should be asking yourself, how NIST concluded an unreported fireball caused a cave in at B-4 and the PATH subway plaza platform.
Port Authority Transcript
Source: www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-transcript010.pdf

6. Male caller to 310B Fire Command Radio Channel X-Security
a. Location-Near or on the Path Train
b. “Please let me get through! The PATH train, something is going on at the PATH train! Can you ask somebody to make an announcement, 310B, people are running out of the PATH train, copy!
c. Male-“Ten-four. (Inaudible) to 63.” Female-“Yes.
d. Male-“See if you can make an announcement with PAPD with regards to people panicking in the PATH trains! Female-“That’s people by the PATH train, copy.”
Brief Summary: The device that caused the explosion apparently caused the cave in/partial collapse at B-4 basement level and the PATH Plaza platform, even to the point of causing people to panic and get off the train, resulting in the phone calls from PAPD 33 and a call to 310B Fire command. This call like the others mentions no fireball and no secondary fires, only a cave in.
Port Authority Transcript
Source: http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-transcript048.pdf

7. Marvin Bush, Brother of George W. Bush
a. Location: subway on the way to a meeting
b. Subway train comes to a stop, no idea what happened.
c. They were evacuated, single-file, onto a platform, and then out of the subway. No mention of where they were evacuated.
d. Marvin said there were smoke and debris everywhere and was told to get out of there.
Brief Summary: Subway comes to a halt and is evacuated. It is unclear if the smoke and debris is in the subway or outside the subway. I'm lead to believe it was in the subway. The smoke he refers to if from the North Tower impact zone would not be everywhere but 100 plus stories high. The debris could have come from the impact but we are not told where Marvin exited the subway. However, the above PA transcript does report a cave-in which would be consistent with debris in the subway. I included this information as it supports the calls about the PATH trains that were disrupted as a result of the detonation of the explosive device or devices. It is highly unlikely that Marvin exited on the PATH Plaza Platform that suffered the cave-in.
Source: Reflections: Life After The White House, by Barbara Bush

Many of the communication transcripts above follow a the same pattern of an explosion heard or reported, human injury is then reported, and finally the damage to the structure is described. The most significant damage to the structure being a cave-in at B-4 that caused the people on the PATH trains to panic and flee. This follows the logical sequence that points to the sound of explosions coming from an explosive device, not a fireball as the NIST has concluded.

It is impossible for the excuse the official story holds that a jet fuel based fire ball traveled down the elevator shaft in the North Tower, into the subbasement levels, particularly sub level 4 and the PATH Plaza, and caused the human injuries and structural damage witnessed and reported to the police. The analysis below proves without doubt that a fuel air explosive could not have been the cause of the events described above. This leads to one conclusion: terrorists used an explosive device in the sub levels of WTC: North Tower.

Aside from actually testing for explosive residue which no Federal Agency did, the above accounts and the fireball analysis below conclusively prove that an explosive device was used in the sublevel structure of World Trade Center, North Tower.

What the device was, how it was placed, and its purpose is speculation. Was it used to destroy the elevators thereby increasing the difficulty in rescue? Could it have been a “divide and conquer” tactic used to hamper firefighter’s responses by sending teams to the basements and to the point of impact? Or was it used to weaken and damage the strongest portion of the building, the 47 core columns that were anchored to the ground? As any demolition expert will tell you, if you want to assist in bringing a building down, you have to weaken or destroy its base. Because of the location of this explosive device, an investigation into the security measures, personnel, and delivery schedules should have been a fundamental part of the FBI's investigation. At this point and time, I am unaware if the FBI examined this event in the basement of the North Tower.

The reader is left to hypothesis why FEMA, NIST, and the 9/11 Commission choose to ignore the evidence of an explosive device used in the basement levels of the North Tower and decided to issue forth the excuse of a fireball.

The following analysis points out in detail why a fireball from jet fuel is an impossible excuse for the testimony above.

-----
WTC1’s Main Freight Shaft Was
Not Rocked to the Basement by an FAE!
By Bsbray of studyof911.com
First, let us establish that there was only one elevator per building with access from the basement levels all the way up to the 108th floor.
From NIST NCSTAR 1-1, Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Structural and Life Safety Systems, page xxxvii (page 39 of the PDF file):


Elevators were the primary mode of routine ingress and egress from the towers for tens of thousands of people daily. In order to minimize the total floor space needed for elevators, each tower was divided vertically into three zones by skylobbies, which served to distribute passengers among express and local elevators. In this way, the local elevators within a zone were placed on top of one another within a common shaft. Local elevators serving the lower portion of a zone were terminated to return to the space occupied by those shafts to leasable tenant space. People transferred from express elevators to local elevators at the skylobbies which were located on the 44th and 78th floors in both towers. Each tower had 99 passenger and 7 freight elevators, all located within the core of the building.
From the same document, page xlviii (page 50 of the PDF file):

There were 99 passenger elevators in each tower, arranged in three vertical zones to move occupants in stages to skylobbies on the 44th and 78th floors. These were arranged as express (generally larger cars that moved at higher speeds) and local elevators in an innovative system first introduced in WTC 1 and WTC 2. There were 8 express elevators from the concourse to the 44th floor and 10 express elevators from the concourse to the 78th floor as well as 24 local elevators per zone, which served groups of floors in those zones. There were seven freight elevators, only one of which served all floors. All elevators had been upgraded to incorporate firefighter emergency operation per American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) A17.1 and Local Law 5 (1973).

From an online reproduction of a 1967 Otis Bulletin article from the Otis Elevator Company, the company contracted to install all of the WTC Tower elevators in 1967:
In addition to normal freight service one freight elevator in each of the towers will serve a total of 112 stops from the fifth basement to the 108th floor. It will rise 1,387 feet (422.8 meters) – 400 feet (122 meters) more than the former record rise in the Empire State Building.

And finally, from NIST NCSTAR 1-7, Occupant Behavior, Egress, and Emergency Communications, page 34 (page 72 of the PDF file):
In addition to the passenger elevators, there were seven freight elevators in each tower; most served a particular zone, while Car 50 served every floor.
So we conclude from all of the above only one elevator per building had access from the fifth basement level to the 108th floor, and this was Car 50. These would be the “main” freight elevators in each tower.

USA Today published an article by Gregg Zoroya titled “The Griffiths”, the online version of which was last updated September 10th, 2002, on two survivors of the WTC disaster in New York. The two survivors were husband and wife, and were also both elevator operators for the North Tower, WTC1, the same building relevant in the testimonies of Lt. Walsh, Phillip Morelli, William Rodriguez, and Mike Pecoraro.

The husband, Arturo Griffith, operated WTC1 elevator Car 50, which USA Today further describes as, “the big freight car going from the six-level basement to the 108th floor.”
[The Griffiths] were both operating elevators in the north tower on Sept. 11. Arturo was running 50A, the big freight car going from the six-level basement to the 108th floor. When American Airlines Flight 11 struck at 8:46 a.m., Arturo and a co-worker were heading from the second-level basement to the 49th floor. Like his wife, who had just closed the doors on a passenger elevator leaving the 78th floor, Arturo heard a sudden whistling sound and the impact. Cables were severed and Arturo's car plunged into free fall.
"The only thing I remember saying was 'Oh, God, Oh, God, I'm going to die,' " he says, recalling how he tried to protect his head as the car plummeted.
The emergency brakes caught after 15 or 16 floors. The imploding elevator door crushed Arturo's right knee and broke the tibia below it. His passenger escaped injury.
There is a one-story discrepancy of this elevator’s range with Otis Elevator Company’s 1967 Bulletin article (six vs. five accessible basement levels), but it remains clear that the main freight elevator is indeed the elevator relevant to this article.
Though the door to Mr. Griffith’s elevator was knocked out when the safety brakes caught the free-falling elevator, there was no fuel-air explosion (FAE) down this elevator shaft.

Remember that such an event is hypothesized to have not only traveled hundreds of feet down this elevator shaft into the basement, but to have also caused major destruction in the basement levels of WTC1 as reported by Rodriguez, Pecoraro, Morelli, and their co-workers, including a destroyed basement machine shop, and blown-out, lower-level elevators accessing the lobby.

This contrasts with the account of Mr. Griffith’s wife, Carmen:
A full elevator had just left the 78th floor, and Carmen was about to carry up six or seven stragglers. The plane struck as the doors of her elevator closed. They could hear debris smash into the top of the car; then the elevator cracked open, and flames poured in. Carmen jammed her fingers between the closed doors, pulled them partly open and held them as passengers clambered over and under her 5-foot-6 frame to escape.
Before finally throwing herself out onto the lobby floor, she glanced back to be sure the elevator was empty. That was when fire scorched her face with second- and third-degree burns, and literally welded her hooped right earring to her neck. Her hands were badly burned.
Note that Mrs. Griffith was not on the elevator that had access to the basement levels. Also note that, though she was burned, there was not a blast characteristic of an explosion that would cause such destruction as what was witnessed in the WTC1 basements, or else Mrs. Griffith surely would not have survived.

Car 6
The following excerpt comes again from NIST NCSTAR 1-7, page 34 (page 72 of the PDF file).
In addition to the passenger elevators, there were seven freight elevators in each tower; most served a particular zone, while Car 50 served every floor.
• Car #5: B1-5, 6, 9-40, 44
• Car #6: B1-5, 44, 75, 77-107 (Dual-use express, see below)
[…]
There were two express elevators (#6 and #7) to Windows on the World (and related conference rooms and banquet facilities) in WTC 1 and two to the observation deck in WTC 2. There were five local elevators in each building: three that brought people from the subterranean levels to the lobby, one that ran between floors 106 and 110, and one that ran between floors 43 and 44, serving the cafeteria from the skylobby. All elevators had been upgraded to incorporate firefighter emergency operation requirements.
So we see that another elevator, Car 6, ran from the impacted floors of WTC1 to sublevel B1, but no further.

From page 122 of the same document (page 160 of the PDF file):
For an elevator’s cables to be cut and result in dropping the car to the bottom of the shaft, the cables would need to have been in the aircraft impact debris path, floors 93 through 98 in WTC 1 or floors 78 through 83 in WTC 2. Inspection of the elevator riser diagram and architectural floor plans for WTC 1 shows that the following elevators met these criteria: cars 81 through 86 (Bank B) and 87 through 92 (Bank C), local cars in Zone III; car 50, the freight elevator, and car 6, the Zone III shuttle. … Cars 6 and 50 could have fallen all the way to the pit in the sub-basement level, and car 50 in WTC 1 was reported to have done so.


Here, NIST states explicitly that elevator Car 6, along with Car 50, were the sole elevators of WTC1 with access to the basements from the impacted floors of WTC1. And as noted in the previous excerpt from NCSTAR 1-7, Car 6 only reached sub level B1, the uppermost basement level, while explosions and other destructive events were observed on B1 as well as below B1, on B2 and possibly lower (see the above testimonies of Rodriguez and Pecoraro).

Conclusions:
All of the above information should bring us to the logical conclusion that a fuel-air explosion did not travel hundreds of feet down the main freight elevator shaft of WTC1, from the impacted floors to the basements, to cause structural damage to the basement floors and lobby. Car 50 was the only elevator with access from the impacted floors of WTC1 to the sub levels B6 and below, and its operator survived, having experienced no explosions or fireballs down the main freight shaft.
That such a fireball could have traveled down Car 6 has not specifically been ruled out by the above information, but it could not have extended beyond sub level B1, whereas explosive events caused much destruction on lower floors.
Also, considering an FAE traveling down this shaft sufficient in strength to destroy a machine shop in the basement levels (as per Pecoraro’s testimony), even if this elevator had access to this floor, and cause elevators servicing the lowest floors to blow out (as per Walsh’s testimony), as well as additional structure damage in the basements, it seems extremely unlikely, if not impossible, that the shaft itself, and neighboring floors all the way down would not be similarly destroyed by the massive over pressures accompanying this FAE down the building. Put simply, an FAE moving down an elevator shaft and causing severe damage in basement levels with massive force, could also be expected to destroy the shaft itself, especially since this shaft would be a very confined area, and its wall supposedly not reinforced by any concrete in the walls or etc.
The visible fuel-air explosions caused by the impacts visibly failed to destroy even the outer perimeter columns of the impacted floors, or to even remove their aluminum cladding, which was only fastened on and not solidly connected. Only the plane impacts themselves severed perimeter columns or caused such damage to the aluminum cladding. There is no evidence of great over pressures from the fireball itself if it traveled down the shafts either in the interior or exterior.
How, then, could a fireball that failed to remove this aluminum cladding in its immediate blast, travel down over a thousand feet of an unprotected elevator shaft and maintain sufficient over pressures to shatter concrete and steel fire doors, and cause a cave in at level B-4?
It has already been shown that the operator of elevator 50, the main freight, did not even experience a fireball, let alone life-threatening overpressures. This fits logically with the lack of exterior damage shown above.

More realistic explanations of the WTC1 basement events, including the use of secondary explosive devices, should be considered.

[10] This document is hosted by NIST at http://wtc.nist.gov/NISTNCSTAR1-1.pdf. Alternately, a cache of the document is hosted at Studyof911.com at http://www.studyof911.com/cached/NIST/NISTNCSTAR1-1.pdf.
This page can be found at http://www.otis.com/otis150/section/1,2344,ARC2495_CLI41_RES1_SEC5,00.html. A cache is hosted at Studyof911.com at http://www.studyof911.com/cached/1,2344,ARC2495_CLI41_RES1_SEC5,00.html.
This documented is hosted by NIST at http://wtc.nist.gov/NISTNCSTAR1-7.pdf. A cache of this document is hosted at Studyof911.com at http://www.studyof911.com/cached/NIST/NISTNCSTAR1-7.pdf.
This page can be found at http://www.usatoday.com/life/sept11/2002-09-10-surivivor-griffiths_x.htm. A cache is hosted at Studyof911.com at http://www.studyof911.com/cached/2002-09-10-surivivor-griffiths_x.htm.
Source: “bsbray” of Studyof911.com, Oct. 31, 2006. Last updated Feb. 17, 2007 (added photos and more technical data). Drawn heavily from the research of AboveTopSecret.com forum member “Valhall”, with additional helpful feedback from “ashmok” of the same forums (Thanks, you two!).


Do the orders still stand?