Telling the Truth from the Lie

This embedded 7-minute-and-54-second You Tube clip captures some decisive moments in Craig Ranke's and Aldo Marquis' new 1-hour, 20-minute, and 38-second film, the PentaCon Smoking Gun, the short version of a threatened multi-hour Researcher's Edition, yet to be released.

In a film constructed with little technical savvy and almost no artistry, whatever special effects that are sprung for stand out like sore thumbs. This clip seems cut to highlight its opening exchange, as an off-camera Ranke grills a gum-chewing police officer, Sgt. William Lagasse, asking him the pivotal question,

"Now how sure are you that the plane was to the north, was coming from the north side of the Navy Annex--you were saying that it was pretty much between the Navy Annex and Arlington cemetery, how certain are you of that?

Sgt. Lagasse answers clearly: "100 percent, I'd bet my life on it." Apparently, this doesn't drive a stake all the way through the heart of the matter, as the film makers immediately cut to a close up of Lagasse repeating the same line, but this time channeling Linda Blair of The Exorcist. He might as well have said, "your mother sucks cocks in hell," as gas hoses fly off pumps, the effect is so startling given the grave documentary context.

As if that weren't enough to pound get it? into our skulls, Ranke gives the OK, then pauses for a full 8 seconds of silence to collect himself, before moving on.

The devil on the Pentagon stage, September 11, 2001, was once satisfied with inside jokes and bright shiny fire trucks and ambulances--now he wants speaking roles! What's next? His name on the Marquis?

But competition comes from up above, arriving 30 seconds into the clip, as a low-altitude jet-liner flies overhead, making such a racket that the men's small talk is completely drowned out. They, however, remain oblivious. Since jet traffic is constant throughout the longer version of the film, often with the metronome of criss-crossing helicopters as an accompaniment, it's obvious one gets used to the steady noise in Arlington, and pays it little mind.

This stands in marked juxtaposition to the meme of September 11: eyewitnesses expressing shock at hearing a low altitude jet-liner flying in "unused" or "closed" airspace. Whatever flew into, over, or around the Pentagon that morning, came in at extremely high rate of speed, descending into a bowl whose perimeters were entirely controlled by the Department of Defense, passing a population customarily inured to the constant low-level air-traffic noise of a nearby airport, crashing in fact, at the exact spot where other air traffic regularly lands, which could explain why some people witnessed a helicopter as involved.

And what precision, for a suicidal Muslim ideologue who probably didn't intend to leave the world a single message: that he was a terrific pilot.

The vast majority of eyewitness statements will be judged as false, based on the physical science of vortex and lamp pole, as inconsistent with one or more aspects of the results of a computer modeling of events. But our government refuses to undertake a science in the service of truth. Determining motive will be a little harder but not much.

I spoke with Craig Ranke about the route his research took, how he got in touch with the police officers for instance. He came right out and said he called the Pentagon Police Department, with Officer Brooks eyewitness report was contained in the Smithsonian Museum archive. No prouder American institution took a dive for 9-11 more than castle on the Mall. I'm sure it pained curators to mount exhibitions of historical artifacts like the following









The Smithsonian would be the last place I'd look for truth under the circumstances, especially from a couple of cops, who are forced to lie as a primary function of their jobs, as muscle for our long established system of creating reality.

Where I live, a rare breach in the blue wall of silence occurred several years back and it had to do with lies. A high-level officer, who spent most of his six-figure professional life in service to his benevolent union business, was also running for local elected political office. In the middle of the campaign however, he was forced to step down, rumor and editorial having it, the expense of keeping some scandal quiet. Several months later, he did the unthinkable, surely as revenge, when he came out in letters-to-the-editor accusing a fellow officer of lying on the stand in a manslaughter case. In that case, the testifying officer had been off-duty without leave the night in question, but that didn't stop him from giving a soup-to-nuts report in a hit-and-run case, when he had never actual been on the scene. Winding them up and telling them what to say, being the operative details in jury trials. Neither received any consequence for the actions other than eventual retirement. And the rumored scandal that started the whole affair? The first officer was implicated in a matter of a theft from the police Chief's locked safe, where evidence of other scandals was held.

Officer Lagasse, who is given too much time to talk in this film relative to his contribution, argues away inconvenient facts by saying "What official story? The only official story would have been the Arlington County Police report done after the event. There's no official story other than that, that's the After-Action Report, that was written by the Arlington County, the Fire Department, along with the police agencies and the Pentagon police, at the time, the Defense Protective Services," and it's just too damn bad if the report is silent on the issue at question.
Facts not existing if they don't make it into the report.