- On September 11 2001, as the eyes of the nation were
focused on the gruesome events at the World Trade Center, the networks
interrupted their coverage in New York with a breaking story from Washington.
A large plane had just been sighted over the White House. Exactly when
it first appeared is not certain, but the reports aired at about the time
of the pentagon strike, or just before. Witnesses who saw the mystery plane
say it circled over Washington. CNN's Senior White House correspondent
John King saw it while standing in Lafayette Park, directly across from
the White House. King reported live that "about 10 minutes ago, there
was a white jet circling overhead. Now, you generally don't see planes
in the area over the White House. That is restricted air space. No reason
to believe that this jet was there for any nefarious purposes, but the
Secret Service was very concerned, pointing up at the jet in the sky."[1]
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- Kate Snow, another CNN correspondent, was standing two
blocks from the Capitol when she saw the plane. Snow mentioned it on-air,
adding that a security guard told her it was responsible for the decision
to evacuate the seat of government.[2] In his book Against All Enemies,
counter-terrorism czar Richard A. Clark mentions that the decision to evacuate
the White House was made after a warning from the Secret Service about
the approach of an unidentified aircraft.[3] Was this the mystery plane?
ABC, NBC and FOX News picked up the story on 9/11. CNN actually filmed
the mysterious plane as it flew over the Capitol, but, unfortunately, it
was too far away to identify.
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- The sighting of a large white plane above the White House
and Capitol on September 11, 2001 was very strange, because the airspace
over Washington is probably the most restricted on the planet. At the time,
the World Trade Center in New York was in flames. Hundreds of people had
already perished. Multiple hijackings were known to be in progress. The
only planes that should have been in the skies over Washington were fighters
for the purpose of protecting the nation's capital. Yet, as we know, the
city was undefendedtotally exposed. Scrambled F-16 fighters
from Langley AFB, located near Norfolk, Virginia, failed to establish a
Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over Washington until shortly before 10 AMmuch
too late. And subsequently, as we also know, the 911 Commission absolved
the Joint Chiefs of all responsibility. The 9/11 panel put the blame for
the security breach squarely on the FAA for failing to notify NORAD of
the hijackings. Incidentally, the pentagon has also dismissed the news
reports cited above. To this day the US military claims that it knows nothing
about a large plane circling over Washington on 9/11. So, what is going
on, here? Did a large unidentified plane circle over Washington, or not?
And if so, what does it mean?
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- After a crime it is standard procedure for police detectives
to interrogate witnesses who were at the scene, and cross-check their testimony
in an attempt to reconstruct what actually happened. Had the members of
the 9/11 Commission been serious about their charge to provide "the
fullest possible account" of the horrific events of September 11 2001,
they would have followed this kind of procedure. Certainly the news reports
and eyewitness accounts merited close attention. These were obvious starting
points for the official investigation. It was not necessary to go above
and beyond the call of duty. Had the members of the panel merely done their
job they would have discovered the evidence I am about to present and,
in all likelihood, would also have drawn the correct conclusions. But the
simple fact is, the commission never investigated the mystery plane. The
9/11 Commission Report doesn't even mention itone of many
grave omissions.
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- After I recently posted an article about 9/11, an independent
investigator directed me to some stunning evidenceof which
I was unawareabout the mystery plane. I was surprised to
learn that this evidence has been available on the internet for quite some
time. It seems that during the evacuation of the White House on 9/11 a
woman captured an amazing photo of the mystery plane. Linda Brookhart,
at the time Vice President of the Taxpayer Federation of Illinois, was
in Washington on September 11 attending a National Taxpayers Conference
in the Old Executive Office Building (located immediately next to the White
House) when she and many others were told to vacate the building. Linda
explained to me that after she walked outside she was standing in the street
talking with a security guard when she just happened to look up and see
the plane.[4] She then snapped this excellent photo with her Pentax. It
refutes the pentagon and, fortunately, also enables us to identify the
mystery planeas we will see.
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- Nor is this all. The same investigator also told me about
another equally stunning piece of evidence. As it happened, a second individual
also filmed the mystery plane on September 11 as it made a banking turn
over Washington; and this short video segment even appeared in a made-for-TV
docudrama about Flight 93. The two-hour movie was titled The Flight that
Fought Back, and it aired on the Discovery Channel in August 2005. Once
alerted to its existence, I had no difficulty locating this short segment
on the internet. Someone had pulled it from the film and posted it at You-Tube
as part of a short melange of video footage about 9/11. Anyone with access
to cyberspace may view it on line.[5] The following still-shot was taken
from this footage.
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- A DVD of the original Discovery Channel program is also
available, and can be purchased at Amazon.com. The crucial segment appears
47 minutes into the film (in scene four). It is not a part of the dramatic
production per se, but is a short segment of raw documentary footage embedded
in the film. The crucial segment is very brief, only about three-seconds
long, which may help to explain why this remarkable footage has not attracted
more attention. Frankly, I was astonished when I learned about it, since
I had seen no reference to this video evidence in the published literature
about 9/11, nor on any of the many 9/11 web sites. I now realize I simply
missed it. Pilots for 9/11 Truth has long featured an excellent forum discussion
about this video.[6] Although the cameraman has not yet been identified,
there is every reason to believe the footage is bona fide.
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- As I've noted, in the video the plane makes a banking
turn. The angle is fortunate, because it brought the plane's unique features
and markings into plain view. There can be no doubt as to the plane's identity.
The aircraft belonged to the US Air Force. Moreover, this was no ordinary
plane. It was an E-4B, the US military's most advanced electronics platform.
Even a casual comparison shows that the still-shot from the docudrama matches
an official photo (see below) of the E-4B, from a USAF web site.[7] There
can be no mistake.
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- The plane is a modified Boeing 747-200. Notice the white
color, the US flag painted on the vertical stabilizer (i.e, the tail),
and the blue stripe and insignia on the fuselage. The clincher, however,
is the "bump" directly behind the bulging 747 cockpit. It is
clearly discernible in both photos. No other plane has this piggy-backed
appendage. It is unique to the E-4B, and is integral to the plane's military
role as an airborne command center. The appendage contains a communication
satellite dish and perhaps other advanced electronic hardware. In fact,
this is the same plane that Linda Brookhart photographed outside the White
House. Although her vantage point was not idealLinda was
standing in the street looking almost straight up when she snapped the
shotnonetheless, a careful inspection shows that the plane
in her photo is an E-4B. Notice, the aircraft has four engines and all
of the characteristics of a Boeing 747. In addition to the white color,
which is also a match, there is another crucial detail that positively
identifies the airplane. Notice the tiny blue spot near the rear of the
aircraft. Several close-ups of an E-4B clearly show that this blue spot
is simply the place where the blue stripes painted on the fuselage come
together at the rear of the aircraft.
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- This is the only place on the 747 fuselage where the
E-4B's otherwise conspicuous blue stripes are visible, from beneath. No
other airplane has this combination of features. Linda explained to me
that at the time of the evacuation she believed the White House was the
target of the attack. She snapped the picture before the towering plume
of smoke became visible at the pentagon, which suggests that the E-4B was
already circling at the time of the pentagon strike. Linda later contacted
the FBI about her photograph. After she developed the film an agent came
by her office to pick up a copy. But she never heard back. Nor did the
9/11 Commission ask her to testify. In fact, they never even contacted
her.[8]
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- No Ordinary Plane
- Again, I must emphasize: this is no ordinary plane. The
E-4B's official designation is the National Emergency Airborne Command
Post (NEACP), pronounced "knee-cap." But the aircraft is more
commonly known as the "doomsday plane," because its premier function
is to serve as a flying command, control and communications (C3) center
in the event of a national emergencyor nuclear war. When
the president travels on Air Force One, an E-4B usually follows behind
the presidential entourage. Unlike Air Force One, however, the E-4B can
be refueled in midair and so has considerably greater range. For this reason,
when the president goes abroad on long trips he occasionally flies on an
E-4B to save travel time. The plane also doubles as a mobile office for
the Secretary of Defense. Recently, for example, when the newly appointed
Defense Secretary Robert Gates traveled to London for talks with Prime
Minister Tony Blair, he rode on an E-4B. According to various reports,
his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, often used the plane, and much preferred
it.
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- A recent article in the Air Force Civil Engineer describes
the E-4B as "a truly amazing" aircraft, and provides more details
about its impressive specs.[9] The $250 million dollar aircraft has all
of the advanced electronics needed for world-wide communication. If Air
Force One can be accurately described as a flying White House, then, the
E-4B is a substitute pentagon. The plane's electronics cover the full radio
spectrum, from extremely low frequency (ELF) to high frequency (UHF). Which
enables the E-4B to communicate with all US military commands, world-wide,
including tactical and strategic forces, naval ships, planes, nuclear-armed
missiles, even submarines. In short, the E-4B is a fully equipped communications
platform and can serve as an airborne command center for all US military
forces in a national crisis. The plane carries its own electrical-generating
plant to power its electronic hardware, which is also shielded against
the damaging electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects generated by nuclear explosions.
Even the plane's white color is a design featurenot simply
cosmetic. Its purpose is to help the E-4B survive in a nuclear battlefield
by reflecting heat away from the plane.
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- The E-4B carries a crew of 64, but can accommodate an
additional 50 passengers, for a total of 114. The large 747 fuselage includes
command and work areas, conference and briefing rooms, as well as an operations
center or battle station. In addition the plane reportedly has a rest area,
bunks for sleeping, even a galley stocked with a week of provisions. The
Air Force has four E-4Bs, and they are normally assigned to Offutt AFB,
near Omaha, Nebraska. Offutt is the home of STRATCOM, i.e., the Strategic
Command (formerly the Strategic Air Command).
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- Practicing Armageddon
- According to one report, on September 11, 2001 three
of the E-4Bs were participating in a live command-level exercise known
as Global Guardian.[10] The exercise is an annual event, and is staged
to test the readiness of the US military's command and control procedures
involved in waging thermonuclear war. The 2001 exercise started the week
before September 11 under the directorship of Admiral Richard Mies, commander-in-chief
of STRATCOM. According to various reports, the drill was in "full
swing" at the time of the 9/11 attack. Numerous other military commands
were also involved, including NORAD. While few details have been released,
we know that in previous years the US Space Command, the Air Combat Command,
and the US Atlantic and Pacific Fleets were also involved.[11]
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- Starting in the 1990s, Global Guardian included pre-planned
mock attacks upon the military's computer and information systems. For
example, during the 1998 exercise "terrorists" attempted to disrupt
STRATCOM's internal communications by hacking into its computers, and also
by tying up its phone/FAX lines with phony messages.[12] Evidently, these
"terrorist attacks" were at least partly successful, although
the details have not been released. In recent years, the military has incorporated
similar "attacks" into Global Guardian exercises. However, it
is not known if these were a part of the 2001 drill. We do know that at
the time of the 9/11 attack one of the E-4Bs was en route to Offutt AFB
with a high-level military advisory panel on board, including its chairman,
retired Lt. General Brent Scowcroft, evidently for the purpose of observing
the exercise. The role of this panel, known as the Foreign Intelligence
Advisory Board (FIAB), is to monitor US intelligence agencies. As we know,
STRATCOM abruptly terminated the 2001 exercise at 9:03 AM, when Flight
175 crashed into the South Tower.[13] However, the E-4Bs remained aloft.[14]
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- In previous years the military always staged Global Guardian
in October or November; and the 2001 exercise was likewise originally scheduled
for October, according to various reports.[15] Curiously, however, for
reasons never disclosed, the Joint Chiefs changed the plan and conducted
the 2001 exercise during the week of September 11. The following year the
date reverted back. The 2002 Global Guardian came off in October, as in
previous years, and this has continued to be the case.[16]
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- All of which raises disturbing questions. Why did the
Joint Chiefs change the date of Global Guardian in 2001? Even more importantly,
why was the world's most sophisticated electronics warfare plane circling
over Washington at the time of the September 11 attack? Recently, when
the investigator who contacted me filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerning the presence
of the E-4B over Washington on 9/11, the FAA responded that it "had
no knowledge" of such a plane. My contact also shared the basic information
presented in this article with his Congressman, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA),
and requested that he look into the matter. Schiff then made a formal inquiry
through official channels, but was told that the Air Force knows nothing.
Obviously, the pentagon is lying. If the E-4B was on a legitimate mission
on September 11, why does the military deny its presence? Why would they
do this? When people lie it is generally because they have something to
hide. Is the US military any different?
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- Catch-22: The Need for a New Investigation
- Although Linda Brookhart's photo provides sufficient
detail to positively ID the mystery plane, the short segment from the Discovery
Channel docudrama is extremely important corroborating evidence. For which
reason, myself and others have been working diligently to learn more about
it. The E-4B footage occurs in the Discovery film in the context of the
evacuation of the White House and Capitol building on 9/11. This definitely
places it in Washington on the day of the attack. However, we still don't
know who filmed it. Nor does the footage include any visual evidence linking
it to Washington. According to the credits for The Flight that Fought Back,
a London-based company named Brook Lapping produced the docudrama for the
Discovery Channel. When I contacted Brook Lapping I was told they used
the E-4B footage under license from FOX News, which holds the copyright.
Brook Lapping also informed me they could provide no further assistance
in the matter. After numerous phone calls I was led to a company called
ITN Source, which handles all of FOX's licensing contracts. A cordial individual
at their Burbank office assisted me. However, a search failed to locate
the short segment in the FOX News archive, at which point I was informed
that there was nothing more they could do. My repeated attempts to contact
the FOX legal department were also fruitless. FOX never responded to my
queries. Thus, my investigation reached a blind alley. Evidently the same
thing has happened to others. According to Linda Brookhart, "Every
time someone has tried to research this plane it becomes a dead end."[17]
Shades of Catch-22
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- All of this underscores the urgent need for a new 9/11
investigation: It must be nonpartisan, independent, adequately funded,
and empowered with the authority to subpoena witnesses. Representatives
of FOX News must be brought before a genuine panel and made to testify
under oath about the whereabouts of this important evidence; and why it
was made to go bye-bye. Without a true investigation, we will probably
never learn the truth about September 11.
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- Stay tuned. This is the first in a series. More to come...
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- Mark H Gaffney's book Gnostic Secrets of the Naassenes
was a finalist for the 2004 Narcissus Book Award. Mark can be reached for
comment at markhgaffney@earthlink.net Visit Mark's web site at www.gnosticsecrets.com
-
- NOTES
- 1 The transcript is posted at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/11/bn.06.html
- 2 The transcript is posted at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/11/bn.05.html
- 3 Richard A. Clark, Against All Enemies, Free Press,
New York, 2004, p. 7.
- 4 email from Linda Brookhart, March 25, 2007.
- 5 The short segment may be viewed at: http://911stealth.blogspot.com/2006/09/hidden-advanced-aircraft-of-bushs.html
- Or at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGSwve_BU9I
- 6 This page has an excellent discussion of the mystery
plane: http://z9.invisionfree.com/Pilots_For_Truth/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=483
- 7 http://www.strategic-air-command.com/aircraft/command/e-4B_NOAC_Airplane.htm
- 8 emails from Linda Brookhart, March 25 and 27, 2007.
- 9 Lt. Col James P. Zemotel, USSTRATCOM/J643, "CEs
Still Have Aircrew Mission," Air Force Civil Engineer, Vol. 14 #2,
2006
- 10 Joe Dejka, "Inside STRATCOM on September 11:
Offutt exercise took real-life twist," Omaha World-Herald, February
27, 2002.
- 11 Col. Joe Wasiak, "Global Guardian '99,"
The Collins Center Update, Vol 1, Issue 3, December 1999.
- 12 Ward Parker, "Incorporating IA into Global Guardian,"
IA Newsletter, IATAC, Vol 2, No 1, Summer 1998.
- 13 US DoD, News Transcript, "Secretary Rumsfeld
Interview with the Washington Post," January 9, 2002, posted at http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2002/t02052002_t0109wp.html
- 14 Joe Dejka, "Inside STRATCOM on September 11:
Offutt exercise took real-life twist," Omaha World-Herald, February
27, 2002.
- 15 Space Observer, March 23, 2001, p. 2; William Arkin,
a military analyst, corroborated this in his 2005 book, Code Names, which
mentions an October 22-31 date.
- 16 See the discussion about Global Guardian at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/global-guardian.htm
- 17 email from Linda Brookhart, March 25, 2007.
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- Comment
Name Witheld
4-8-7
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- The mysterious "white plane" seen flying over
the D.C on 9-11 by Mark H. Gaffney. He may have correctly identified the
aircraft in the pictures as an E4-B, but the article goes on to incorrectly
state that "Unlike Air Force One, however, the E-4B can be refueled
in midair and so has considerably greater range". Think about it that
statement. If the President is on Air Force One and a national emergency
occurs, will he have the time or the safety to land and change planes?
If he is on Air Force One and has to stay airborne past the takeoff fuel
load, don't you think Air Force One would have the capability to be refueled?
Nah, they will just let him run out of gas and crash. I hate to break the
news to you, but Air Force One can also be refueled air to air. Another
fact for you .. both aircraft can also refuel their fighter escorts.
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