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Wacko 9-11 conspiracy theorists targeting woman and her Flight 93 crash photo
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a story up today on Val McClatchey, a woman who took a photo of a plume of smoke she saw shortly after the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA on September 11. Ms. McClatchey’s photo has been used in many major news publications, in in the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit, and proceeds from picture sales have gone to the Todd Beamer Foundation.
Unfortunately, this picture has also brought out the looney conspiracy theorists who are claiming her picture is a “fake.” Here’s more, via the Post-Gazette:
STOYSTOWN, Pa. — It was a remarkable shot that produced a one-of-a-kind image: a green pasture, red barns in the distance and, against a brilliant blue and cloudless sky, a lone mushroom cloud of dark gray smoke.
Taken the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, seconds after United Airlines Flight 93 plunged into a nearby field, the eerie photo was, and still is, according to the FBI, the closest thing it’s got to an image of the crash itself.
Val McClatchey snapped the single picture with her new digital camera. The wife and mother had been sitting on the edge of her sofa, clutching her second cup of coffee and watching the smoking towers of the World Trade Center on TV, when she heard the sudden surge of a plane engine, followed by a violent, house-shaking boom. Mrs. McClatchey grabbed the camera and ran onto the front porch of her house along Indian Lake.
[...]
But Mrs. McClatchey’s fame has recently taken a sour turn. The real estate agent has recently become a target of bloggers calling themselves “9-11 researchers,” who are seeking to prove that the U.S. government was complicit in the attacks that brought down the Twin Towers, pierced the Pentagon and crashed United Airlines Flight 93. “The End of Serenity” has turned out to be their smoking gun.
The smoke plume doesn’t line up right, they say. It is too large in the frame. The smoke is characteristic of an ordnance blast, not a jet fuel fire, further evidence that the government shot down Flight 93. They analyze wind direction, debris patterns and camera trajectories, all in the service of the theory that the crash was faked.
They have visited Mrs. McClatchey’s office and called her at home, posting satellite maps of her property and accusing her of digitally altering her photo to insert a fake smoke plume. The bloggers have picked apart her story, highlighting inconsistencies in different news accounts and questioning her motives. Others have described her as “surly,” “hostile,” “irate” and “defensive.” People have called her at home, accusing her of being anti-American and of “holding the photo hostage.”
On a simple Google search, Mrs. McClatchey’s name now pops up in the same sentence as “total fraud.”
Here’s what I found via the Google search engine – notice how many nutcases are questioning the authenticity of the photo?
Questioning whether or not a photo is real or not in and of itself is not a bad thing. It’s the targeting of this woman’s office, home – essentially invading her privacy, that is totally unacceptable.
Memo to the nutjobs: Confine your stupid conspiracy theories to discussions amongst yourselves and on your blogs. Stop harassing this woman just because you believe 9-11 was an ‘inside job.’
Hat tip: Betsy Newmark
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8 Responses to “Wacko 9-11 conspiracy theorists targeting woman and her Flight 93 crash photo”
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These ‘conspiracy theorists’ are such lowlifes. The deception they are under is so incredibly scary. Ohhh they are just so tolerant, unless you don’t agree with them, or you have evidence that doesn’t back up the garbage they believe in. My prayers are with Val McClatchey’s family, I do pray for their protection. God how can people be so easily deceived??? – Lorica
Lorica – being out of power in some circles, means never having to be civil, worry about lying, or show the slightest shred of character. It’s all for the cause, and if a few innocent patriotic citizens have to suffer, that’s just too bad.
- Bang
I noticed that most of the links on the google page (the first page at least) all ended up at killtown. Ahhh the joy of trackbacks. Make a ridiculous statement then get your buddies to track back to it.
Is it possible that liberalism is not an alternative point of view anymore? It’s almost as if you must be mentally ill to be a liberal.
If I were a liberal I’d be calling on these people at the top of my lungs to cut it out and be civil. Alternative view points are acceptable but not the behavior of these people.
The LACK of me hearing others condemning these nutjobs on the left is really dissappointing.
There may be people on the left doing so but it isn’t loud enough and often enough and it needs to be louder and more often. Period.
How can people be so easily deceived Lorica? I think it is because this zany 9/11 conspiracy theory serve several purposes:
1. The appeal to intellectual and moral vanity. The 9/11 conspiracy theorists have the delicious feeling of being “in the know” about what is going on – smarter and more astute than the unwashed heathen who do not believe. It is a kind of secular cult where the truth must always give way to the Truth.
2. The confirmation of a certain world-view. For all their airs about disinterested intellectual pursuit of the truth, the 9/11 conspiracy theorists are confined by a very stark and simplistic view of the world. They feel that they represent all goodness and light, whereas critics represent all darkness and evil. They hate Bush, so therefore that proves he was behind the 9/11 attacks.
3. The Cassandra Principle. From Greek mythology, Cassandra was a daughter of Priam, the king of Troy, endowed with the gift of prophecy but fated by god Apollo never to be believed. 9/11 conspiracy theorists believe themselves not only to be historically right and morally and intellectually superior, but downright heroic for standing up to the Evil Overlords that they imagine actually control history behind the scenes.
Thus, putting evidence in front of them that proves they are wrong is like pouring gasoline on a fire. They will simply become more enraged (since you have profaned the Truth) – and more certain they are right.
In this case, how do you deal with the 9/11 conspiracy theorists? I think that you must debunk them whenever they surface, and never ever underestimate them. Keeping the facts before the public is the best weapon we have.
Stop! These people know what they’re talking about. They know the truth of what’s going on. You see, Elvis got the info from aliens working out of area 51. They’ve been monitoring government activity and can bring about world peace and end all suffering if only they can stop George Bush, who is really an evil wizard. So now you know.
Good grief, these people are vulghers, sick ass moonbats from hell.
I’m gonna try to get on one of their sites and reek havek on their site, I’m sick of these lying pieces of s*%t and they’ve been debunked by all the best professionals but they keep on going with this crap.
How do these people have and keep a job?
It’s called “tenure”.