BYU Prof. Jones, 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist, Sacked
Brigham Young University Professor, Dr. Stephen Jones, a physics prof who has been involved in the so-called "9-11 Truth Movement", has been put on paid leave following release by the US State Department of a 10,000 page rebuttal of all of the accusations and conspiracy theories put forward by Jones.
BYU released the following statement:
This action comes despite Dr. Jones having taught at this institution for more than 20 years, however, controversy isn't new to his tenure. His primary focus in physics has been the study of the cold fusion phenomenon, which remains a subject of wide dispute in and out of the physics community as to whether it actually occurs, or if another physical process is involved, beyond the fact that no feasible means of over unity power generation has resulted despite nearly two decades of work by thousands on the subject.
With regard to 9-11, Jones believes that unknown government agencies orchestrated the 9-11 attacks on the twin towers and claims to have evidence to support his assertion. He published his theories in a paper titled, "Why Indeed did the World Trade Center Buildings Collapse?", and in particular claimed that analysis of 9-11 materials showed signs of thermite being used to implode the buildings as a demolition team would do. It is claimed, the officially recognised terrorists never had access to thermite, and unless they had prepositioned teams installing charges in the columns before the collapse, that the building would not have collapsed.
I've dealt with a number of folks claiming all sorts of things regarding 9-11, and found their arguments to be flawed for many reasons (as previously detailed). One of the biggest problems with this demolition theory is that it is based first on the claim that burning jet fuel doesn't burn hot enough to weaken structural steel. This is false. While jet fuel ignites and burns in an open pit at temperatures of 800-900 degrees, its temperature rises under flu-like conditions (such as in a jet engine, or with skyscrapers chimney and wind effects) to temperatures of 1350 degrees, at which temperature, structural steel loses 60% of its strength.
You can't get any of these people to admit to this, of course, because that would completely eliminate their assumptions that make the implosion theory unnecessary. Another claim is that film footage of the collapse shows that jets of smoke blew out of windows before the collapse reached them, and that these jets of smoke were from the thermit charges going off, shattering the support columns of the building. The problem with these claims is that it just isn't true. The jets of smoke shooting out windows are due to the floors above collapsing, driving smoke and dust down the stairwells and out into lower floors that had shattered windows, where the smoke and dust exited.
Deseret Morning News article on the story reports that:
BYU released the following statement:
"Physics Professor Steven Jones has made numerous statements about the collapse of the World Trade Center. BYU has repeatedly said that it does not endorse assertions made by individual faculty.
"We are, however, concerned about the increasingly speculative and accusatory nature of these statements by Dr. Jones."
The university added, "BYU remains concerned that Dr. Jones' works on this topic has not been published in appropriate scientific venues."
This action comes despite Dr. Jones having taught at this institution for more than 20 years, however, controversy isn't new to his tenure. His primary focus in physics has been the study of the cold fusion phenomenon, which remains a subject of wide dispute in and out of the physics community as to whether it actually occurs, or if another physical process is involved, beyond the fact that no feasible means of over unity power generation has resulted despite nearly two decades of work by thousands on the subject.
With regard to 9-11, Jones believes that unknown government agencies orchestrated the 9-11 attacks on the twin towers and claims to have evidence to support his assertion. He published his theories in a paper titled, "Why Indeed did the World Trade Center Buildings Collapse?", and in particular claimed that analysis of 9-11 materials showed signs of thermite being used to implode the buildings as a demolition team would do. It is claimed, the officially recognised terrorists never had access to thermite, and unless they had prepositioned teams installing charges in the columns before the collapse, that the building would not have collapsed.
I've dealt with a number of folks claiming all sorts of things regarding 9-11, and found their arguments to be flawed for many reasons (as previously detailed). One of the biggest problems with this demolition theory is that it is based first on the claim that burning jet fuel doesn't burn hot enough to weaken structural steel. This is false. While jet fuel ignites and burns in an open pit at temperatures of 800-900 degrees, its temperature rises under flu-like conditions (such as in a jet engine, or with skyscrapers chimney and wind effects) to temperatures of 1350 degrees, at which temperature, structural steel loses 60% of its strength.
You can't get any of these people to admit to this, of course, because that would completely eliminate their assumptions that make the implosion theory unnecessary. Another claim is that film footage of the collapse shows that jets of smoke blew out of windows before the collapse reached them, and that these jets of smoke were from the thermit charges going off, shattering the support columns of the building. The problem with these claims is that it just isn't true. The jets of smoke shooting out windows are due to the floors above collapsing, driving smoke and dust down the stairwells and out into lower floors that had shattered windows, where the smoke and dust exited.
Deseret Morning News article on the story reports that:
BYU will conduct an official review of Jones' actions before determining a course of action, university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. Such a review is rare for a professor with "continuing status" at BYU, where Jones has taught since 1985.
BYU does not grant tenure, generally regarded as a permanent position, to professors. However, it does give continuing status to professors found worthy after six years on campus.
"Continuing status," Jenkins said, "grants the expectation that faculty members will have continuing employment at the university, although it is not a guarantee. They still need to meet satisfactory performance levels for scholarship, citizenship and teaching."
The review will be conducted at three levels by the administration, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the Physics Department.
posted by Mike Lorrey at 6:11 PM
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