For the same reason the other side believes the official story -- they first decide whom to believe, then accept facts that support their belief and ignore facts that refute it.
This is an original, evidence-based explanation of how cell phone calls were made from planes flying too high (>5K feet) and/or fast for cell phone calls to be made. Calls originated from cell phones, but were transported through on-board air-to-ground systems rather than cellular systems. That's why cellular carriers have no record of the calls. First, the evidence.
Following is a record from the Claircom system on American Airlines flight 77, the plane that hit the Pentagon, showing one of two calls from Barbara Olson to her husband, Ted Olson. This is a record of what actually happened, not speculation about what could have happened.
Ground Station 98 is Arlington VA. Handset ID ffff (-1) means the call did not originate from a seatback handset. Originating #: 904 is the area code for Jacksonville FL, where the Claircom box was programmed, 555 means not a real phone number (commonly used in movies), 0004 means it came through port 4 on the Claircom box. Terminating # 0 means the caller entered "0" for Operator. The call was routed to an AT&T live operator (OSPS). From there it could have been made collect, charged to a credit card, or, in case of emergency, put through without payment. Duration is 0 because billing had been handed off to AT&T.
According to the FBI, "Mercy Lorenzo, an operator with AT&T, received a call from a female passenger on flight 77 requesting to be transferred to telephone number 202-514-2201. The female passenger advised the plane was being hi-jacked. Hi-jackers were ordering passengers to move to the back of the plane and were armed with guns and knives. Lorenzo indicated the pilot might not yet be aware of the take over of the plane." She put the call through without charge, so it must have been the second of two calls to Ted Olson's office. The first call was collect.
Another FBI report said,
"Keyton [Ted Olson's secretary] then received a collect call from a live operator. The operator advised that there was an emergency collect call from Barbara Olsen for Ted Olsen. Keyton advised that she would accept the call. Barbara Olsen was put through and sounded hysterical. Barbara Olsen said, "Can you tell Ted.." Keyton cut her off and said, "I'll put him on the line."
There was a second telephone call a few to five (5) minutes later. This time Barbara Olsen was on the line when she answered. She called direct. It was not a collect call. Barbara Olsen said, "It's Barbara." Keyton said, "he's on the phone with the command center, I'll put you through.""
Team7-Box13-Flight-Call-Notes-and-302s.pdf (page 736)
American Airlines 757s were equipped with a system branded Air One that had two boxes: a front-end that handed seatback phones (collected card swipes) and a back-end that handled the air-to-ground link run by Claircom, which used terrestrial stations, not satellites. United Airlines had Verizon's similar Airphone system with seatback ph0nes functional. American had turned off the front-end boxes in late 2000 because they were phasing out seatback phones. Since seatback handsets were non-functional, why do we see calls coming through the system? The back-end box had multiple interface jacks for future expansion with things like WiFi. This call came through a box plugged into port 4. This is not speculation, the evidence above says so. That box could only have been a cellular base station called a picocell (aka microcell).
This detail is significant because it proves someone other than the hijackers was involved. That party was either spying on or assisting hijackers. The Claircom box and corresponding Verizon boxes were not accessible from passenger compartments. Someone installed picocells in four planes ahead of time.
Most magic tricks rely on the audience's assumptions. When someone asks you to pick a card, you assume the deck has 52 different cards. It does not occur to you that they might all be five of diamonds. When you see someone talking on a cell phone, you assume the call is going through the cell phone network.
Update:
On the afternoon of 9/11, AA head of security Larry Wansley had a phone conversation with reservations supervisor Lydia Gonzalez, who had talked to Betty Ong on AA 11. At the end, he asked:
Did I assume she was on a cell phone, is that correct?
Unlike the general public, Wansley knew cell phones did not work at 30K feet. By asking this question, Wansley revealed he knew there was a picocall plugged into the Claircom box. Picocells had been installed through official channels, not clandestinely.
United Airlines planes had Virizon's Airphone system. Their seatback phones were turned on and operational, whereas AA's seatback phones were turned off. As I said above, both airlines were phasing out seatback phones. Here is a report of calls that went through the Airphone system. Note two cell phone calls at the bottom. This shows United also knew there was a picocell plugged into its air-to-ground system.
This report is incomplete, it is missing cell phone calls. We can tell because Thomas Burnett's wife received four calls. Three showed Thomas' cell phone number on her Caller ID. The call that did not is shown above as originating from a seatback phone. The three that originated from Thomas' cell phone and went through the Airphone system, the only way they could have gotten to the ground, are missing from the report.
Speculation: the four picocells may have been installed by another party spying on the hijackers. There may have been an unlisted call (like Burnett's) acting as a streaming cockpit voice recorder. Enabling passengers to make cell phone calls was just an excuse to get airlines' permission to install picocells, not their real mission.
You won't find this explanation anywhere else.
Just out of curiosity... do you think the 555 number was possibly called to test or "ping" the system (for some reason - IDK) on the airplane?
No. 555 is a universal sign that a phone number is fictitious. Trivia: 958 and 959 in the middle three digits are also fictitious numbers.
But (area code) 555-1212 gets you to operator information? ( just tested it)
Also, there's a 555 number that loops back to your own phone (to test if it rings - way back in the day information)
The North American Numbering Plan does not standardize ringback number. It varies by telco and even central office. Some telcos change it frequently. Other nonstandard numbers are Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and numbers that allow the caller to silently tap other phones.
Maybe I'm wrong, but when taking telephony in college, I was taught that the "555" numbers were those that specifically "belonged" to the telco - not fictitious, but they couldn't be issued... But that was so long ago.
I agree with you though - it seems fishy that communications activity was going on inside the airplanes.
As with most magic tricks, an explanation of how it was done seems disappointing. One says, "Is that all there was to it?" In this case, cell phone calls from 30K feet were made through the air-to-ground phone system. There were no shadow planes or voice impersonators, as others have speculated.
It is more than fishy, it is tangible proof that more people were involved than the Arab hijackers we were told about. The organization that installed microcells had access to planes of two airlines. Most importantly, it WANTED passengers to make phone calls. If they had not made calls, the world would not have heard about Arabs with box cutters.
Any phone number could have been written to the log. It did not need to be a WTN (working telephone number) because it was not used to make phone calls. The originating cell phone number was sent as Caller ID. The programmer used his own area code (Jacksonville) and filled the middle digits with 555. I would have done the same.
Fascinating detailed explanation but I am a little in the dark as to what you are suggesting here - what does all this mean?
It means hijackers were assisted by an intelligence agency interested in enhancing the horror.
9/11 was not pulled off by a single entity. It was like Oklahoma City in that it was executed by the ones publicly blamed, but received technical assistance from other parties. When amateur terrorists are left to their own devices, shock and awe is inadequate. For instance, the first WTC bombing killed 6, the USS Cole attack killed 17. Big deal. If 9/11 hijackers had not been assisted, the operation would have been another screwup.
The CIA has no mandate to protect Americans in the US. That's the FBI's job. The CIA's job is to advance American interests in other countries. 9/11 did that and also advanced the objectives of Israel and Pakistan.
Rather than arguing, I took a slightly different approach this time. Call it fighting fiction with fiction. Enjoy!
~~~~~~
"Thank you for coming, gentlemen," said the shadowy figure to the several other shadowy figures "The proceedings may now begin. We shall now review Operation Omega Alpha Alpha."
Several document-stuffed manila folders were distributed across the table and snatched up by each seated shadowy figure.
"Your briefing outlines the details relevant to this plan. As you know, we will allow twenty members of Al Qaeda to board four flights; they shall use small hand weapons to hijack the flights, and crash them into the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and White House."
"Very good, very good" said a second one of the shadowy figures. "This shall allow us to do those things to advance the objectives of Israel and Pakistan. We couldn't do it before, but obviously we shall soon be able to do those things. You know what I'm talking about. It's too secret to say out loud. But it definitely makes perfect sense as a motive."
"I can't wait to do those things," said the third shadowy figure, "We've been waiting for too long to do those things. We definitely couldn't do it before. Our nefarious motives are so clear, they'll never know what hit 'em."
"Wait!" demanded the fourth shadowy figure. A silence followed. "Shouldn't we allow the passengers to say goodbye to their families?"
The first shadowy figure contemplated this for a while, his finger stroking his beard under his hood.
"Yes, we'll allow them phonecalls. We may be killing thousands of people, but we aren't monsters. They shall have airfones available on the planes."
"But what if they aren't working, or they feel like using their cell phone because they can't remember their contacts' phone numbers?"
"Impossible! Cell phones can never work above 5000 feet! That is a known scientific fact and it definitely isn't being confused with 35000 feet. The airfone shall be good enough for them!"
Upon number four's protests, the other three shadowy figures murmured amongst themselves for a bit, rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb, and carried on for several moments before they reached a decision.
"Yes. We shall construct a top secret device that shall allow the cell phones to function at 5000 feet. The science works out, I'll show it to you later. But we must never let the public know we have such a device, it could be our whole plan's undoing!"
"Then it is agreed. The operation shall commence on the eleventh day of September and somehow cell phone service at high altitudes is very important to our conspiracy."
The shadows slithered away. Shadowy figure number one walked through a majestic set of wooden doors. He removed his black hood and handed it to an idle lackey and marched into an elevator. He was smartly dressed in a black suit, with a black tie. He exited the elevator and went through a series of secret doors. He was now in an office.
"Mr. Director?" asked the secretary "your six o'clock is here."
"Excellent. Send them in." said the Director of the CIA.
In 2001, "top secret" microcells were routinely used in office buildings and airport terminals. AT&T and Amazon now sell them for $298.99.
AT&T 3G MicroCell - Wireless Signal Booster - Wireless from AT&T
Mum is the word. If we keep these URLs secret, the public will never figure it out.
Airlines were phasing out seatback phones in 2001. AA had turned them off and cancelled Claircom contracts; UA still had them turned on. Both airlines were looking for alternatives. As shown above, they did approve installing microcells to test a new revenue stream. Enabling passenger calls was an excuse to get airlines' approval. I postulate the real reason was a streaming cockpit voice recorder.
What was their motive? Why were these phone calls so important?
As I said, I think passenger calls were just an excuse to put microcells in planes. The real motive was something else, probably the cockpit microphone. Intelligence agencies are obsessed with collecting information on their adversaries. The agency that installed microcells was probably a foe of the one that organized the operation. Basically, they wiretapped the planes.
If I'm right, microcells were evidence of foreknowledge, not assistance.
You can't say it means that. If we accept your hypothesis, which seems pretty detailed, then it means that someone assisted them. That someone could have been anyone with access to the plane and the level of technical information available to you (and now us). It seems that this is hardly classified information which requires high level clearance in the CIA.
So, someone working for AT&T with an airside pass? Or a technician working for American with access to operational schedules?
It could still be a loony in league with Al-Qaeda. Your theory is interesting but it doesn't prove Al-Qaeda involvement.
Plugging a microcell into an airphone box does not require technical sophistication. If we were talking about one plane, many technicians could have done it. But doing the same to four planes operated by two airlines required organizational coordination. It was not done by one loonie. Moreover, I doubt terrorists or loonies would care enough about the public image aspect to make such an effort to enable passenger phone calls.
I think some intelligence agency found out about al Qaeda's hijacking plan and decided to assist.
I recently found this paper presenting a ton of evidence that one or two bombs went off in the Pentagon six minutes before an incoming plane appeared on FAA radar. Whatever that plane was, it was sending the right IFF signal to avoid being shot down by the Pentagon's antiaircraft defenses or the antiaircraft system was not active because of the drill.
Comment above posted in the wrong order by mobile app.
Since posting, something else occurred to me. How are either the hijackers or the CIA assisted by air to ground mobile calls?
Whoever installed microcells wanted the world to know hijacking had been done by "Arabs with box cutters."
Again, doesn't prove government involvement. The government are not the only people capable of co-ordinating things. They're not even the first people I would look to if I wanted something coordinating.
To be clear though, I meant one loony per plane.
Anyone can buy microcells on Amazon for $200. How many people are interested in telling the world it was done by Arabs?
So what are the implications if this is all true?
.. The US government knew how call phone calls were made, yet failed to tell the American public. Why? They appear to be protecting someone.
.. By believing the government story, the American public was revealed to be more gullible than previously thought.
.. Truthers should have figured this out. Their failure to figure it out casts doubt on their other analyses.
.. Unlike other al Qaeda operations, 9/11 was designed for psychological impact. It was planned by an intelligence agency and its goals were political.
.. It is likely other off-the-shelf technologies were used, for example programmed and/or remote piloting. Professionals would not have trusted poorly trained hijackers to fly planes well enough. Hijackers' job was keeping pilots out of cockpits.
Unfortunately when people question an official theory they are quickly labeled and a lot of people stop questioning things just to avoid getting labelled.
So my compliments on your stance.
I would be interested to read about the other related research you have done if available.
When college education was designed for the top 10%, it taught critical thinking. Now that it is designed for the masses -- 65% of high school grads go direct6ly to college -- it teaches orthodoxy. Moreover, emphasis has shifted from problem solving to employment preparation. Students are rewarded for repeating what they are told on tests. I avoided the conditioning by dropping out of high school.
I wrote hundreds of Quora answers that were correct, but received fewer upvotes than incorrect answers. A quick search found this small example: I do not have a joint account with my spouse. If something happens to me, will my wife get money from bank or does she have to go through court proceedings or will the government take it?
I don't think most people are actually looking for "knowledge" here - but more for self validation. I like it because sometimes you find people and answers from experience instead of wiki paid copy paste or slideshows.
You are exactly right when you say Quorans are seeking confirmation rather than information. They are in the wrong place. They should be in social networks.
Wikipedia is better for factual answers, but it does not allow creative and speculative answers. Jimmy Wales has said a breakthrough physics theory, for example, would be deleted.
Social networks are replacing newspapers. Wikipedia is replacing reference books. What's the cybernetic equivalent of books and magazines? Perhaps blogs are the best forums for creative answers.
-- Social networks are replacing newspapers. Wikipedia is replacing reference books. What's the cybernetic equivalent of books and magazines? Perhaps blogs are the best forums for creative answers.
I disagree possibly as a distribution mean yes social networks are replaced newsstands and paper subscriptions. But I would like to see independent crowd sourced news media independent from the likes of AP, ABC, CBS, NBC, NEWS corp - companies which have oligopoly over which "people" get their news.
As far as blog posts possibly blogs replace some magazine articles but most of them are too shallow to ever replace any serious magazines or books- doesn't mean that books are never shallow.
Well, you got you unscientifically sound answer, kind of... http://www.globalresearch.ca/phone-calls-from-the-9-11-airliners/16924
The article is not 'scientific.' It contains a false premise. based on consumer mentality, saying the only equipment available is that provided by airlines. It goes on and on about whether AA 757s "had" airphones, meaning officially available to crew or passengers In fact, the planes had air-to-ground systems that were installed in the 1990s. AA turned off seatback phones on its 757s in 2001, but the back-end air-to-ground box was still installed and working. The missing link was a bridge that connected passengers' cellular phones to that box. When the article says picocells were not "commercially available" until 2007, it means airlines did not install them until 2007. Hardware was readily available in 2001. Phone companies routinely put them in airports and office buildings. Plugging one into an air-to-ground box is as easy as plugging a wi-fi router into a cable modem.
A scientific approach starts with facts and follows them to their logical conclusion. Non-scientists start with a hypothesis and look for facts supporting it.
Fact: callers' cell phone numbers appeared on caller id, proving calls originated from cell phones.
Fact: calls could not have gone through the cell phone system.
Fact: planes had air-to-ground boxes installed.
Fact: air-to-ground systems logged calls going through them, originating from somewhere other than seatback phones.
Conclusion: there was a bridge between wireless (cell phone) signals and the air-to-ground systems.
Fact: airlines had not installed such bridges in 2001.
Conclusion: someone else installed them.