Film explores 9/11 demolition theory

On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, ceremonies held around the country remembered the lives and sense of safety lost as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Huntington Beach residents Aaron Haley and Joe Dunlap wanted to honor the event with a different focus.

They chose to talk about molten steel, horizontal plumes of smoke and pulverized concrete powder.

At 8 p.m. Monday night, nearly 100 people crowded into the Newland Barn to view the new film “9/11 Revisited: Keeping Up With Jones.”

Composed from a DVD Haley and Dunlap ordered online while splicing in segments of a presentation made by Brigham Young University Physicist and Professor Steven Jones delivered in June in Chicago, the film presented the scientific aspects involved in the collapse of the buildings and the implications of the evidence.

According to the film, Jones first got involved in researching after watching video footage of the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 around 5:30 p.m. (Eastern time) the same day. To Jones, the way the buildings fell looked alarmingly similar to a planned deliberate demolition.

At one point during Jones’ presentation covered in the film, side-by-side videos were shown of the collapse of Building 7 and a planned demolition.

“When I saw Jones and read his paper, I thought he’s onto something,” Haley said in an interview days earlier.

Before the film began, Haley encouraged the audience to go online and research the evidence on their own, not to simply trust anything they heard that night.

“This is about education,” Haley said. “That’s where we’re coming from.”

The event was the first public venue for the film. The first two screenings were held at the apartments where Haley and Dunlap live.

A moment of silence was observed. The film began, opening with a shot of the Statue of Liberty and then immediately went to audio and video clips of media coverage of the crashes and then the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, which was hard for some to watch, even five years later.

Huntington Beach resident Fred Galluccio was one of about half the audience who were unaware of the collapse of Building 7, having previously avoided watching any footage of the buildings fall on that tragic day.

“It was the first time I’ve really seen the towers fall,” Galluccio said.

Although he was unsure about the conspiracy theory he saw implied in the film, Galluccio said that he found the data behind it had a lot of interest.

A discussion held after the film revealed the mixed feelings among the crowd about what they had just witnessed.

Earlier, Haley said he hoped that the audience would engage in the discussion, “even if they are bringing up holes in the argument.”

Most praised the film for its implied message — the possibility that someone set explosives in the buildings to bring them down before the attacks occurred.

Demolitions take time to plan, Dunlap said.

Two people walked out as soon as the name George W. Bush was mentioned by an audience member, but for the most part the discussion proceeded with more applause than rebuttal.

Sandy Watkin drove up from Mission Viejo to watch the film and make her feelings about its implications known.

“It’s overwhelming when you find out this information and want to share it with other people,” Watkin said. “All of this Draconian legislation came out of 9/11. We need to expose that.”

As the discussion veered in a government-conspiracy direction, the hosts tried to steer the group back toward the science of the issue.

People should focus on studying the evidence before they start looking to accuse someone, Haley said.

“We’re not here to name blame,” Dunlap said. “We just want to start a new investigation, and that is what we’re here to do.”

Another screening is scheduled for the end of October; the location is yet to be determined.