With the fiery inferno of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel (MOH) in Beijing on February 9, 2009, the obvious point of comparison is with World Trade Center 7 (WTC 7) on September 11, 2001. Yes, the buildings were very similar in size, and in some ways in construction. Their heights were comparable, 522 ft. for MOH, vs. 610 ft. for WTC 7. But the differences in the magnitude of the fires and ultimate results were dramatic, in the extreme.

Fires in the MOH raged on every floor, reportedly requiring between 13 and 30 minutes before the entire building was engulfed in flame (first photo). In contrast, WTC 7 had small fires on only a few floors at a time, typically burning the office materials, then moving on. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reported fires on only 10 floors.

With the MOH engulfed by more extensive fires, the dramatic differences in eventual outcomes for the two buildings are even more astounding. Once the fires were out, the MOH remained standing (second photo). This is not at all surprising, since all previous steel-framed high rises have remained standing (other than WTC 7, says NIST) after having been engulfed by fire. WTC 7, on the other hand, was demolished, falling straight down into its own footprint, with only the smallest of office fires in comparison to the MOH fires. Remarkably, NIST finally acknowledges a 2-second freefall drop extending approximately 8 stories.

Researchers at AE911Truth are very interested in making more detailed comparisons between these two buildings, the fires, and the aftermaths. Check back for the latest information.

Some Straight Talk

Last year, the response to our Sustaining Membership drive was less than hoped for. While we did double the number of Sustaining Members, the number still represents less than 4% of our 3,500 petition signers (approx. 100 people). This level of financial support does not allow us to meet our goals. If just HALF of our petition signers and other supporters upgraded to monthly Sustaining Memberships, it would make a HUGE difference in our ability to achieve a highly effective marketing presence in the professional architecture and engineering communities, and with our many other projects. At present we are only able to meet basic operating expenses at the beginning of this year and, in fact, are starting out in the red. Please join us and work with us actively to achieve the many goals set for us by you and the needs of the 9/11 Truth movement. Become a monthly Sustaining Member today!

NIST has now officially accepted that WTC7 came down with the acceleration of gravity, but they still couch it as a phase in a 5.4 second interval they claim matches the 5.4 seconds required for their model to collapse 18 floors.

The starting point of their 5.4 second interval is totally arbitrary.

NIST tracked the downward displacement of a point near the center of the roofline, fitting the data using a smooth function. (The time at which motion of the roofline was first perceived was taken as time zero).

This new video highlights the August 26 technical briefing and allows Sunder and Gross to shoot holes in their own feet.

Part II, which is planned to come out in a week or two, will go into detail about the implications of freefall.