Molten Metal Under Pile

AE911Truth's Argument
The Hot Spots
- The Longevity of the Fires Under The Pile
The Accounts Of Molten Metal
- John Gross
Establishing A Causative Link
- Logically Speaking
- Molten Metal Under Pile And Conditions Before Collapse
Conclusion
- Related Articles

AE911Truth's Argument

Reports exist of molten metal under the debris pile in downtown Manhattan. A long portion of the AE911Truth slideshow is quote after quote of people claiming to have seen molten metal or steel at Ground Zero. AE911Truth uses these reports in two ways, to question why this phenomenon occurred and to indict NIST for allegedly covering up this information.

In questioning why the molten metal occurred, they already have their preferred answer: thermite and thermate used in some fashion during the controlled demolition caused immense pools of molten metal to collect under the debris pile. They also suggest that the molten metal could only have been present because thermite and/or thermate was used to literally melt the structure of the buildings.

These pools stayed molten for weeks after the collapses, AE911Truth believes. They also identify "meteorites," chunks of debris preserved from the pile, as the remains of these molten pools of metal.

AE911Truth also uses a litany of these reports in order to attack John Gross, the lead engineer of NIST, who was once asked about the pools of steel and claimed to have no knowledge of them.

The Hot Spots

AE911Truth first uses a map of thermal hot spots released by the U.S. Geological Survey, which is presumably insulated enough from the Bush Administration to be trustworthy to AE911Truth. They reproduce one taken on September 16, 2001 in their slideshow.

However, in the original source for this thermal image, another thermal map is released which was taken on September 23, 2001:

As you can see, just one week later the site has cooled off tremendously. The USGS mentions a rainstorm on December 20th that cleared out a lot of dust visible as brown in the first picture. No doubt it also contributed to cooling the hot spots in the pile as well.

The Longevity of the Fires Under The Pile

According to a New Scientist December 2001 article on the fires, the firefighters didn't start fighting the fires in earnest until 17 days after 9/11. That's because "city officials insisted that work at Ground Zero was a rescue operation, meaning it would have been inappropriate to flood the rubble with water." So the cooling of the Pile wasn't due to firefighting effort.

However, it's worth noting that the fires at Ground Zero were allowed to burn, except as rescue efforts could be assisted by so doing. It was only on September 28 that officials allowed the use of Pyrocool FEF, a special chemical used with water that helped control the remainder of the fires — fires that would still be burning in December, when the New Scientist story was written.

It's also worth noting that Robert Tinsley, a spokesman for the company that makes Pyrocool, also described the reasons for the fires' longevity.

The combustible debris is mixed with twisted steel in a mass that covers 17 acres and may be 50 metres deep.

The combustible debris is, of course, two skyscrapers' worth of office furnishings and construction material.

The clean-up would also find and recover human remains throughout the debris, and remains identifiable as first responders were given special ceremonies on-site. The New Scientist article further notes that "since the fires are not threatening any property or lives, they are being allowed to burn on."

The final fire under the pile was extinguished on December 20. That's over three months.