Could the TWA 800 Cover-Up Finally Come Undone?
Source: (
https://bit.ly/3RshOBy)
A month ago American Thinker published my article on whistleblower
William Teele, the ten-year U.S. Navy vet who shared his own
perspective on the TWA Flight 800, the 747 that blew up off the coast
of Long Island in July 1996. In that Teele was not on the ship that
fired the missile, I asked for those with more information to share
what they knew by contacting me through my website.
The quantity and quality of the response stunned me. As a spoiler
alert, no respondent admitted to being a witness, and some did not
believe the Navy fired the missile. That said, all were respectful and
informative. Several added corrective or confirming details. Some
sample intros:
While working as a commercial airline (NWA) Captain
I spent 3-and-a-half years aboard the USS Nimitz
I'm a retired USN Commander
I was a GMM or gunners mate missiles while in the US Navy
I'm retired mil. I have studied weapons for decades
I am a retired Navy Surface Warfare Officer Captain
I was a first officer flying the Airbus A320 for Northwest Airlines
I was in the Navy for 20 years, four ships (3 of them "shooters")
I was qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer
As much as I would love to hear from a firsthand witness, I believe
the courts hold more immediate potential. On June 28, 2022, attorney
John Roddy with the Boston firm of Bailey and Glasser filed a lawsuit
on behalf of numerous family members of those killed in the 1996
crash. Based on the research of physicist Tom Stalcup, the suit is
stunning in its sophistication and detail.
I first met Stalcup when I interviewed him for a documentary on TWA
800 called "Silenced" that James Sanders and I produced in 2001.
I was a latecomer to this extraordinary story, but Stalcup had been
deeply involved in the case from very nearly the beginning and
remains committed to this day.
As a quick refresher, TWA Flight 800 left JFK airport in New York en
route to Paris on July 17, 1996. Twelve minutes after its 8:19
departure the ill-fated 747 blew up off the south coast of Long
Island, killing all 230 souls aboard.
The suit wastes no time in establishing its central argument:
"After the incident, the federal government released a false report
contending that the explosion was the result of an electrical fire
in the airplane's center." The real cause, the suit argues, was "an
errant United States missile fired at aerial target drones flying
nearby."
Based on the "overwhelming evidence" uncovered by Stalcup through
his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation in Massachusetts
federal court, the suit names as the government defendants in this
tragic mishap the Missile Defense Agency, the United States
Department of Defense, and the United States Navy.
The contractor defendants cited are Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
Working "side-by-side," these defendants were reportedly testing the
Aegis Weapons System and firing SM-2 missiles with live warheads
at aerial missile targets off the coast of New York "in close
proximity to commercial airline flight paths." The suit leaves open
the possibility that more than one "warship" was involved in the
launch.
The suit walks through the well-established facts surrounding the
investigation. The FBI froze out the National Transportation Board
despite the NTSB's legal responsibility to manage domestic air
crashes. According to the suit, "The FBI also enlisted the assistance
of the Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA")." Yes, the CIA was
involved from day one, but I suspect that "enlisting" the agency was
not the FBI's idea.
The suit adds new information, namely that "the FBI removed all
copies (original and duplicates) of Navy radar tapes from the Navy,
placing them out of the NTSB's reach."
The suit addresses the CIA animation used to discredit the scores
of excellent eyewitnesses, but adds this detail, "Despite outwardly
proclaiming that the cause of the TWA 800 explosion was, in the CIA's
words, NOT A MISSILE,' several internal government communications
(that have only come to light in the recent FOIA litigation)
indicated that a missile was involved."
The suit reviews the history of the Navy's Aegis Missile system
responsible for the misfire. The Department of Defense (DOD) pushed
the system quickly through production and deployment thinking of the
missile threat from hostile countries in the "here and now." Although
the suit does not mention this detail, there was a real fear at the time
of terrorists using planes as missiles, a fear that proved tragically
well-grounded five years later.
The radar needed particular upgrading of "its ability to operate
close to shore and to properly integrate into existing systems." This
helps explain why the Navy was testing in a crowded air space. To
address the deficiencies, the DOD directed its contractors to
integrate a new radar and computer system into all new ship designs,
known as the SPY-ID(V).
"In 1996 the only option with the hardware and computing power
sufficient to operate the SPY-ID(V)," the suit claims, "was a New
Jersey land-based testing site called the Combat Systems Engineering
and Development Site ("CSEDS")."
Rather than wait five years for ships to be built with the computing
power to operate this system, "The SPY-ID(V) was tested on an
expedited basis in and around the CSEDS in New Jersey, in a highly
congested area."
"In 1996," the suit continues, "the Defendants began testing the
SPY-ID(V) using simulated and actual targets' in and around New
Jersey. Stalcup unearthed evidence that the testing of missiles with
live warheads began as early as May 1996.
The suit talks about the videotape, which I have seen, shot by an
electrician on the roof of Long Island hospital. The fellow was
recording the sunrise and inadvertently captured a missile test off
the Long Island's south coast, and this just five days before the
TWA 800 disaster. Despite that tragedy, the suit contends, the Navy
continued to test its missile system in that same commercial
corridor.
The suit cites the testimony of Steve Habeger, the Executive Director
of CSEDS's sister site in Virginia. Habeger testified in Stalcup's
FOIA suit that he "was personally aware of at least a dozen Aegis
missile tests off the East Coast of the United States around this
same overall time period." Habeger also testified that within minutes
of the disaster, he was ordered "to allow the FBI to remove all Navy
radar tapes from his facility that might have recorded the TWA 800
incident." His commanding officer and FBI custody records
corroborated his testimony.
Stalcup also discovered that the Joint Terrorism Task Force directed
the FBI to obtain original Navy radar tapes showing an object
"heading straight for TWA 800." The FBI confiscated these tapes
immediately after the crash. They show "an object "impact' TWA 800,
which directly contradicts the FBI's, CIAs, and NTSB's public
conclusions that what caused the incident was "NOT A MISSILE.'"
In sum, "The evidence reveals that TWA 800 was brought down by
a missile and the government hid this truth from Plaintiffs and the
public at large for over twenty-five years." My 2016 book, TWA 800:
The Crash, the Cover Up, the Conspiracy, book covers much of this
information and the political dynamics surrounding the investigation.
Stalcup adds what I could only allude to, namely the technological
details of how the systems work and why there was such urgency
in deploying them.
In last several years especially, many patriotic Americans have come
to the reluctant conclusion that, yes, the government is capable
of lying to us. Some of them have first-hand knowledge of TWA 800's
demise. In the final analysis it will be they who provide the
counterweight to the powerful forces that want this suit to fail.
