WTC_INVESTIGATION.pdf

The Open Chemical Physics Journal, 2009, 2, 7-31

Open Access

Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade

Center Catastrophe

Niels H. Harrit *,1 , Jeffrey Farrer 2 , Steven E. Jones *,3 , Kevin R. Ryan 4 , Frank M. Legge 5 ,

Daniel Farnsworth 2 , Gregg Roberts 6 , James R. Gourley 7 and Bradley R. Larsen 3

1 Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA

3 S&J Scientific Co., Provo, UT, 84606, USA

4 9/11 Working Group of Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47401, USA

5 Logical Systems Consulting, Perth, Western Australia

6 Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA

7 International Center for 9/11 Studies, Dallas, TX 75231, USA

Abstract: We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples we have studied of the dust produced by the

destruction of the World Trade Center. Examination of four of these samples, collected from separate sites, is reported in

this paper. These red/gray chips show marked similarities in all four samples. One sample was collected by a Manhattan

resident about ten minutes after the collapse of the second WTC Tower, two the next day, and a fourth about a week later.

The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy

dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The red material contains grains approxi-

mately 100 nm across which are largely iron oxide, while aluminum is contained in tiny plate-like structures. Separation

of components using methyl ethyl ketone demonstrated that elemental aluminum is present. The iron oxide and aluminum

are intimately mixed in the red material. When ignited in a DSC device the chips exhibit large but narrow exotherms oc-

curring at approximately 430 ˚C, far below the normal ignition temperature for conventional thermite. Numerous iron-rich

spheres are clearly observed in the residue following the ignition of these peculiar red/gray chips. The red portion of these

chips is found to be an unreacted thermitic material and highly energetic.

Keywords: Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry, DSC

analysis, World Trade Center, WTC dust, 9/11, Iron-rich microspheres, Thermite, Super-thermite, Energetic nanocomposites,

Nano-thermite.

INTRODUCTION

The destruction of three skyscrapers (WTC 1, 2 and 7) on

September 11, 2001 was an immensely tragic catastrophe

that not only impacted thousands of people and families di-

rectly, due to injury and loss of life, but also provided the

motivation for numerous expensive and radical changes in

domestic and foreign policy. For these and other reasons,

knowing what really happened that fateful day is of grave

importance.

A great deal of effort has been put forth by various gov-

ernment-sponsored and -funded investigations, which led, in

large part, to the reports released by FEMA [1] and NIST

[2]. Other studies of the destruction have been less well

publicized but are no less important to the outstanding obliga-

tion that remains to the victims of that tragedy, to determine

the whole truth of the events of that day [3-10]. A number of

these studies have appropriately focused attention on the re-

maining physical material, and on available photographs and

video footage, as sources of evidence still in public hands,

relating to the method of destruction of the three skyscrapers.

The collapses of the three tallest WTC buildings were

remarkable for their completeness, their near free-fall speed

[11] their striking radial symmetry [1, 12] and the surpris-

ingly large volume of fine toxic dust [13] that was generated.

In order to better understand these features of the destruc-

tion, the authors initiated an examination of this dust. In June

2007, Dr. Steven Jones observed distinctive bi-layered chips,

with both a red and a gray layer, in a sample of the WTC

dust. Initially, it was suspected these might be dried paint

chips, but after closer inspection and testing, it was shown

that this was not the case. Further testing was then performed

on the red/gray chips in an attempt to ascertain their compo-

*Address correspondence to these authors (NH) Department of Chemistry,

University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-2100, Denmark;

Tel: (+45)35321846; Fax: (+45)35320460; E-mail: harrit@nano.ku.dk,

(SEJ) at S&J Scientific Co., Provo, UT, 84606, USA; Tel: 801-735-5885;

E-mail: Hardevidence@gmail.com

1874-4125/09

2009 Bentham Open

8 The Open Chemical Physics Journal, 2009, Volume 2

Harrit et al.

sition and properties. The authors also obtained and exam-

ined additional samples of WTC dust which had been col-

lected by independent observers on, or very soon after, 9/11.

All of the samples examined contained these very small,

peculiar red/gray chips. Previous studies discussing observa-

tions of the WTC dust include reports by the RJ Lee Com-

pany [14], the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) [15], McGee

et al . [13] and Lioy et al . [16] Some of these studies con-

firmed the finding of iron-rich microspheres, which are also

peculiar [5, 8, 11, 13-15] but the red/gray chips analyzed in

this study have apparently not been discussed in previously

published reports. It is worth emphasizing that one sample

was collected about ten minutes after the collapse of the sec-

ond Tower, so it cannot possibly have been contaminated by

clean-up operations [17].

MATERIALS AND METHODS

1. Provenance of the Samples Analyzed for this Report

tion [6], a general request was issued for samples of the

WTC dust. The expectation at that time was that a careful

examination of the dust might yield evidence to support the

hypothesis that explosive materials other than jet fuel caused

the extraordinarily rapid and essentially total destruction of

the WTC buildings.

It was learned that a number of people had saved samples

of the copious, dense dust, which spread and settled across

Manhattan. Several of these people sent portions of their

samples to members of this research group. This paper dis-

cusses four separate dust samples collected on or shortly

after 9/11/2001. Each sample was found to contain red/gray

chips. All four samples were originally collected by private

citizens who lived in New York City at the time of the trag-

edy. These citizens came forward and provided samples for

analysis in the public interest, allowing study of the 9/11

dust for whatever facts about the day might be learned from

the dust. A map showing the locations where the four sam-

ples were collected is presented as Fig. ( 1 ).

In a paper presented first online in autumn 2006 regard-

ing anomalies observed in the World Trade Center destruc-

" / )

+ # % # '

Fig. (1). Map showing collection locations of dust samples analyzed in this study with respect to the location of the WTC complex (marked

area near location 1). 1: MacKinlay (113 Cedar St./110 Liberty St); 2: Delessio/Breidenbach (Brooklyn Bridge); 3: Intermont (16 Hudson

St); 4: White (1 Hudson St). (Base map courtesy of http://www.openstreetmap.org; copyright terms at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

by-sa/2.0/).

Active Thermitic Material Found in WTC Dust

The Open Chemical Physics Journal, 2009, Volume 2 9

The earliest-collected sample came from Mr. Frank De-

lessio who, according to his videotaped testimony [17], was

on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge about the time

the second tower, the North Tower, fell to the ground. He

saw the tower fall and was enveloped by the resulting thick

dust which settled throughout the area. He swept a handful

of the dust from a rail on the pedestrian walkway near the

end of the bridge, about ten minutes after the fall of the

North Tower. He then went to visit his friend, Mr. Tom

Breidenbach, carrying the dust in his hand, and the two of

them discussed the dust and decided to save it in a plastic

bag. On 11/15/2007, Breidenbach sent a portion of this dust

to Dr. Jones for analysis. Breidenbach has also recorded his

testimony about the collection of this dust sample on video-

tape [17]. Thus, the Delessio/Breidenbach sample was col-

lected about ten minutes after the second tower collapsed. It

was, therefore, definitely not contaminated by the steel-

cutting or clean-up operations at Ground Zero, which began

later. Furthermore, it is not mixed with dust from WTC 7,

which fell hours later.

On the morning of 9/12/2001, Mr. Stephen White of New

York City entered a room in his apartment on the 8th floor of

1 Hudson Street, about five blocks from the WTC. He found

a layer of dust about an inch thick on a stack of folded laun-

dry near a window which was open about 4 inches (10 cm).

Evidently the open window had allowed a significant amount

of dust from the WTC destruction the day before to enter the

room and cover the laundry. He saved some of the dust and,

on 2/02/2008, sent a sample directly to Dr. Jones for analy-

sis.

Another sample was collected from the apartment build-

ing at 16 Hudson Street by Mr. Jody Intermont at about 2 pm

on 9/12/2001. Two small samples of this dust were simulta-

neously sent to Dr. Jones and to Kevin Ryan on 2/02/2008

for analysis. Intermont sent a signed affidavit with each

sample verifying that he had personally collected the (now-

split) sample; he wrote:

“This dust, which came from the ‘collapsed’

World Trade Center Towers, was collected from

my loft at the corner of Reade Street and Hud-

son Street on September 12, 2001. I give per-

mission to use my name in connection to this

evidence”. [Signed 31 January 2008 in the pres-

ence of a witness who also signed his name].

On the morning of 9/11/2001, Ms. Janette MacKinlay

was in her fourth-floor apartment at 113 Cedar St./110 Lib-

erty St. in New York City, across the street from the WTC

plaza. As the South Tower collapsed, the flowing cloud of

dust and debris caused windows of her apartment to break

inward and dust filled her apartment. She escaped by quickly

wrapping a wet towel around her head and exiting the build-

ing. The building was closed for entry for about a week. As

soon as Ms. MacKinlay was allowed to re-enter her apart-

ment, she did so and began cleaning up. There was a thick

layer of dust on the floor. She collected some of it into a

large sealable plastic bag for possible later use in an art

piece. Ms. MacKinlay responded to the request in the 2006

paper by Dr. Jones by sending him a dust sample. In No-

vember 2006, Dr. Jones traveled to California to visit Ms.

MacKinlay at her new location, and in the company of sev-

eral witnesses collected a second sample of the WTC dust

directly from her large plastic bag where the dust was stored.

She has also sent samples directly to Dr. Jeffrey Farrer and

Kevin Ryan. Results from their studies form part of this re-

port.

Another dust sample was collected by an individual from

a window sill of a building on Potter Street in NYC. He has

not given permission for his name to be disclosed, therefore

his material is not included in this study. That sample, how-

ever, contained red/gray chips of the same general composi-

tion as the samples described here.

2. Chip Size, Isolation, and Examination

For clarification, the dust samples collected and sent to

the authors by Ms. Janette MacKinlay will be sample 1; the

sample collected by Mr. Frank Delassio, or the Delas-

sio/Breidenbach sample, will be sample 2; the sample col-

lected by Mr. Jody Intermont will be sample 3; and the sam-

ple collected by Mr. Stephen White will be sample 4. The

red/gray chips are attracted by a magnet, which facilitates

collection and separation of the chips from the bulk of the

dust. A small permanent magnet in its own plastic bag was

used to attract and collect the chips from dust samples. The

chips are typically small but readily discernible by eye due to

their distinctive color. They are of variable size with major

dimensions of roughly 0.2 to 3 mm. Thicknesses vary from

roughly 10 to 100 microns for each layer (red and gray).

Samples of WTC dust from these and other collectors have

been sent directly from collectors to various scientists (in-

cluding some not on this research team) who have also found

such red/gray chips in the dust from the World Trade Center

destruction.

An FEI XL30-SFEG scanning electron microscope

(SEM) was used to perform secondary-electron (SE) imag-

ing and backscattered electron (BSE) imaging. The SE imag-

ing was used to look at the surface topography and porosity

of the red/gray chips, while the BSE imaging was used to

distinguish variations in average atomic number, Z. The mi-

croscope was also equipped with an EDAX X-ray energy

dispersive spectrometry (XEDS) system. The XEDS system

uses a silicon detector (SiLi) with resolution better than 135

eV. The spectrum resolution was set to 10 eV per channel.

Operating conditions for the acquired XEDS spectra were 20

keV beam energy (unless otherwise specified) and 40-120

second acquisition time (livetime). XEDS maps were ac-

quired using the same system at a beam energy of 10 keV.

For general surface analysis in the SEM, dust samples

were mounted to carbon conductive tabs. The samples were

left unwashed and uncoated unless otherwise specified. In

order to more closely observe the characteristics of the red

and gray layers, and to eliminate the possibility of surface

contamination from other dust particles, several red/gray

chips from each of the four WTC dust samples were frac-

tured. The clean, cross-section surfaces were then studied by

BSE imaging and XEDS.

10 The Open Chemical Physics Journal, 2009, Volume 2

Harrit et al.

Some samples were also tested in a differential scanning

calorimeter (Netzsch DSC 404C) to measure heat flow into

or out of the red/gray chips. The DSC tests were conducted

with a linear heating rate of 10 ˚C per minute up to a tem-

perature of 700 ˚C. During heating, the samples were con-

tained in alumina pans and air was allowed to flow at 55

milliliters per minute during the heating. The plots were gen-

erated by acquiring data points at a rate of 20 points per ˚C

or 200 points per minute. The equipment was calibrated to

display the data in watts per gram. The plots were set to dis-

play positive heat flow out of the sample such that exother-

mic behavior of the sample would yield a peak and endo-

thermic behavior a trough.

The dust samples were also examined by visible-light

microscopy (VLM) through a Nikon Epiphot 200 stereomi-

croscope, an Olympus BX60 stereomicroscope and a Nikon

Labophot microscope and camera.

RESULTS

1. Characterization of the Red/Gray Chips

Red/gray chips were found in all of the dust samples col-

lected. An analysis of the chips was performed to assess the

similarity of the chips and to determine the chemistry and

materials that make up the chips. Fig. ( 2 ) displays photomi-

crographs of red/gray chips from each of the four WTC dust

samples. Note the scale marker in each image as they were

acquired at different magnifications. At approximately

2.5 mm in length, the chip in Fig. ( 2a ) was one of the larger

chips collected. The mass of this chip was approximately 0.7

mg. All of the chips used in the study had a gray layer and a

red layer and were attracted by a magnet. The inset image in

Fig. ( 2d ) shows the chip in cross section, which reveals the

gray layer. The gray layer is also partially visible in Fig.

( 2b ). Similarities between the samples are already evident

from these photographs.

Fig. ( 3 ) shows three images for comparison of views of

the same set of chips using different methods. Fig. ( 3a ) is a

VLM photomicrograph of a group of particles, which shows

the red material and in some cases the adhering gray mate-

rial. Fig. ( 3b , c ) are, respectively, a secondary electron (SE)

image and a backscattered electron (BSE) image of the same

group of particles, using a scanning electron microscope

(SEM) without a conductive coating over the sample. It can

be seen in the SE image that the red layer of the particles has

very bright regions caused by a slight accumulation of

charge under the electron beam, owing to the relatively poor

conductivity of the red layer (see Discussion section). The

BSE image shows the red layer darker than the gray layer,

Fig. (2). Photomicrographs of red/gray chips from samples 1-4 of the WTC dust involved in this study, shown in ( a )-( d ) respectively. The

inset in ( d ) shows the chip edge on, which reveals the gray layer. The red/gray chips are mounted on an aluminum pedestal, using a carbon

conductive tab, for viewing in the scanning electron microscope (SEM).

Active Thermitic Material Found in WTC Dust

The Open Chemical Physics Journal, 2009, Volume 2 11

Fig. (3). A series of images of the same group of particles extracted by magnet from sample 2. The color photomicrograph in ( a ), obtained by

VLM, locates and identifies the red/gray particles. An SE image ( b ) acquired by SEM gives a better indication of size and shape of the parti-

cles, and a BSE image ( c ) shows, by grayscale intensity, the difference in average atomic number between the red layer, gray layer and other

dust particles.

indicating that the red layer is composed of material that has

a relatively lower average atomic number than the gray

layer.

A higher-magnification BSE image of the corner of one

of the chips, shown in Fig. ( 4 ), allows for closer examination

of the difference in grayscale intensity of the two layers and

confirms the higher average atomic number of the gray layer.

The red material also shows specks and other heterogene-

ities, in marked contrast to the smooth gray layer.

Newly fractured cross sections of red/gray chips from the

four different dust samples are shown by BSE imaging in

Fig. ( 5 ). These four cross sections are representative of all

the red/gray chips studied from the dust samples. The BSE

images illustrate the finding that all of the red layers studied

contained small bright particles or grains characterized by a

high average atomic number. The size and presence of the

particles was found to be consistent throughout the layers,

but the concentration of the particles was found to vary lo-

cally, as can be seen from the images.

! "

Fig. (4). Higher magnification BSE image of one of the chips in previous image. The red layer appears darker and is on top of the gray layer.

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