Pentagon Tries to Explain the C-130

 

“To be called a liar and a part of a government conspiracy kind of affected me too, because it just scares you a little bit that there might be some kooky people out there that might want to do harm to you or your family because they feel you’re part of some government conspiracy”

 — Steve O’Brien — MN Public Radio 5/31/04

 

Steve O’Brien claimed he was flying the C-130 on 9/11

(Photo: USAF).

 

Was the Pentagon truthful with us?

No.  Only after they were starting to look like more of a liar than usual, did they back down and admit to the presence of the C-130 over the Pentagon.  This was probably from the adamant insistence of eyewitnesses that wouldn’t succumb to the government debriefings.  It took them over a month to announce the retraction on Oct 17, 2001.  And of course, there was a good story to accompany the report.  Lt. Col. Kenneth McClellan, a Pentagon spokesman, made the following statement:

 

A C-130 cargo plane had departed Andrews Air Force Base en route to Minnesota that morning and reported seeing an airliner heading into Washington at an unusual angle…  Air-traffic control officials instructed the propeller-powered cargo plane ‘to let us know where it’s going,’ McClellan said.  The C-130 pilot “followed the aircraft and reported it was heading into the Pentagon,” he said.  “He saw it crash into the building.  He saw the fireball.”¹⁹⁹ [Emphasis added]

 

 

Was Steve O’Brien truthful with us?

After Lt. Col. Steve O’Brien, was exposed, he and the government attempted to downplay and spin the incident — they even made him one of their witnesses!  The Pentagon’s story was that the C-130 cargo plane had been piloted by, Lt. Col. Steve O’Brien of the Minnesota Air National Guard.  He and his crew just left Andrews Air Force Base (13 miles from the Pentagon), and were heading back to Minneapolis-St. Paul after moving military supplies around the Caribbean.  Here are some excepts from his statement:

 

 “When we took off [About 9:30 a.m.], we headed north and west … I noticed this airplane up and to the left of us, at 10 o’clock.  He was descending to our altitude, four miles away or so.  That’s awful close, so I was surprised he wasn’t calling out to us. … O’Brien reported that the plane was either a 757 or 767 and its silver fuselage meant it was probably an American Airlines jet.  “They told us to turn and follow that aircraft  … “The next thing I saw was the fireball.  It was huge… Suddenly, I could see the outline of the Pentagon.  It was horrible.  I told Washington this thing has impacted the west side of the Pentagon. …I took the plane once through the plume of smoke and thought if this was a terrorist attack, it probably wasn’t a good idea to be flying through that plume.  He flew west, not exactly sure where he was supposed to land.²⁰⁹

 

Are we to believe that after two (soon to be three) terrorist attacks spanning from an hour earlier, a Lt. Colonel wouldn’t have the foggiest idea what was going on?  What about a flight briefing before a pilot takes off?  What about the FAA grounding issued 5 minutes before his taking off?  What about the warnings from the Dulles air traffic controllers?  And, how was he flying in the middle of the historical FAA order?  They were landing almost 5,000 aircraft on the North American continent.  Isn’t it remarkable that only he didn’t know what was going on?  Perhaps, the lie that he was to tell depended on showing he was ignorant.  One of the elements of this belated tale, like Donald “Tim” Timmerman’s report, was to reinforce the still weak link between the Pentagon’s debris-less crash site and Flight 77. 

 

But the mystery perseveres…

The journey continues to Pennsylvania!

 

Somewhere over western Pennsylvania, O’Brien looked down at a blackened, smoldering field.  “I hoped it was just a tire fire or something, but when I checked with Cleveland center, he told me he’d just lost a guy off the scope…²⁰⁹ 

 

Imagine, his C-130 was at the location of two attacks — the Pentagon and Shanksville! 

 

Did the “October surprise” lead to another surprise?

Yet, Steve O’Brien put it best, “…and there was another surprise –– the story turned up on the Internet as part of a conspiracy theory maintaining that no plane hit the Pentagon.”[i]  Yes, and there was very good reason for that, thanks to the unbelievable statements like his — which only were fabricated because the government was caught with its “pants pulled down”. 

The reality was … eyewitnesses tracked his plane flying directly above a low-flying airliner and guiding it to the Pentagon.  It was seen circling above the Pentagon before the airliner allegedly crashed into the Pentagon.  Also at Shanksville, the C-130 was they’re circling before the shoot down occurred.  So unless everyone else is a liar…  And what he was really doing there can only be left up to the imagination…