The Pentagon impact

As told: the initial punch hole looks too narrow for a 155-foot wingspan, there was said to be too little wreckage, the lawn appeared unscarred, and the released stills are too poor to show an airliner.

The argument originated in a 2002 French book, L'Effroyable Imposture by Thierry Meyssan, and spread through early web forums and later documentaries.

Accounts are deliberately not collected here. This entry documents a historical case rather than a circulating remedy.

The aircraft struck at a shallow angle at high speed into a recently reinforced section; the wings and tail disintegrated against the facade rather than punching through it, which is what impact engineering predicts for thin aluminium structures against reinforced concrete. Wreckage was recovered and photographed, the remains of passengers and crew were identified by the Armed Forces medical examiner, the flight recorder was recovered, and there are named eyewitnesses on Route 27 who saw the aircraft. The missile claim requires all of that to be fabricated, including the dead.