Steven Jones: Pandering to Paranoia for Popularity

It’s true, those who buy into the 9/11 conspiracy theories are gullible and paranoid. And those who continually espouse and propagate the theories are merely pandering to these poor souls in attempt to obtain their own proverbial fifteen minutes of fame. Unfortunately, it’s working.

Even more disconcerting, a professor at BYU is the main proponent of a leading 9/11 conspiracy theory. His name is Steven Jones.

Unfortunately, Jones has been running his mouth about how he thinks the trajedy of September 11, 2001, was perpetrated by Neo-Cons (an absurd term used by academics to polarize and foster paranoia about right-wing political philosophy) in the current government.* He alleges the atrocity was planned and carried out by the government in an attempt to bolster support for U.S. domination of oil-rich Arab countries.*

At first blush, I was interested in his theory (and other variations). And I’ll have to admit, one or two of the issues brought to light could be compelling without a holistic and sober view. Fortunately, I have seen through the dribble. I’ll explain briefly.

In recent news reports and speeches, Jones has conveyed the following:

It is impossible for the towers to have collapsed from the collision of two aeroplanes, as jet fuel doesn’t burn at temperatures hot enough to melt steel beams. The horizontal puffs of smoke - squibs - emitted during the collapse of the towers are indicative of controlled implosions on lower floors. (See Article: “Who Really Blew up the Twin Towers”).

Also, yesterday Jones was reported to have said, “We challenge this official conspiracy theory and, by God, we’re going to get to the bottom of this.” Thus, he of course believes his theory is the truth and claims the “official” story is the conspiracy.

I have three principle beefs with Jones:

1) He claims the towers were brought down by controlled demolitions and the use of thermite; this is because he believes the burning jet fuel could not have “melted” the steel. I find it odd that a professor (of physics no less) can not understand that steel can be weakened before it “melts”. My five-year old can understand that hard metal can be weakened by the impact of a jumbo jet combined with lesser heat. Indeed, I suppose Mr. Jones has no interest in listening to what experts have said about the weakening of steel. His theory has long been debunked! Does anyone else besides me think it is extremely odd that a professor of physics doesn’t understand this? How does he maintain his job? Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that tenure thing.

2) Jones claims it was an “inside job” by the White House. Earth to Professor Jones: by your own admissions, the “job” you propose would take a thousand pounds of thermite in approximately 100 locations in each building! Doesn’t this set off any paranoia alarms in his head? How is it that all this work was accomplished by the White House without one single individual breaking confidence? I suppose Jones believes Paul Wolfowitz planted all the thermite in his spare time away from the World Bank. Sure, it’s plausible; if you’re a nut-case.

Clearly, Jones is nothing but a professor of paranoia!

3) Finally, I am disheartened by the way Jones subtly infuses religion into his argument. He says, “by God” he will get to the bottom of “this”. Well, everyone knows he’s a member of the Church. It’s just not good form! You poor BYU grads.

(In case you didn’t link to the articles I cite, you should check out the Popular Mechanics piece–particularly the part about weakening of steel).