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    Conspiracy Theories
    Conspiracy Theories
    Conspiracy Theories
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

    Conspiracy Theories

    By Dee Van Dyk

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    About this ebook

    Who killed JFK? Was it the CIA, FBI, the Mafia, or lone assassin Lee Harvey Oswald? Was the tragic death of Princess Diana an accident or a failed assassination attempt on her boyfriend and millionaire, Dodi Al Fayed? Was Jack the Ripper a member of the Freemasons? Is Skull and Bones a secret society placed to form a sinister shadow government, or is it a gathering of wealthy kids performing bizarre and adolescent rituals? Are we alone in the universe, or are crop circles evidence of alien life?
    Conspiracies are everywhere; they are a normal part of everyday life. And, although many people link the word conspiracy with disturbed paranoia, some conspiracies are true.
    Often, conspiracy theories will spring from a single event, leaving us to sift through the details for the truth. And, as the X-Files television show tagline assured us, the truth is out there. However, for conspiracies on a grand or global scale, and even in the case of small, mundane conspiracy theories, the full truth may never be known.
    Most people are familiar with conspiracy theories that have their roots in a political or historical event, such as the Kennedy assassination, but some theories crop up in strange and unusual places.
    Although many conspiracy theories have a thread of truth running through them, the inherent speculation and innuendo sometimes veer them off on a tangent. For example, one of the 9/11 myths involved a Bible found, intact and undamaged, amid the Pentagon crash site. For a country staggering under the tragic impact of the 9/11 attacks, a Bible found at the crash site might have had significant symbolic meaning. On further investigation, however, it was discovered that the book was a dictionary, not a Bible.
    Another story rising out of the ashes of 9/11 was that of a World Trade Center survivor surfing his way down from the 82nd floor on a piece of building debris. On reflection, the story is unbelievable, but for a country watching in horror as the events of 9/11 rolled out, a miraculous escape was a candle flickering in the darkness. It soon evolved into an urban myth.
    That same willingness to suspend disbelief in the absence of proof, often fuels outrageous claims made by some conspiracy theorists.
    But what if a conspiracy theory—even an outrageous one—is true?
    Van Dyk’s Conspiracy Theories takes a look at some of the most provocative stories of our time, and the conspiracies that shroud them.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDee Van Dyk
    Release dateJan 7, 2014
    ISBN9780986948213
    Conspiracy Theories
    Author

    Dee Van Dyk

    Dee Van Dyk’s publishing resume over the years includes Canadian Living, Homemakers, Alberta Venture, Up!, Profit, Fresh Juice, and Avenue. Her publishing diversity reflects her life and interests, ranging from extreme weather to a well-told piece of fiction.She is currently working on transferring out-of-print non-fiction books into electronic format, and on a Young Adult novel called Sin Eater.

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      Book preview

      Conspiracy Theories - Dee Van Dyk

      Conspiracy Theories

      Copyright 2013 Dee Van Dyk

      Smashwords Edition 2013

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy.

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Van Dyk, Dee, author

      Conspiracy theories / Dee Van Dyk.

      Includes bibliographical references.

      Electronic monograph in PDF format.

      ISBN 978-0-9869482-1-3 (pdf)

      1. Conspiracy theories. I. Title.

      HV6275.V35 2014 001.9 C2014-900084-7

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Chapter 1: 9/11: America’s Darkest Hour

      Chapter 2:The Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory

      Chapter 3: Assassinations of the Rich, the Famous, and the Inconvenient

      Chapter 4: Secret Societies

      Chapter 5: Aliens on Earth

      Chapter 6: Conspiracies in Our Environment

      Chapter 7: Politics and Conspiracies

      Chapter 8: Mind Control

      What People Said

      Conspiracy Dictionary

      Bibliography

      Acknowledgements

      About This Book

      Conspiracy theories are, by their very nature, difficult to refute and difficult to prove. It is not the intention of the publishers or the author of this book to present any of the conspiracy theories, on the following pages, as fact.

      As fictitious FBI Agent Dana Scully of the television program X-Files said, The truth is out there, but so are the lies.

      Chapter 1: 9/11: America’s Darkest Hour

      Most North Americans can remember exactly what they were doing at the moment they heard American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. Like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the explosion of the Challenger, September 11 would etch itself indelibly in the memories and in the very life fabric of Americans. It would mark the first time they would truly feel the impact of terrorism on home soil.

      Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned unremarkably for most. In New York, the skies were nearly cloudless and the temperature mild as people began their day. However, as Americans prepared to go to work or to school, two airlines were unwittingly loading terrorists onto four flights.

      Early that fateful morning, Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari caught a 6 o’clock flight from Portland to Boston’s Logan International Airport. Their names were soon to become household words. Mohammed Atta would be identified as the leader of the 9/11 hijackers, and his suitcase, still at Logan airport, was found to contain a fuel consumption calculator and a copy of the Koran.

      From Boston, the two men boarded 7:45 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11, bound for Los Angeles. Also boarding Flight 11 from Boston were three more terrorists: Satam al Suqami, Wail al Shehri, and Waleed al Shehri.

      In another part of Logan International Airport, Fayez Banihammad, Mohand al Shehri, Ahmed al Ghamdi, Hamza al Ghamdi, and Marwan al Shehhi boarded United Airlines Flight 175, also bound for Los Angeles and scheduled for an 8 a.m. take-off.

      Meanwhile, at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., Khalid al Mihdhar, Majed Moqed, Hani Hanjour, Nawaf al Hazmi, and Salim al Hazmi were preparing to board American Airlines Flight 77. It, too, was bound for Los Angeles.

      And, finally, in Newark, New Jersey, United Airlines Flight 93 departed for San Francisco at 8:42 a.m. with four terrorists—Saeed al Ghamdi, Ahmed al Nami, Ahmad al Haznawi, and Ziad Jarrah—on board.

      By 8 a.m. on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, 19 men had passed through airport security checkpoints to board four different flights. The planes, loaded with nearly 11,400 gallons of jet fuel among them, were about to become guided missiles. The next few hours elapsed with blinding speed.

      American Airlines Flight 11

      According to the 9/11 Commission Report, the last routine communication from American Flight 11 occurred at approximately 8:14 a.m. The plane had climbed to 26,000 feet. Aboard the aircraft, flight attendants would have been preparing for cabin service.

      Information about what happened aboard Flight 11 past that point came from two flight attendants in coach—Betty Ong and Madeline Sweeney. Ong stayed in communication with the American Airlines’ ground crew for nearly 25 minutes, relaying critical information. Sweeney and Ong gave the ground crew seat numbers of three of the hijackers.

      From Ong, we know that the hijackers took control of the cockpit after stabbing two flight attendants. They sprayed pepper spray or mace into the first-class cabin and then forced passengers and flight attendants from first-class into the rear of the plane.

      In Boston, the FAA Air Traffic Control Center was already aware that something had gone terribly wrong on Flight 11. At approximately 8:25, the hijackers, intending to broadcast a warning to the passengers, inadvertently transmitted the following message to the controllers on the ground instead: Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you’ll endanger yourself and the plane. Just stay quiet.

      At 8:44 a.m., ground lost contact with Ong. Sweeney’s last words, at roughly the same time were, Oh my God, we’re way too low.

      Two minutes later, at 8:46:40 a.m., American Flight 11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center, killing all aboard and igniting the series of events that would come to be known simply as 9/11.

      United Airlines Flight 175

      Approximately 15 minutes after Flight 11 took off at 7:59 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 departed Logan International Airport. Its last contact with the ground crew was at 8:42 a.m., when the flight crew reported overhearing a suspicious transmission from another plane. That plane was the doomed Flight 11.

      At 8:47 a.m. Flight 175 changed its beacon codes twice within a minute, red flagging the flight as a concern for the ground crew. Based on calls from passengers and flight attendants on Flight 175, a frightening picture began to emerge. According to those calls, the hijackers, armed with knives and mace, took over the plane sometime between 8:42 and 8:46. By 8:52, United knew that both pilots were dead. Six minutes later, the flight turned toward New York City.

      At 8:59, in a phone call to his mother, passenger Brian David Sweeney said that the passengers were going to try to overwhelm the hijackers.

      Then, at 9:03:11 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 hit the south tower of the World Trade Center, killing everyone on board and drawing the U.S. public to an inescapable conclusion: the United States of America was under attack.

      President George W. Bush

      September 11, 2001 was to have been a soft day for President Bush, with a 9 a.m. appointment scheduled at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida.

      At 9:05 a.m., as President Bush listened to the children read The Pet Goat, Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered to him, A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.

      Bush stayed in the classroom a further 10 minutes—an inaction that would draw criticism from the U.S. press and public in the days and

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