A Conspiracy
On September 11, 2001, my world experienced the collision of theoretical parallel universes. The FBI says hijackers who had studied how to fly jets in flight school in just a few months managed to steer planes with perfect accuracy into three buildings, killing 2,996 people. Being my father's son, I know where there are rooms at airports with warning signs on the door, “Flight Control Equipment: Disrupting Equipment in this Room May Result in Death.” I knew where the door to my father's Federal Aviation Administration office networking/phone closet was. As a child, I sat on a computer, steering a triangle around a green monotone monitor as my father worked on weekends. I played with the industrial paper shredder used by federal offices. I had a job that gave me tarmac access without an airport badge or going through TSA checks. I knew that GPS receivers could be manipulated, and that some airplanes flew by Fly-by-Wire. I remember the Controlled Impact Demonstration of 1984 where NASA and the FAA intentionally crashed a plane to study fuel dispersion during a crash. I figured out that planes can be remote controlled. I know that VORs (VHF omnidirectional range) exist. I know that Raytheon was one defense contractor that helped develop a system called JPALS (Joint precision approach and landing system) that enables planes to land automatically with extreme accuracy. Raytheon had an office on the 91st floor of 2 World Trade Center, just floors above where United Airlines Flight 175 impacted.
This was an excerpt from a grad school paper for YOST 5954 Experiential Learning from Spring 2016 entitled "Windows and Mirrors".
Editor note: I don't actually believe this conspiracy. My father was an FAA Avionics Safety Inspector, so on September 11, my thought process immediately went to plane electronics ("avionics"). To make this conspiracy worse, one of my good friends from college shared a name with one of the legit September 11 pilots that perished. Hearing that name on September 11 jarred my emotions.
ChatGPT Summary
The page is a short autobiographical reflection titled **“A Conspiracy.”** It describes the author's initial reaction to the events of **September 11, 2001** and how their background led them to briefly consider a technical conspiracy scenario. ([Djer][1]) Key points: * The author recalls hearing the official account of the 9/11 attacks and questioning how the hijacked aircraft could have been flown so precisely into their targets. ([Djer][1]) * They explain that their father worked as an **FAA Avionics Safety Inspector**, giving the author early exposure to aviation systems and airport infrastructure. This familiarity made them think about technologies such as: * aircraft navigation systems, * fly-by-wire controls, * GPS manipulation, * remote aircraft control, * VOR navigation, * and the military **JPALS** automatic landing system. ([Djer][1]) * The author notes that these thoughts formed the basis of an excerpt from a 2016 graduate school paper. ([Djer][1]) * Importantly, the page ends with an explicit disclaimer: **the author says they do not actually believe the conspiracy theory they outlined.** They explain that it reflected their immediate thought process on 9/11, influenced by their aviation background and by the emotional shock of hearing the name of a friend who shared the same name as one of the pilots killed in the attacks. ([Djer][1]) In short, the page is **not advocating a 9/11 conspiracy theory**. Rather, it is a personal essay describing why the author's technical knowledge initially led them to imagine one, followed by a clear statement that they do not believe it. ([Djer][1]) [1]: https://djer.org/conspiracy "DJER"