A Day in The Life of a "9/11 Debunker"

If you're unaware of the massive, often heated, and aaaaalways entertaining Internet-wide debate that has raged for the last five years concerning the events of 9/11 and the alleged conspiracies that lie behind them, then you either don't know what the Internet is and are not reading this article, or you have just arrived here from your home world of Pluto. If the latter is the case, then welcome to Earth, you have a lot of catching up to do. Now assuming that you have an Internet connection and are not a visitor from the 9th planet from Sol, I'd like to relate to you some of my recent adventures posing as a "9/11 debunker".

Since I joined ATS in October 2004, and even before then, without a doubt the conspiracy topic that has most intrigued me personally is 9/11. From a conspiracy theory research perspective, it is easily the most complex, most multi-faceted, and most far-reaching event that has occurred during my adult life. And it is easily the event that has spawned the largest amount of varied (and sometimes truly, truly wacky) theories - everything from the Bush administration having foreknowledge of the impending attack and allowing it to happen, through the controlled demolition of the WTC buildings, and even on to missiles striking the Pentagon and missile pods attached to the undercarriage of the planes. Holographic planes and UFOs? I'm not even going to go there... Through my research into the topic over the last 3 years, I have gradually refined an opinion of what may have really happened on and leading up to that day, and of what lies have been told, and sold, by the US government. I stress the word "opinion" because virtually nothing has been proven in relation to 9/11, including most of the "official story".

Those of you who have seen my activities in the ATS 9/11 forum will know that my opinion leans fairly strongly towards the "Official Story is a Bunch of Malarkey" side, which is not far over from the "Official Story is a Steaming Pile of Rancid Festering Doggy-Do" side, although not quite as smelly and easier to roll off the tongue when you're in a hurry. But after three years of the same unprovable arguments going back and forth, round and round, up and down, and sideways just for kicks, I started to get a little bored. No longer did I have that fire in the belly, that need to answer every question, to research every aspect down to the finest details, to rebut every false argument presented. The occasional new piece of information or video would crop up, but no holy grails of truth either way.

And so, in order to spice things up for myself a little, and to see how solid my contentions were (after all, debating against your own views is the best way to test their validity), I decided to "see how the other side lives" and spend a period of time as a 9/11 debunker. You know the type - every day they spend hours online tirelessly defending the official version of the events; never conceding one, single point; never admitting that there are any unanswered questions which deserve to be investigated; and deriding conspiracy theorists as "kooks", "crackpots", and "tinfoil hatters". The apparent contradiction of these characters' unceasing commitment, dedication to, and time spent debunking theories which they consider to be complete, fantastical baloney unworthy of anyone's time, has made many curious debaters wonder what their motivations are. Many have wondered aloud if they are not commissioned to do what they do...but that's a whole other article.

Now before I launched into my new temporary career as a 9/11 debunker, I had to get set up, and by set up I mean cover my tracks. In my adventures debating 9/11 conspiracy on sites outside of ATS, I've been abused, slandered, harassed, and cyber-stalked by obsessed nutcases who feel that suggesting there may be a conspiracy behind 9/11 is a personal insult to them, an insult to the victims of 9/11, and an affront to the entire human race (and maybe Plutonians too, I'm not really sure). So with the amount of persons with dubious psychological stability also shambling around on the conspiracy side of the 9/11 theory fence, I figured it best to conceal my identity. I set up a bogus email address for signing up to websites, fired up my proxy and IP bouncing software, and hit the forum road...

First stop was a relatively small website with a reasonable backlog of 9/11 information, a mildly busy 9/11 section, and virtually zero opposition to any 9/11 theories. I read a few posts and then jumped in with my debunking, and KABLAM! I was suddenly mobbed by hordes of what I estimate to be 14-year-olds, screaming "SHILL!", "GOVERNMENT AGENT!", and filling their posts to the brim with a million grinning smilies. I was honestly unprepared for this bewildering onslaught of wild accusations and little animated gifs. It reminded me of when I was about 7 years old and I picked a fight with a bull-ant nest...barefooted. Posting information to back my claims was simply met with outright denial and more cries of "SHILL!". I deliberately posted some stuff that I knew was pure bollocks and could be easily refuted by posting a link or two, but still, the simple denial without supporting evidence continued. As you can guess, I quickly moved on, and the nest is still buzzing angrily from my disturbing it.

Next stop was a much more serious, well-known website (no, not ATS, sheesh). I've been there a few days and have had my work cut out for me, that's for sure. What happened there? Well, if you're interested, maybe I'll tell you next week.

     wecomeinpeace
     ATS Moderator





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