The $2,000$ 9/11 Challenge

This is no joke, I am serious, I would like to offer more money but two thousand bucks is all I have. Everyone can try their luck at this.

I challenge everyone to reproduce a pancake collapse such as the 3 buildings at the WTC complex on 9/11. All can do this with little if no investments at all.

Build a miniature tower, it can be made of playing cards, pizza boxes, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, LEGO blocks, wood logs, concrete blocks or steel beams or any other material you wish to use. The tower must be in the same proportions as the WTC towers. The WTC towers were 215 ft wide at the base and 1,300 ft tall so if your tower is 10 inch at the base, it should be about 60 inch tall. And the tower only needs to be strong enough to resist 25 cent coin thrown at it without falling apart or collapsing.

Once your tower is build, you can set it on fire and you can keep feeding jet fuel to the fire for as long as you want but the fire should be set near the top or at least above the middle section. Let the fire burn for as long as you want and as strong as possible. But the fire must be contained in the top half of the tower aand the bottom half must be destroyed from gravity alone.

The important is that you must re-create a pancake collapse. By that I mean that the whole tower must collapse straight down from the top and every section or floor of your tower must be completely demolished (at it happened to the two towers and WTC7)

If you re-create the pancake collapse and if you can insure that the whole building gets destroyed in 10 seconds from the start of the collapse then the reward will be yours. Just get it on film and post it to Youtube. Next, contact me at [email protected] or call me at 1-403-390-7991 to claim our $2,000 prize.

But remember:

- keep proportions of around six times as high as it is wide at the base.
- must resist a 25cent coin thrown at it without falling or collapsing.
- must collapse COMPLETELY from top to bottom all.
- the complete collapse must occur inside 10 seconds from the moment it started to collapse.
- the fire must be started and contained to the top portion of the tower and the bottom half must collapse from gravity alone (as it supposedly happned on 9/11)
- and of course, no explosives can be used .... that would be cheating.
- must have a video of the 25cent throw and collapse.

My exercise is simple, a 'pancake collapse' is absolutely impossible. The term was invented on 9/11. Heck you couldn't even create a 'pancake collapse' if you used actual pancakes to build your tower.

Nobody is going to take $2,000 bucks from me because nobody is going to be able to produce a 'pancake collapse'. But if you think I am wrong go ahead and try it, you'll make an easy $2,000 and you'll prove me wrong.

I just hope that somebody is going to try this and realize by himself that a 'pancake collapse' is simply ridicule and impossible.


Good luck!

[edit on 1-5-2007 by PepeLapew]

Mod Edit: All Caps – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 1/5/2007 by Mirthful Me]

I wouldn't say you can recreate it with anything.

Have someone create a structure that's sturdy on its own, and then cause it to collapse. Because I'm sure someone can do it with cards if they tried enough. If you can flick it and it can fall down, that's not really making a point.

Originally posted by bsbray11
I wouldn't say you can recreate it with anything.

Great! then go for it and earn yourself an easy $2,000 ... I am serious here, this is not a joke.

Have someone create a structure that's sturdy on its own, and then cause it to collapse. Because I'm sure someone can do it with cards if they tried enough. If you can flick it and it can fall down, that's not really making a point.

Well, as I stated in the head post, you can build it out of playing cards if you want but the tower will have to be strong enough to resist a 25cent coin thrown at it without collapsing. I think it's only fair to ask this since the towers were built to resist a fully loaded 707 and 140 MPH windstorms.

I don't ask that your tower resists a 707 impact and a 140 MPH wind. All I ask is that you throw a quarter at it without collapsing. Fair?

[edit on 1-5-2007 by PepeLapew]

Originally posted by PepeLapew
Well, as I stated in the head post, you can build it out of playing cards if you want but the tower will have to be strong enough to resist a 25cent coin thrown at it without collapsing.

Ah, I missed that part.

If you're really serious, I could start working on a clever way to do what you're asking, but if it works, it'll be really dirty and you'll hate me for it. I could use $2000. All it would cost me would be tape, cards, and razor blades. But maybe I've said too much...

[edit on 1-5-2007 by bsbray11]

I'm sure someone out there would be able to recreate the 9/11 collapse. But I know for sure that I couldn't . . . btw, it doesn't have to be actual jet fuel we throw onto it, right?

I am not sure what you mean but if you can do it then go for it and make sure to catch it on video with the 23cent hit included and the collapse included as well.

This is no joke, you think you can trick me, then go for it bud .....good luck!

Furthermore, you can repost this challenge on any other forum and I'll still honor the prize.

I think I'll carry out my plan, but if it works, I won't have the heart to ask for the full $2000. $100 would suit me. How's that sound?

Even if it does work, though, it'll in no way represent what happened to the towers, regardless of whether you think they were demo'd or not.

I guess I'll post again when it works, or doesn't work, or I stopped working on it.

Originally posted by watch_the_rocks
I'm sure someone out there would be able to recreate the 9/11 collapse. But I know for sure that I couldn't . . . btw, it doesn't have to be actual jet fuel we throw onto it, right?

No it doesn't. You can use kerosene too if you want, it's the same thing. Or you can use regular unleaded gas too or lighter fluid. Well anything that produces a yellow-orange flame. If it produces a blue or green flame it's burning too hot and you are cheating with some extreme chemical stuff.

So use jet fuel, kerosene, unleaded gas or any other household fuel you want.

Originally posted by bsbray11
I think I'll carry out my plan, but if it works, I won't have the heart to ask for the full $2000. $100 would suit me. How's that sound?

In that case, I will send $1,900 to a 9/11 victim fund in your name.
But remember:

- keep proportions of around six times as high as it is wide at the base.
- must resist a 25cent coin thrown at it without falling or collapsing.
- must collapse COMPLETELY from top to bottom all.
- the complete collapse must occur inside 10 seconds from the moment it started to collapse.
- the fire must be started and contained to the top portion of the tower (I missed that one in the head post, I'll add it now)

pepe, the person who will have the face to take 2000$ from you will be a bastard...

It won't be me.

[edit on 1-5-2007 by selfless]

Originally posted by selfless
pepe, the person who will have the face to take 2000$ from you will be a bastard...

My exercise is simple, a 'pancake collapse' is absolutely impossible. The term was invented on 9/11. Heck you couldn't even create a 'pancake collapse' if you used actual pancakes to build your tower.

Nobody is going to take $2,000 bucks from me because nobody is going to be able to produce a 'pancake collapse'.

I just hope that somebody is going to try this and realize by himself that a 'pancake collapse' in simply ridicule and impossible.

Originally posted by PepeLapew

I just hope that somebody is going to try this and realize by himself that a 'pancake collapse' in simply ridicule and impossible.

Yes, i realize this but you must keep in mind that there are some scam artists out there...

Originally posted by selfless

Originally posted by PepeLapew

I just hope that somebody is going to try this and realize by himself that a 'pancake collapse' in simply ridicule and impossible.

Yes, i realize this but you must keep in mind that there are some scam artists out there...

Naaaah! You know how the 9/11 commission were able to create computer animations of the trusses melting like licorice and floors dropping all over? Well they also played with mobiles. drawings and dumb comparisons like "zipper effect", "pancake collapse" and "domino effects" and all kinds of other stoopit simple misrepresentations but they never dared try to reproduce a pancake collapse because they know very well it can't be done.

Scam artists can't cheat the laws of physics.

Originally posted by PepeLapew


Scam artists can't cheat the laws of physics.

No but they can create the illusion of it.

Originally posted by selfless
No but they can create the illusion of it.

I told him he should make his rules stricter but the quarter thing satisfies enough for him I guess. I couldn't ask for the $2000, but if he really is serious about it then I'm sure that you're right.

this is something that always bothers me , this pancake thing .
all anyone see's in the collaspe is the first part of the fall and everyone
yells pancake ! that cloud of smoke and dust makes it imposible to see
what is really going on in relationship to the fall of the building . all anyone can see is that both buildings give way at the impact site .

Originally posted by gen.disaray
this is something that always bothers me , this pancake thing .
all anyone see's in the collaspe is the first part of the fall and everyone
yells pancake ! that cloud of smoke and dust makes it imposible to see
what is really going on in relationship to the fall of the building . all anyone can see is that both buildings give way at the impact site .

Do you know how tall the world trade center was? for it to not fall onto it self would have caused a much MUCH larger sector of debris.....

It's a good idea, but to me the reprodution of th/e towers should be the same architechtural structure as the orignal towers too proove anything, The structure of the original towers was so unic and so robuste that it was physically impossible for the towers to fall the way they did and in a matter of 20 minutes. So for the experiment to be exact these mini towers should have the same structure (grid floors, center columns, the right amount of floors, propotinal weight etc etc etc ...) What I mean is that these towers, have to be the EXACT reprodution of the real ones, which would be hard to do.

But the experiment that you are offering us PepeLapew will prove that you can't make a similar building fall the same way as on 9/11, but it won't proove you can't make the exact same building fall the same way as on 9/11.

Don't know if everyone has understood what I am trying to point out lol.

if i may make a suggestion as to what may be a better investment of your 2k?


for the 2000 you have adn are willing to part with, go out and buy a section of steel that is close to one of the core sections columns. ive seen varied dimensions but the two that seem closest are 54x22 and i think i saw a picture of one that was 36x36 both with 2" thick walls.

so get even like a 6' section of one and thermite or the stuff to make thermite. stand the column section on end and apply the thermite around the column and video it cutting the column while the column is upright.

if you can get it to cut and slide off (remember the 45 or so degree angle) that would shut a lot of people (myself included) up about the possibility of thermite being used.

dunno, just seems if someone wants to invest a couple grand in an experiment might as well do one thats more indicative of what the theories say happened.

and yes, if your demonstration worked it would shut me up in a hurry lol

(parameters should be that the steel was 2" thick, it was a fresh section of steel with no precutting or scoring inside or out and that your thermite cutters did cut it while it was standing vertically so the thermite had to cut horizontally)

just a suggestion

Can I make mine out of SPAM? I think it's actually the 70 or 75th anniversary of that fabulous meat in a can and it does have certain unreproducable construction properties...

Also, I was thinking of making the tower out of frozen pancakes, just for the poetic beauty of it all.

Please, your sarcasm is as thick as your misunderstanding of physics. Additionally, I DO subscribe to the controlled demolition theory far more readily than i do to the crash/burn/pancake theory.

But please don't clog the ATS with this stuff unnecessarily. Wait. Scratch that. I guess that's what a forum is for, isn't it? Posting challenges that have no real world relevance, ESPECIALLY when it relates to physics, wind resistance, the effects of bodies in free fall in a crowded urban cityscape, terminal velocity, the price of cabbage in Istanbul on a full moon, etc., etc.

Nice try, though.