Pentagon Strike Alleged Witness Account: Tom Hovis

Laura

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Even though Micheal Rivero also has this report listed as an eyewitness, it doesn't seem to be the case... The man is describing what he learned after going to the Pentagon to pray... What is UP with Rivero listing this guy as an eyewitness? Can't he read?

http://www.beanerbanner.com/a_father____.htm


Subj: the Pentagon
Date: 9/14/2001 5:50:07 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: thovis@mindspring.com (tom hovis)
To: B17banta@aol.com


Gentlemen,

On this day of prayer I went to the Pentagon and prayed for those Americans that died at the hands of those evil monsters.

My office is 8 miles from the site. The recovery teams working 18 hour shifts are just now getting to the body of the aircraft that went right through the outer ring at full power according to eyewitnesses.. Being a former transport type (60's era) I cannot understand how that plane hit where it did giving the direction the aircraft was taking at the time.


As most know, the Pentagon lies at the bottom of two hills from the west with the east side being next to the river at 14th street bridge. One hill is at the Navy Annex and the other is Arlington Cemetery. The plane came up I-395 also known as Shirley Hwy. (most likely used as a reference point.) The plane had been seen making a lazy pattern in the no fly zone over the White House and US Cap. Why the plane did not hit incoming traffic coming down the river from the north to Reagan Nat'l. is beyond me. Strangely, no one at the Reagan Tower noticed the aircraft. Andrews AFB radar should have also picked up the aircraft I would think. Nevertheless, the aircraft went southwest near Springfield and then veered left over Arlington and then put the nose down coming over Ft Myer picking off trees and light poles near the helicopter pad next to building. It was as if he leveled out at the last minute and put it square into the building. The wings came off as if it went through an arch way leaving a hole in the side of the building it seems a little larger than the wide body of the aircraft. The entry point was so clean that the roof (shown in news photo) fell in on the wreckage. They are just now getting to the passengers today. The nose wheel I understand is in the grass near the second ring. Right now it is estimated that it will take two years to repair the damage. Ironically, the area had just been remodeled with most of the area was still blocked off and some offices were empty.

I know a young Army Major who went to a planned staff meeting at 8:30 am sharp. He left his office and attended the meeting, there was something he needed. He called his friend also a major near his office on his cell phone. As they were talking his friend said, My God a plane has just came through near your office "(which was not part of the new area, but near it ). Fire rolled down the hallway, somehow his friend on the phone ducked down another hallway. Four of the Major's friends did not make it.

Incidentally, the fireball also went along the outside of the building as shown by the blackened side of the building to left of the impact point. The reason the fire took so long to put out was because the attic was filled with "horse hair" for insulation put there in 1942 when the building was built.

Pardon for this long description, it makes feel better to describe my experience. For those who have been to the Pentagon or served there, the hallways are full of people almost all day. Due to the construction, that hallway was almost vacant at the time of the crash.

My son works in Alexandria. He passed the Pentagon on the 14th St bridge 10 minutes before the crash. When he arrived at work, the entire town of Alexandria was consumed by smoke due to the wind direction similar to a forest fire being in the area. The smell was like burning wiring for the most part and it got worse later from you can only imagine what that was from.

Tom Hovis, Fairfax, Assoc. Member

If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to answer them. Keep in mind my computer is at work, so I will respond when I can .

GOD BLESS AMERICA.
 
Tom Hovis is, as Laura remarked above, not a witness, but he has some hearsay information and since he went to the Pentagon afterwards he also saw what was left and apparently also talked to some contacts who had seen something. I decided to divide his report into sections with a heading for each. Although is it not that exact because he scatters his remarks on a given subject, after all this was just a letter to old pals who maybe were all far away from Washington. The part of the text used by Michael Rivero and What Really Happened is underlined.


http://www.beanerbanner.com/a_father____.htm
[Introduction]
Tom Hovis said:
Subj: the Pentagon
Date: 9/14/2001 5:50:07 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: thovis@mindspring.com (tom hovis)
To: B17banta@aol.com
Gentlemen,
On this day of prayer I went to the Pentagon and prayed for those Americans that died at the hands of those evil monsters.
My office is 8 miles from the site.
[The Pentagon strike]
Tom Hovis said:
The recovery teams working 18 hour shifts are just now getting to the body of the aircraft that went right through the outer ring at full power according to eyewitnesses. Being a former transport type (60's era) I cannot understand how that plane hit where it did giving the direction the aircraft was taking at the time.
As most know, the Pentagon lies at the bottom of two hills from the west with the east side being next to the river at 14th street bridge. One hill is at the Navy Annex and the other is Arlington Cemetery. The plane came up I-395 also known as Shirley Hwy. (most likely used as a reference point.) The plane had been seen making a lazy pattern in the no fly zone over the White House and US Cap. Why the plane did not hit incoming traffic coming down the river from the north to Reagan Nat'l. is beyond me. Strangely, no one at the Reagan Tower noticed the aircraft. Andrews AFB radar should have also picked up the aircraft I would think. Nevertheless, the aircraft went southwest near Springfield and then veered left over Arlington and then put the nose down coming over Ft Myer picking off trees and light poles near the helicopter pad next to building. It was as if he leveled out at the last minute and put it square into the building. The wings came off as if it went through an arch way leaving a hole in the side of the building it seems a little larger than the wide body of the aircraft. The entry point was so clean that the roof (shown in news photo) fell in on the wreckage.
They are just now getting to the passengers today. The nose wheel I understand is in the grass near the second ring. Right now it is estimated that it will take two years to repair the damage. Ironically, the area had just been remodeled with most of the area was still blocked off and some offices were empty.
Below are illustration of the area Tom Hovis mentions. From http://www.911-strike.com :
flight_path.jpg


The map below is less than to scale but some names like Springfield is there:
ct-cmaps-arl.jpg


[The fire]
Tom Hovis said:
I know a young Army Major who went to a planned staff meeting at 8:30 am sharp. He left his office and attended the meeting, there was something he needed. He called his friend also a major near his office on his cell phone. As they were talking his friend said, My God a plane has just came through near your office "(which was not part of the new area, but near it ). Fire rolled down the hallway, somehow his friend on the phone ducked down another hallway. Four of the Major's friends did not make it.
Incidentally, the fireball also went along the outside of the building as shown by the blackened side of the building to left of the impact point. The reason the fire took so long to put out was because the attic was filled with "horse hair" for insulation put there in 1942 when the building was built.
Pardon for this long description, it makes feel better to describe my experience. For those who have been to the Pentagon or served there, the hallways are full of people almost all day. Due to the construction, that hallway was almost vacant at the time of the crash.
My son works in Alexandria. He passed the Pentagon on the 14th St bridge 10 minutes before the crash. When he arrived at work, the entire town of Alexandria was consumed by smoke due to the wind direction similar to a forest fire being in the area. The smell was like burning wiring for the most part and it got worse later from you can only imagine what that was from.
[Concluding remarks]
Tom Hovis said:
Tom Hovis, Fairfax, Assoc. Member
If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to answer them. Keep in mind my computer is at work, so I will respond when I can .
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
The report is filed three days after the event and although not a witness he has some worthwhile observations and consideration which I shall comment on in the following.

Tom Hovis explains: "The plane had been seen making a lazy pattern in the no fly zone over the White House and US Cap." The author is not surprised at this behaviour. But should one not ask, how is it possible to fly in a no fly zone without getting noticed or if noticed, without having permission, from the military, the White House or the Vice President? Apparently Tom either has no problem with that, or can not get himself to ask the question.

Tom Hovis: "I cannot understand how that plane hit where it did giving the direction the aircraft was taking at the time." The answers to his first question could be that the plane was not of the type that he was told, it was something else than a B-757, something more manoeuvrable. Or it could be that there were two objects or planes, which could help to explain what Deb Anlauf and William Middleton Sr claimed to have seen, a plane that flew from the Sheraton Hotel along the Arlington National Cemetery to the Pentagon whereas the lamppost clipper path is about 20 degrees to the South.

Tom Hovis: "Why the plane did not hit incoming traffic coming down the river from the north to Reagan Nat'l. is beyond me." The answer to his second concern could be that someone oversaw that it did not hit anything. Or that the plane was of such a size that probability was reduced. Somewhere I read that the object descended 7000 Feet in the last two minutes. This would help to account for less collision risk, since most planes near the airport would most likely not do such a steep dive or rise.

Tom Hovis: "Strangely, no one at the Reagan Tower noticed the aircraft." Perhaps they were seeing it but no action was taken on their reporting.

Tom Hovis: "Andrews AFB radar should have also picked up the aircraft I would think." Indeed. Is Tom Hovis possibly one of the first independent investigators?

Tom Hovis does put more description of the location and path than most of the reporters and he mentions that the object interacted with trees also not only lampposts.

Tom Hovis: "The wings came off as if it went through an arch way leaving a hole in the side of the building it seems a little larger than the wide body of the aircraft."

His description is similar to Terrance Kean in the Whashington Post article who names "an arch way" a "portico":
The Washingon Post said:
"It just plowed right into the side of the Pentagon. The nose penetrated into the portico. And then it sort of disappeared, and there was fire and smoke everywhere. . . . It was very sort of surreal."
So the question is if Tom had it from the Post, well I think his description is sufficiently variant. See also the account of Christine Peterson.

In the article with Frank Probst from Military City they say of the right side engine:
Military City said:
''He dove to his right. He recalls the engine passing on one side of him, about six feet away.
The plane's right wing went through a generator trailer "like butter," Probst said. The starboard engine hit a low cement wall and blew apart..''
When Probst said that one engine hit a low cement wall and blew apart. What is left to prove that one existed in the first place, if what was left of a three tons engine, the wings etc, could be fitted into a few bags:
The Washington Post said:
At one point, a column of 50 FBI officers walked shoulder-to-shoulder across the south grounds of the Pentagon, picking up debris and stuffing it into brown bags. The lawn was scattered with chunks of the airplane, some up to four feet across.
Tom Hovis suggests that the wings were dropped in the archway. Now if it had been a B-757, how would he explain that the big wings and at least one engine just dropped off in the archway after one wing had successfully gone through a generator? Should not the left wing and its three tons engine have some power left to damage the building also?

And, if at least one huge engine from a B-757 had been left in the arch way, and one blew apart on a cement wall, then how to understand the expression in the Aviation Now:
Aviation Now said:
"One of the aircraft's engines somehow ricocheted out of the building and arched into the Pentagon's mall parking area between the main building and the new loading dock facility, said Charles H. Krohn, the Army's deputy chief of public affairs. Those fleeing the building heard a loud secondary explosion about 10 min. after the initial impact."
Either Charles H Krohn is telling a story, putting a false trail or he is trying to indicate that all is not what it seems, that the craft that entered had a tail engine and no wing engines or a tail engine and two wing engines.

Tom Hovis: "The entry point was so clean that the roof (shown in news photo) fell in on the wreckage" What does a clean entry point have to do with the roof falling on top?

The roof falling on top in general could be related to the supporting beams or walls not being able to support it, which may be related to the size of the entry but not much to its cleanness.

The inability of the beams to support may be due to; collision of the hull with the walls and the beams, fire weakening the construction, explosives designed to assist the entry of the hull, or that the beams suffered from those explosions that followed after about ten minutes.

Below is an illustration http://www.911-strike.com of the beams that were broken, those in red and also is the figure of a B-757. Notice that the hull of the plane is very narrow compared to the large area of damaged beams. It is justified to wonder how it was possible when the wings did not go through.

spools.jpg


Tom Hovis: "They are just now getting to the passengers today." That is interesting. If we go back to the Witness Introduction page and look at the timeline for publication of the alleged witness reports, we find the following to which I have added what they write about the plane and the passengers:
20010911, at 9:11 p.m. EDT,
Mike Walter in CNN Career, S02; "American Airlines jet", no passengers mentioned.
20010912:
Deb Anlauf in Leader Telegram, S04where no plane identification and no passengers are mentioned.
David Battle in Scripps Howard News Service/ Albuquerque Tribune, S05 where two alleged witnesses has a B-737 but no passengers are mentioned.
Omar Campo, Asework Hagos and Donald "Tim" Timmerman in The Guardian, UK, S06 The Guardian writes "a medium-sized passenger plane" and "Tim Timmerman, said it had been an American Airways 757".
Jamer R. Cissell in The Cincinnati Post, S10 - - There is no plane type identification but passengers are assumed.
Terrance Kean in The Washingotn Post, S14 The article mentions "American Airlines Boeing 757" and "the plane's 64 passengers and crew".
Clyde Ragalnd in The Los Angeles Times, S22 LA Times mentions "American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 58 passengers and a crew of six aboard"
20010913
Mickey Bell in Web site of National Electrical Contractors Association, S08 The Neca article use this phrase: "American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the western wall of Pentagon with 64 passengers"
20010914
Tom Hovis in Beanerbanner.com, S13

Only Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and NECA, mention Flight 77, the 64 passengers and crew that allegedly died at the Pentagon. According to the report of Tom Hovis they got to the issue of the passengers after three days that is after the above information had already been circulating. If Tom is right, what do you think about it?

I think three days is a long time and if one could not even get to any passengers why should one have been able to identify the plane securely before three days, knowing that outside it was just small size debris that 50 FBI people fitted into paperbacks? Knowing that the military radar allegedly did not register the plane, that the security cameras did not see the plane, that the air traffic control could not name it and that none of the witness reports were exact enough to identify the plane beyond doubt as THE 77, through securely observed registration number. Then why was it reported on the basis of it being missing, and of Donald Timmerman claiming to have seen a B-757 American Airlines, unless there was a different plan from the beginning?

Tom Hovis: "The nose wheel I understand is in the grass near the second ring." If so, why? We just read that the wings with alleged two huge engines not even penetrated one wall, before dropping off or getting smashed or blown apart. Then we are to accept that the whole hull penetrated not only one wall but that parts of it penetrated three rings or six walls of armed concrete. Add to this several supporting beams, plus room and corridor walls, plus various obstacles like furniture, metal drawers and safe boxes, before landing the nose wheel in the grass near the second wing!

For me that is a bit too bizarre, unless somebody had wanted to put something into the Pentagon that should look like a B-757, but which really wasn't? In which case the advice would have been no doubt to at least get the hull inside, so the details of justification could be dealt with later.

Tom Hovis: "Ironically, the area had just been remodeled with most of the area was still blocked off and some offices were empty." Is that ironic or is it suspect or a bit of both?

His recounting the experience of the young Army Major: "He called his friend also a major near his office on his cell phone. As they were talking his friend said, My God a plane has just came through near your office "(which was not part of the new area, but near it ). Fire rolled down the hallway, ...." is a variant of similar reports we have met elsewhere like in the Washington Post on the 16th of September for example, see Allan Wallace thread.

Tom Hovis: "The reason the fire took so long to put out was because the attic was filled with "horse hair" for insulation put there in 1942 when the building was built." Well he may be partially right, but also what could be the reason for the explosions that came after 10 minutes, what was behind the rumours of a second plane that drove the fire fighters back, allowed the fire to catch up and impeded the rescue? Was it some contractor who needed a new contract, including a new war? The Airforce who did not know what was happening in their airspace? Or was it somebody who wanted to damage the scene to a condition beyond recognition?

In the Don Fortunato thread/NewsWeek article Lt Col Ted Anderson is reported as saying:
Newsweek said:
"It was frustrating, because everytime they seemed to be at a point where they were making headway, and it looked like the fire department was in a position to make entry, we'd be notified by someone that another airplane was inbound, there were other hijackers in the air, and they would evacuate us across the highway. The military hates to retreat, but we would have to put the hoses down and wait, sit there and wait, until they said it was all clear and we could get back in position. That happened three or four times-and it was absolutely frustrating."
Tom Hovis: The smell was like burning wiring for the most part and it got worse later from you can only imagine what that was from. Probably it was the "horse hair" or dead bodies. In other words the Pentagon strike did not smell good on 911. From the information available about what took place, it seems the strike is still stinking.

Tom Hovis raises several questions and brings some support for pieces of the puzzle reported elsewhere along with additional angles. I did not find a B-757 Flight 77 in his account. One is left with the impression that he himself is rather surprised.

thorbiorn
 
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