CNN: Mystery 9/11 aircraft was military 'doomsday plane'

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Ganymede, Sep 13, 2007.

  1. Ganymede Valued Senior Member

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    Shortly before 10 am on the morning of September 11, 2001, amid rumors of a fourth hijacked plane headed for Washington, DC, a mystery aircraft appeared in restricted airspace over the White House. There has never been an official explanation for this incident, which has provided abundant fuel for 9/11 conspiracy theories.

    CNN has now learned from two government sources that the mystery plane was a military aircraft and has determined that the blurry image on video appears to match photos of the Air Force's E-4B (discussed here on Wikipedia), a specially modified Boeing 747 with a communications pod behind the cockpit.

    "The E-4B is a state of the art flying command post," CNN explained, "built and equipped for one reason -- to keep the government running no matter what, even in the event of a nuclear war, the reason it was nicknamed the 'doomsday plane' during the Cold War."

    9/11 Commission co-chair Lee Hamilton told CNN he was aware of the incident and that it had simply never seemed important enough to make it into the commission's report.

    http://rawstory.com//news/2007/CNN_investigates_secret_911_doomsday_plane_0913.html

    Ok, so you're telling me that we could scramble a 747 to D.C, but not a Raptor or F-16? Why did they have the Doomsday plane up in the first place if they had NO IDEA the Terrorist were attacking?
     
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  3. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    It was a duplicate plane from Al Qaeda
     
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  5. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    The US Air Force does not "scramble" a E-4b! ...LOL!

    If there was one in the air, it was because it was already up there flying around for some reason. But "scramble" a E-4b?

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    Baron Max
     
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  7. hypewaders Save Changes Registered Senior Member

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    ""scramble" a E-4b? "

    Sure, haven't you seen the E-4B scramble hangars, and high-speed E-4B taxiways?

    They're co-located with the Area-51 landing zones where the passengers of diverted airliners are secretly executed.
     
  8. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    I actually have some first-hand knowledge of that plane and, in particular, it's predecessors. I worked in the communications group that was charged with providing links with it and it's alternates 24/7. I'm still bound by a non-disclosure agreement though I left there years ago.

    But I CAN tell you this much: the operation was called "Nightwatch" and there was ALWAYS one or more of those flying executive command-centers in the air at every given moment. They can be quickly dispatched to pick up the President, VP, and certain other people on a moment's notice.So for that one to have been there was nothing extraordinary in the least.
     
  9. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    The system that you may be talking about is,( Looking Glass ), that is the term that is commonly used, It was made up of the E-4B National Airborne Operations Center for the National Command Authorities, and EC-135, Looking Glass, the Looking Glass mission was discontinued in 1998.

    The E-4B National Airborne Operations Center for the National Command Authorities, also has as it mission to respond to any national disaster or emergency, and it can operate out of Andrews AFB, its job is to provide communications, and on 9/11 that is exactly what it did, it was alerted, and it took station to provide National Communications for the Government in the event that it was needed, It (E-4B) in and of its self has no weapons capability, and it has no authority to order any type of action, its a communication relay bird.
     
  10. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    Thanks for the reminder, to many years out of the Military to remember all of the Code names.
     
  11. Exhumed Self ******. Registered Senior Member

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    Might be a bit off topic, but... Who is supposed to be in the plane? It says to ensure the government is running when under nuclear attack, so who do they put up there? To what extent do they mean running the government? Military?
     
  12. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    On the E-4B, it could be the President, but in most situations, the President will be in Air Force One, and have to transfer to NAOCNC, if possible, the E-4B is a flying communication center, and as Read Only state it's full mission capability is classified, but it don't have any weapons capability, even defensive, it relies on a CAP.
     
  13. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    You're welcome, Buffalo. Yeah, FAR to many for me to remember, too. This one was a bit different because I spent so much time with it. In the early days with the predecessor planes, it was voice circuits only, of course. And they connected directly to the military's completely independent voice-switching network - AUTOVON. (That's a name I'll bet you recognize instantly.)

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    It also had INWATS and OUTWATS capability so it could reach any phone in the entire world, not just ones belonging to the military.
     
  14. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    Yes I remember AUTOVON, and the pain in the ass that it was.
     
  15. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    seeing as the government isn't stupid enough to have all of it's key personnel in the same place at any one time it's not much of a leap to say some of those key personnel was aboard those crafts.
     
  16. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    If you think it was a pain, you should have seen it from MY perspective, Leo!

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    Indeed it was!
     
  17. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    huh?
     
  18. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    The provisioning and maintenance side. A real nightmare. It was all built around THE very first electronic switching system ever placed in service - the #1ESS from AT&T.
     
  19. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    leopold99

    We received our alert orders through AUTOVON, and there was a specific protocol that had to be followed, in precise time intervals, there were test alerts that only required acknowledgement, there were test alerts that required implementation of the alert of all personnel, and the recall of all off duty personnel, and no further action once the protocol was completed, and then their were the full scale alerts, that brought every swinging dick back to the unit, saddle up and stand ready for deployment, and from there you just might be told to stand down and return all equipment to stores and go home or you might just find your self on a 141 Starlifter, on your way to Europe, and not know if it was the real deal or a practice deployment exercise, yes a real pain in the ass.
     

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