9/11 conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that attribute the planning and execution of

the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-
Qaeda[1] including that there was advance knowledge of the attacks among high-level government
officials. Government investigations and independent reviews have found no evidence for the
theories.[2][3]Proponents of these theories claim there are inconsistencies in the official conclusions, or
evidence that was either ignored or overlooked.[4]

The most prominent conspiracy theory is that the collapse of the Twin Towers and 7 World Trade
Center were the result of a controlled demolition rather than structural failure due to impact and fire.[5]
[6]
Another prominent belief is that the Pentagon was hit by a missile launched by elements from
inside the U.S. government[7][8] or that a commercial airliner was allowed to do so via an effective
stand-down of the American military. Possible motives claimed by conspiracy theorists for such
actions include justifying the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (even though the U.S. government
concluded Iraq was not involved in the attacks)[9] to advance their geostrategic interests, such
as plans to construct a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan.[10] Other conspiracy theories revolve
around authorities having advance knowledge of the attacks and deliberately ignoring or assisting
the attackers.[4][11][12]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the technology magazine Popular
Mechanics have investigated and rejected the claims made by 9/11 conspiracy theories. [13][14] The civil
engineering community accepts that the impacts of jet aircraft at high speeds in combination with
subsequent fires, not controlled demolition, led to the collapse of the Twin Towers. [15][16] This also was
the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission, chaired by Governor Thomas Kean.