Fact Checker: Those persistent myths about the Sept. 11 attacks

By Glenn Kessler
WashPost

Somehow, there are still people who don’t believe that on Sept. 11, 2001, a group of terrorists seized four commercial jetliners and piloted them toward New York and Washington, killing thousands of people.

Never mind the reams of sober and professional reports that have explored what actually happened and why. Instead, a cottage industry of myths has sprung up about that terrible day, such as:

• that a missile struck the Pentagon, not a Boeing 757
• that U.S. air defenses were ordered to “stand down” on 9/11
• that government agents gathered all of the passengers from the four jets on Flight 93, and then brought it down
• that World Trade Center 7 was professionally demolished.

(More here.)