Red Flag -Transponders Not Required to Track Errant Aircraft

1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Red Flag -Transponders Not Required to Track Errant Aircraft Most people don&rsquo;t realize that on September 11th, planes were known to be high jacked and flying around the Eastern US for over 70 minutes.&nbsp; After September 11th, many wondered why our air force was unable to stop the high jacked aircraft, especially American Airlines Flight 77 which struck the Pentagon.&nbsp; American Airlines Flight 11 was high jacked at 8:14. By 8:25 Boston air traffic controllers confirmed that the flight was indeed high jacked and the aircraft struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46. &nbsp; At 9:03, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower and at that time, the whole world knew that America was under attack.&nbsp; It was not until 9:37 that American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. Therefore, it was a full hour and 10 minutes between the time the FAA knew that Flight 11 was high jacked and the time Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.&nbsp; How could this happen?&nbsp; The area around the Pentagon and Washington D.C. is some of the most heavily defended airspace in the World.&nbsp; This fact led many to believe there had to be a stand down order issued which would have prevented Standard Operating Procedures from allowing these aircraft to be intercepted.&nbsp; A stand-down is defined as &ldquo;a relaxation from a state of readiness or alert&rdquo;.&nbsp; This certainly took place regarding air defenses on 9/11. One explanation offered was that the terrorists turned off the electronic device known as a transponder, which helps identify aircraft on radar.&nbsp; As stated by the 9/11 Commission, it is possible, though more difficult, to track an aircraft by its primary radar returns without the transponder.&nbsp; However, unlike transponder data, primary radar returns do not show the aircraft&rsquo;s identity and altitude. The 9-11 commission failed to consider the fact that the US military has more than just ground radar at their disposal.&nbsp; In 2006 a golf ball was hit off the International Space Station.&nbsp; New Scientist magazine reported that the ball was too small to be tracked by ground radar, but noted that, &ldquo;US military radar can track space debris as small as 10 centimeters across, and can sometimes see things as small as 5 cm wide if it is in just the right orbit.&rdquo; There are 35 USAF bases within range of the 9/11 flights, which included the restricted airspace surrounding the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and the White House.&nbsp; It is hard to believe that a military which possesses such a highly-sophisticated radar system would not have been able to track the high jacked aircraft without a transponder signal. Commercial airliners do not need their transponders on in order to be tracked by the FAA and NORAD.&nbsp; If America was being attacked by aircraft belonging to a foreign power, it is ridiculous to think these enemy aircraft would have transponders installed to help the US Air Force shoot them down.&nbsp; It is equally ridiculous to believe the FAA and NORAD lack the technology to track aircraft without a transponder signal. Visibility 9-11 http://visibility911.org <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/1354670/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/2736592