Ben Chertoff
Biography:
As research editor for Popular Mechanics, Benjamin Chertoff is responsible for upholding journalistic standards for the magazine, as well as ensuring all the stories in Popular Mechanics are reported completely and accurately. He is the senior reporter for the magazine's special March feature, "9/11: Debunking the Myths," managing a team of dogged and intrepid professional researchers and reporters. Before he joined Popular Mechanics in the summer of 2004, Ben worked as a freelance reporter and researcher for a number of large-circulation magazines and publications, most notably Men's Journal, where he specialized in verifying and bolstering reportage from the early days of the Iraq war. In addition to his reporting, Ben has written extensively about health and science news, as well as general interest features and profiles.
Past Shows:
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| Saturday March 5, 2005 |
Research editor for Popular Mechanics magazine, Ben Chertoff, discussed some of the most prevalent claims made by conspiratorial theorists regarding 9/11 and how the staff of Popular Mechanics debunked them.According to Chertoff, one such conspiracy alleges that no fighter jets were scrambled during the 9/11 terrorist attacks because the U.S. Air Force had been ordered to stand-down. He pointed out that on 9/11 there were only 14 fighter jets on alert in the U.S., and just five within range of the hijacked flights. Chertoff said this was "standard operating procedure" for the military, which until the 9/11 attacks did not expect threats from domestic air travel. He reported that several jets were eventually launched, but were kept in a holding pattern over the Atlantic Ocean because nobody knew the exact location of the hijacked flights. Chertoff also shed light on the role jet fuel played in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Conspiratorial theorists believe that
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Host: Art Bell
