https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-top-secret-world-war-ii-mission-that-killed-joseph-pkennedy-heir-apparent-political-dynasty-180984857/

The Top-Secret World War II Mission That Killed Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the Heir Apparent to the Political Dynasty

In August 1944, the older brother of Robert and John F. Kennedy died while piloting a drone aircraft over England, leaving his younger siblings to fulfill their father’s dreams

L to R: John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in London in 1937

L to R: John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in London in 1937 Keystone / Getty Images

Meilan Solly

Meilan Solly - Senior Associate Digital Editor, History

August 12, 2024

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By all accounts, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.’s war should have been over.

As Allied forces advanced on the Western Front in the summer of 1944, the Navy lieutenant completed his 50th mission—twice the number required to fulfill a tour of duty abroad. Instead of returning home to the United States, however, he volunteered for a top-secret operation named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

“I am going to do something different for the next three weeks,” Joe Jr. wrote in a letter to his parents. “It is secret and I am not allowed to say what it is, but it isn’t dangerous, so don’t worry.” Somewhat wary in his response to his eldest son, the lieutenant’s father, former Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., advised, “I can quite understand how you feel about staying there … but don’t force your luck too much.”

Three days after Joe Sr. wrote his reply, the hollowed-out aircraft carrying Joe Jr. and his co-pilot exploded over England, killing both men. The mission represented a fatal failure for Operation Aphrodite, which sought to transform battle-worn bombers into uncrewed, radio-controlled missiles—in essence, early drones.

The last known photograph of Joe Jr., taken on the day of his death, August 12, 1944

The last known photograph of Joe Jr., taken on the day of his death, August 12, 1944 Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Joe Jr. in uniform

Joe Jr. in uniform Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

On a more personal level, Joe Jr.’s death at age 29 dealt a staggering blow to his father’s grand dreams for the future. Groomed for the presidency since his birth, Joe Jr. had served as a delegate at the 1940 Democratic National Convention, with plans to run for Congress after the war. Upon hearing the news of his brother’s demise, John F. Kennedy, the family’s second-oldest son, reportedly remarked, “Now the burden falls on me.”

Previously “considered too ‘sloppy,’ fun-loving and physically unhealthy” for a career in politics, in the words of the London Times, John secured seats in the House of Representative and the Senate before narrowly winning the 1960 presidential election, becoming the first Irish Catholic commander in chief and the youngest person elected to the nation’s highest office to date.

“Just as I went into politics because Joe died,” John later said in an eerily prescient remark, “if anything happened to me tomorrow, my brother Bobby would run. … And if Bobby died, Teddy would take over for him.”

Born on July 25, 1915, Joe Jr. was the first child of Joe Sr., a wealthy businessman and prominent Massachusetts politician, and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the daughter of a Boston mayor. The oldest of nine, Joe Jr. bore “a certain forcefulness of character that marked him as a natural leader” even in his youth, wrote Rose in her memoir. His younger siblings looked up to him, and he, in turn, set a strong example for them by excelling in school and sports. Still, Rose recalled, Joe Jr. “got into his share of mischief,” particularly when partnered with John, who was two years his junior. In 1923, the brothers wrote a song about bedbugs and cooties and started a club with a steep entry fee: To be initiated into the organization, new members had to consent to getting stuck with pins.

L to R: Joe Jr., Kathleen Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy and John F. Kennedy in Cohasset

L to R: Joe Jr., Kathleen Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy and John in Cohasset, Massachusetts, circa 1926 or 1927 © John F. Kennedy Library Foundation / Kennedy Family Collection / John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

Both Joe Jr. and John attended Choate, a prestigious boarding school in Connecticut. There, Joe Jr. played football and edited the student yearbook. Before enrolling at Harvard University, his father’s alma mater, he spent the 1933 to 1934 school year studying under Jewish political scientist Harold Laski at the London School of Economics.

Joe Jr.’s time in Europe coincided with the rise of Adolf Hitler; when he visited Germany, he learned about the Nazis’ forced sterilization program—a policy he praised for doing “away with many of the disgusting specimens of men which inhabit this earth.” According to historian Kate Clifford Larson, Joe Jr. “held quite conservative views about the disabled,” a stance that was surprising given his close relationship with his younger sister Rosemary Kennedy, who had intellectual disabilities. Despite Joe Jr.’s similarly respectful attitude toward Laski, he also espoused antisemitic sentiment, claiming that Hitler had offered the “scattered, despondent and … divorced from hope” Germans a common enemy. “It was excellent psychology, and it was too bad that it had to be done to the Jews,” Joe Jr. wrote to his father. “This dislike of Jews, however, was well founded.”

Joe Jr. graduated from Harvard in 1938, then joined his family in London, where his father was serving as the U.S. ambassador. In February 1939, the 23-year-old traveled to Madrid, arriving soon after a shelling by insurgents fighting in the Spanish Civil War. Not dispatched on official business, he was “just looking around,” Joe Sr. told the Associated Press, adding, “His mother will die when she hears he is in Madrid.”

The Kennedy family at Hyannis Port in 1931.

The Kennedy family at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1931. Joe Jr. is in the back row at right. Richard Sears / John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

The following year, Joe Jr. made headlines as a DNC delegate who pledged to vote for Postmaster General James Farley over incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt. Under pressure to switch his allegiance to the president, particularly as the son of an ambassador appointed by Roosevelt, he remained steadfast in his choice, believing that no commander in chief should be allowed to serve three terms. The burgeoning politician’s conduct at the convention won him the admiration of prominent attendees, one of whom told Joe Sr. that his son “seemed to gain the respect of everybody there,” adding, “I am sure he can have a political future if he wants one.”

Though Joe Jr. returned to Harvard for law school, he ultimately decided to enlist in the Navy as a pilot in June 1941 instead of finishing his degree. Prompted in part by his father’s staunch opposition to the U.S.’s entry into World War II—a scenario that seemed increasingly likely in the lead-up to Pearl Harbor—he defended his decision in a letter to Joe Sr.: “With your stand on the war, … people will wonder what the devil I am doing back at school with everyone else working for national defense.” John soon followed in his older brother’s footsteps, relying on his family connections to secure a position in the Naval Reserve, despite back issues that would normally have barred him from serving. When the U.S. finally joined the war in December 1941, both brothers were partway through naval training.

“Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. to Get Naval ‘Wings’ Today as Dad Looks On,” read a May 5, 1942, headline in the Boston Globe. The title telegraphed the family dynamics at play, underscoring the pressure placed on Joe Jr. by his father, whose presence and influence loomed large. Adding to the weight of Joe Sr.’s expectations was the surprising military success of John, who received a promotion to lieutenant and command of his own boat by the end of 1942. As his younger brother led a squadron patrolling for Japanese ships in the Solomon Islands, Joe Jr. was relegated to a naval air base in Virginia, where he launched lower-risk patrols in search of German U-boats.

Joe Jr. on the campus of Harvard University in 1938

Joe Jr. on the campus of Harvard University in 1938 Bettmann via Getty Images

On the night of August 1, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rammed into John’s boat, PT-109, knocking its crew into the water and ripping the starboard side clean off. Then 26 years old, Kennedy exhibited great bravery during the incident, leading the 11 surviving sailors to a nearby island before swimming, sometimes solo, to neighboring islands in search of food and aid.

The press, the Navy, and friends and family alike praised John as a hero. But while Joe Jr. was certainly glad that his younger brother had escaped death, he felt overshadowed and was eager to prove himself. “Colleagues commented later on his intense preoccupation with putting himself in harm’s way, and thus on the path to publicly recognized heroism,” wrote Edward J. Renehan Jr. in The Kennedys at War: 1937-1945. As fellow pilot Louis Papas later recalled, “There was never an occasion for a mission that meant extra hazard that Joe did not volunteer. He had everybody’s unlimited admiration and respect for his courage, zeal and willingness to undertake the most dangerous missions.”

Sent to Great Britain in September 1943, Joe Jr. spent the next several months flying patrols over the Atlantic, the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, piloting PB4Y Liberator bombers on anti-submarine details. By May 1944, he’d flown the 25 missions required for reassignment to the U.S., losing his co-pilot and numerous colleagues to enemy anti-aircraft fire in the process. Though he had permission to return home, he opted to stay in the fight. As he told his parents in mid-June, “I now have 39 missions and will probably have 50 by the time I leave. It is far more than anyone else on the base, but it doesn’t prove a hell of a lot.”

John (left) and Joe Jr. in their naval uniforms

John (left) and Joe Jr. in their naval uniforms Hulton Archive / Getty Images

In the summer of 1944, Joe Jr. volunteered first for Operation Cork, an air patrol connected to the Allied invasion of France, and then for Operation Aphrodite and its Navy counterpart, Operation Anvil. The top-secret project was aimed at taking down the Nazis’ steel-reinforced concrete bunkers in occupied France, from which the Germans were launching their devastating V-1 cruise missiles and V-2 ballistic missiles. Uncrewed, gyro-controlled jets packed with explosives, the projectiles offered a low-risk way of terrorizing the British from afar.

Commander James Doolittle, of the Army’s Eighth Air Force, suggested converting war-weary bombers into pilotless missiles. “Control and autopilot technology [were] sufficiently immature to make the … program incredibly risky, but the perceived benefits justified the potential costs,” wrote Roger Connor, a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, in a 2014 blog post. Though the bombers were remote-controlled, they required a two-person crew to get the aircraft off the ground and ensure it stayed on course.

When Joe Jr. heard about the operation, he readily volunteered for it. According to an account by a fellow officer, the lieutenant, “regarded as an experienced Patrol Plane Commander and … an expert in radio control projects,” was tasked with piloting “a ‘drone’ Liberator bomber loaded with 21,170 pounds of high explosives into the air and [staying] with it until two ‘mother’ planes had achieved complete radio control over the ‘drone.’” After completing this transfer of control, Joe Jr. and co-pilot Wilford J. Willy were supposed to bail out over England, parachuting to safety as the plane continued on to the V-1 bunkers.

WWII 8TH AIR FORCE DRONE AIRCRAFT AS FLYING BOMBS "FLYING DESTRUCTION BY REMOTE CONTROL" 42000Watch on YouTube Logo

The motley group of Allied aircraft needed for the mission—among them a Mosquito carrying the president’s second-oldest son, Elliott Roosevelt, who was tasked with capturing the flight on film—took off from a Royal Air Force base shortly after 6 p.m. on August 12, 1944. Eighteen minutes into the mission, Joe Jr. shared a message over the radio: “Spade Flush,” the code phrase for the bomber to be handed off to the mother ship. At approximately 6:20 p.m., as Joe Jr. and Willy awaited the signal to bail out, two explosions rocked the plane, killing the pilots and nearly destroying the other aircraft in the formation. The pair’s bodies were never found.

The accident was “the biggest explosion I ever saw until the pictures of the atom bomb,” a pilot on board the mother ship said. No one on the ground was hurt, but debris from the wreck rained down on the English countryside, with one local witnessing an “enormous black pall of smoke resembling a huge octopus, the tentacles below indicating the earthward paths of burning fragments.” The cause of the disaster was never identified, but mechanical failure was a leading theory.

Operation Aphrodite continued through January 1945, with little success. In recognition of the pilots’ sacrifice, the government awarded Joe Jr. and Willy the Navy Cross, the second-highest military decoration. John, meanwhile, won the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the highest non-combat award for heroism, for his actions aboard PT-109.

Joe Jr. sitting in an aircraft during training in 1941

Joe Jr. sitting in an aircraft during training in 1941 Bettmann via Getty Images

John and his wife, Jackie Kennedy, watch a boat race while on board the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., a destroyer named in Joe Jr.'s honor

John and his wife, Jackie Kennedy, watch a boat race while on board the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., a destroyer named in Joe Jr.'s honor Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Kennedys deeply mourned Joe Jr.’s death. With no body to bury and scant details of his final moments (the mission remained classified until after the war), the family commemorated their eldest son with a privately published book titled As We Remember Joe. In the text, John—now the heir apparent—wrote:

It may be felt, perhaps, that Joe should not have pushed his luck so far and should have accepted his leave and come home. But two facts must be borne in mind. First, at the time of his death, he had completed probably more combat missions in heavy bombers than any other pilot of his rank in the Navy and therefore was preeminently qualified, and secondly, as he told a friend early in August, he considered the odds at least 50-50, and Joe never asked for any better odds than that.

Despite the grief he felt over Joe Jr.’s death, Joe Sr. remained resolute in his ambitions for his family. “We’ve got to carry on,” he told his wife. “We must take care of the living. There is a lot of work to be done.” According to legend, Joe Sr. called John into a meeting, where he announced that the younger son would take his brother’s place as the family’s representative on the national stage. “It was like being drafted,” the future president later said. “My father wanted his oldest son in politics. ‘Wanted’ isn’t the right word. He demanded it. You know my father.”

Joe Jr., for his part, had seemingly predicted how events would play out in the event of his death. In a letter written just before his enlistment in the Navy, he wryly commented, “It seems that Jack is perfectly capable to do everything, if by chance anything happened to me.”

https://buymeacoffee.com/thedukereport/remote-control-air-defense-hijacking-the-9-11-aviation-puzzle

Remote Control, Air Defense, and Hijacking: The 9/11 Aviation Puzzle(The Duke Report)

GPT-Summary

Introduction to the Symposium

The International Center for 9/11 Justice (IC911.org) hosted a symposium titled “Aviation Impossibilities: Deconstructing the 9/11 Hijackings & Air Defense Failures”. The symposium brought together leading experts to critically examine the official narrative of the 9/11 hijackings, focusing on the alleged hijackers’ piloting skills, the technological feasibility of the events, and the failures of air defense systems on that fateful day.

IC911.org, a nonprofit research and educational institute, is dedicated to establishing an accurate account of the 9/11 attacks and fostering a global awareness of the true causes of this world-changing event. The Center’s mission is to ensure that society is no longer shaped by a false narrative, and to eradicate the elite criminality and institutional corruption that allowed the 9/11 atrocities to happen and their cover-up to persist.

The symposium served as part of IC911.org’s broader effort to preserve, organize, and present the best empirical 9/11 research produced over the last two decades. It showcased expert testimonies, forensic analysis, and the latest investigative findings to shed light on the many improbabilities within the official 9/11 account, with the goal of sparking broad-based demand for justice and accountability for the millions affected by the attacks and their aftermath.

Powerpoint 01

Powerpoint 02

Aviation Impossibilities

🎤 Introduction: The Critical Examination of 9/11’s Official Narrative

The symposium, hosted by the International Center for 9/11 Justice, gathers a group of experts to scrutinize the official narrative of the 9/11 hijackings and air defense failures. Dr. Piers Robinson opens the event by outlining the mission: to deconstruct the improbabilities within the aviation aspects of the attacks, focusing on pilot responses, air defense actions, and hijacker capabilities. The aim is to provide a factual, authoritative analysis of the aviation inconsistencies on that day. 00:03

Highlights

0:00 Dr. Piers Robinson: Opening Remarks

9:57 Captain Dan Hanley: "Informing the World There Were No Muslim Hijackers on 9/11"

23:56 Ted Walter: "The 9/11 Hijacking Myth Exposed: Examining the Official Story Against the History of Suicide Hijacking Attempts and the Content of the 9/11 Phone Calls"

1:47:40 Olivier Caron-Mason: "Assessing the Feasibility of the 9/11 Flight Profiles for Inexperienced and Experienced Pilots" 2:44:38 Aidan Monaghan: "The 9/11 Flights: The Case for GPS-Guided Autopilot Control"

3:15:06 Kevin Ryan: "Lies and Obstruction: Indefensible Air Defenses on 9/11"

3:50:21 Dr. Piers Robinson: Closing Remarks

Summary

🛫 Improbabilities in the Hijacking and Aviation Events

Lieutenant Colonel David Gap, a retired U.S. Air Force pilot, highlights several improbabilities in the official story, including the notion that all eight airline pilots surrendered control of their planes without any emergency alerts. He critiques the absence of violent flight maneuvers and argues that the pilots would have fought back. Moreover, he raises doubts about the hijackers’ ability to fly complex commercial jets with minimal training. The precision of the strikes on the World Trade Center and Pentagon is examined, casting doubt on the feasibility of inexperienced hijackers executing such maneuvers. 00:18:00

📞 Analysis of the 9/11 Phone Calls

The symposium digs into the phone calls reportedly made from the hijacked planes, including calls from Betty Ong, Renee May, and Todd Beamer. The speakers raise questions about the timing, content, and technology behind these calls. Given the situation aboard the planes, the symposium critiques the official account of how these calls were made, suggesting technological limitations at the time that would have made them difficult, if not impossible. For example, Todd Beamer’s “Let’s roll” call from Flight 93 is scrutinized as an improbable scenario, given the chaotic nature of the cockpit. 01:20:00

✈️ Unlikely Hijacker Skills and Maneuvers

Olivia Karon Mason, a flight instructor and aviation expert, provides a detailed analysis of the flying skills required to carry out the 9/11 attacks. She focuses on the alleged hijacker Hani Hanjour, who was said to have piloted Flight 77 into the Pentagon. Mason points out that Hanjour had a poor record in flight training and failed basic skills tests, yet the official narrative credits him with performing a highly difficult descending turn and precisely hitting the Pentagon. Other experienced pilots, including Captain Dan Hanley, argue that even they would struggle to replicate the complex flight paths seen on 9/11, especially at high speeds. 00:59:00

💻 Remote Control Hypothesis and Technological Feasibility

A key theme throughout the symposium is the possibility that the planes were not piloted by the hijackers, but were instead remotely controlled. Aidan Monahan, a researcher, examines the development of remote control systems, such as the “Uninterruptible Autopilot,” which could allow an external source to control an aircraft. The symposium presents evidence of earlier remote-controlled flight experiments, including the 1984 NASA and FAA crash test involving a Boeing 720. These technologies, the symposium argues, were available prior to 9/11, making the theory of electronic hijacking plausible. 00:45:00

🚨 Air Defense Failures and Delayed Response

Kevin Ryan conducts a forensic analysis of the air defense response on 9/11, emphasizing the failures of multiple Air Force bases, including Otis, Langley, and Andrews Air Force Bases, to intercept any of the hijacked planes. Despite the known deviations in flight paths and ample time to respond, these bases did not launch their fighter jets in time to prevent the crashes. The symposium raises the question of why NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and other defense systems failed to protect high-profile targets such as the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, pointing to systemic breakdowns or potential intentional delays. 00:26:00

📚 The Role of the 9/11 Commission

The role of the 9/11 Commission is critiqued for omitting key witnesses and evidence from its final report. Philip Zelikow, the executive director of the Commission, is accused of preventing key testimony from pilots and air traffic controllers, as well as suppressing evidence about air defense failures. The symposium portrays the Commission as an entity designed to protect the official narrative, rather than a genuine effort to uncover the truth. 00:57:00

📦 Recovery and Missing Evidence: The Black Boxes

The symposium questions the official explanation regarding the recovery of black boxes from the crash sites. Of the eight black boxes on the four hijacked planes, only three were reportedly recovered, with none from the Pentagon crash. The improbability of these key pieces of evidence being lost or destroyed is discussed, as extensive recovery efforts were conducted at each site, yet yielded little critical information. This raises significant concerns about what actually happened during the flights. 00:50:00

🌍 Historical Precedents: Operation Aphrodite

The symposium references Operation Aphrodite, a World War II mission where the U.S. Army Air Corps used remotely controlled B-17 bombers as flying bombs. This operation is used as evidence to support the notion that the technology for remote-controlled aircraft existed long before 9/11, furthering the argument that the 9/11 planes may have been remotely hijacked. 00:45:00

Conclusion

The symposium challenges the official narrative of 9/11 by presenting detailed critiques of the hijackers’ skills, the air defense failures, and the technological capabilities at the time. Through testimonies, forensic analyses, and historical examples, the event raises significant doubts about whether the attacks unfolded as described in the 9/11 Commission Report. The evidence suggests a far more complex scenario involving potential remote-controlled planes, systemic defense failures, and a concerted effort to suppress critical information. The symposium ends by calling for further investigation and accountability to uncover the full truth behind the 9/11 attacks.

FAQ

Q: What is the main focus of the symposium?

The symposium, “Aviation Impossibilities: Deconstructing the 9/11 Hijackings & Air Defense Failures,” focuses on the aviation aspects of 9/11, specifically deconstructing the official narrative of the hijackings and the failures in air defense response. The goal is to scrutinize the improbable events presented in the official account, including pilot actions, hijacker skill levels, and the response of air defense systems. 00:03

Q: What are some of the key aviation improbabilities discussed during the symposium?

The improbabilities include the idea that all eight airline pilots gave up control of their planes to hijackers, the lack of violent flight maneuvers during cockpit takeovers, the hijackers’ supposed ability to operate complex flight systems despite minimal training, and the precise strikes on the World Trade Center and Pentagon at high speeds. 00:18:00

Q: What does the symposium say about the hijackers’ ability to control the planes?

The speakers assert that it is highly improbable that the minimally trained hijackers could have flown the planes with the precision required to hit their targets. The symposium suggests the hijackers did not have the necessary skills to execute the maneuvers that took place on 9/11, such as the difficult 330-degree turn by Flight 77 before it hit the Pentagon. 00:22:00

Q: How does the symposium challenge the official narrative about air defense failures on 9/11?

The symposium questions why multiple air defense systems were not activated in time to intercept the hijacked planes, even though there was ample time to respond after the planes deviated from their flight paths. The speakers argue that the ongoing air defense exercises on 9/11 should have ensured a faster response to the hijackings. 00:26:00

Q: What role does remote control technology play in the symposium’s analysis?

The symposium discusses the possibility that the planes may have been electronically hijacked and controlled remotely using a system called the “Uninterruptible Autopilot.” This system, developed before 9/11, could have allowed a remote source to take control of the aircraft and guide it to its targets, making it unlikely that the hijackers were flying the planes themselves. 00:45:00

Q: What is the significance of the black boxes in the 9/11 investigation according to the symposium?

The symposium emphasizes the improbability that only a few black boxes were recovered from the crash sites, despite the extensive recovery efforts. Of the eight black boxes from the four planes, only three were recovered, and the speakers suggest this raises significant questions about what actually occurred during the crashes. 00:50:00

Q: How does the symposium address the training of the alleged hijackers?

The symposium highlights the poor training records of the alleged hijackers, specifically mentioning that some of them, such as Hani Hanjour, failed basic flight training exercises. This undermines the official claim that these individuals were capable of performing the advanced maneuvers necessary to carry out the attacks. 01:05:00

Q: What does the symposium say about the 9/11 phone calls?

The symposium scrutinizes the phone calls reportedly made from the hijacked planes, questioning their authenticity and the narrative they support. The speakers analyze the content and timing of the calls, suggesting that they do not align with the chaotic and violent events that were allegedly taking place on board the planes. 01:20:00

Q: What role do expert pilots play in the symposium’s analysis?

Expert pilots, including retired military and commercial pilots, provide testimony that they could not have executed the complex flight maneuvers attributed to the 9/11 hijackers. They argue that it would have been nearly impossible for inexperienced hijackers to control the planes with such precision, further casting doubt on the official story. 01:30:00

Q: What are the goals of the International Center for 9/11 Justice, as mentioned in the symposium?

The International Center for 9/11 Justice aims to educate the public about the truth behind the 9/11 attacks, conduct rigorous research on the events, and support the families of victims in their pursuit of justice. The center is dedicated to uncovering the full truth, particularly regarding the aviation aspects of the attacks. 00:10:00

People

Dr. Piers Robinson – Dr. Robinson is the research director and board member of the International Center for 9/11 Justice and co-editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies. He is the host of the symposium and introduces the day’s focus on deconstructing the official narrative of the 9/11 hijackings and air defense failures. 00:03

Lieutenant Colonel David Gap – A retired U.S. Air Force pilot with 31 years of service, David Gap presents key concerns about the improbabilities in the official account of the 9/11 hijackings. He raises issues about pilot responses, flight maneuvering, and the failure of air defense systems. 00:18:00

Ted Walter – The executive director of the International Center for 9/11 Justice, Ted Walter has worked extensively on 9/11 issues for many years. In the symposium, he addresses the official story of the hijackings and explores the history of suicide hijackings, the phone calls reportedly made from the planes, and other inconsistencies in the official account. 01:02:00

Olivia Karon Mason – A pilot and flight instructor, Mason analyzes the feasibility of the 9/11 hijackers, most of whom had minimal training, being able to perform the complex flight maneuvers seen on 9/11. Her work highlights the lack of experience of the hijackers, making the official narrative unlikely. 01:05:00

Aidan Monahan – A researcher who has published articles in the Journal of 9/11 Studies, Monahan examines the possibility of remote control systems, specifically GPS-guided autopilot systems, being used to guide the planes on 9/11. His work focuses on the feasibility of these systems being used as part of the 9/11 attacks. 01:10:00

Kevin Ryan – Editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies and author of Another Nineteen, Kevin Ryan conducts a forensic analysis of the air defense failures on 9/11. He reviews the systemic breakdowns in air defense that allowed the hijacked planes to reach their targets unimpeded. 01:15:00

Captain Dan Hanley – A retired U.S. Navy aviator and United Airlines pilot with a 35-year career, Hanley is the director of 9/11 Pilot Whistleblowers. He discusses the unlikelihood that the 9/11 hijackers could have flown the aircraft involved in the attacks due to their lack of qualifications. He also introduces the concept of remote-controlled planes and the uninterruptible autopilot system. 00:57:00

Hani Hanjour – A 9/11 hijacker who allegedly piloted American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon. The symposium asserts that Hanjour lacked the necessary flying skills to perform the complex flight maneuvers attributed to him, further challenging the official narrative. 00:58:00

Philip Zelikow – The executive director of the 9/11 Commission. The symposium highlights Zelikow’s role in preventing key pilots from testifying before the Commission, a move which is seen as part of the broader effort to suppress critical evidence about the aviation events of 9/11. 00:57:00

Organizations

International Center for 9/11 Justice – This organization aims to educate the public about the truth behind the 9/11 attacks, conduct groundbreaking research, and support the families of 9/11 victims in their pursuit of justice. The symposium is hosted by the center, and its focus is on deconstructing the official narrative of the 9/11 hijackings and air defense failures. The center emphasizes rigorous research to uncover the aviation-related aspects of the attacks. 00:03

Military Officers for 9/11 Truth – A group of over 300 military officers questioning the official U.S. government’s version of the 9/11 events. This organization was founded by Lieutenant Colonel David Gap and others who seek to challenge the improbabilities of the official narrative. 00:20:00

Journal of 9/11 Studies – A scholarly journal co-edited by Dr. Piers Robinson and Kevin Ryan, which publishes peer-reviewed research on the events of 9/11. The journal plays a critical role in disseminating information and analysis that challenges the official account of the attacks, with contributions from researchers such as Ted Walter and Aidan Monahan. 00:04

9/11 Pilot Whistleblowers – Directed by Captain Dan Hanley, this organization consists of experienced pilots who challenge the official narrative of the 9/11 hijackings. They argue that the alleged hijackers lacked the flying skills to carry out the complex maneuvers attributed to them, and they introduce the theory of remotely controlled planes. 00:57:00

Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth – Ted Walter is a former staff member of this organization, which has worked extensively to challenge the official explanation of the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth focuses on the engineering and architectural inconsistencies in the official account of 9/11. 01:02:00

Pilots for 9/11 Truth – Another grassroots organization mentioned in the symposium, consisting of pilots who replicate the flight maneuvers from 9/11 in simulators. They argue that the complex maneuvers, such as the descent into the Pentagon, could not have been executed by the alleged hijackers, and they crash simulators while attempting these flights. 00:58:00

Uninterruptible Autopilot System – This is a system developed prior to 9/11, discussed in the symposium as a key element in the theory that the planes were remotely controlled. The uninterruptible autopilot system allows a remote source to take control of an aircraft’s autopilot and guide it to a specific target. This system is presented as a likely explanation for how the planes hit their targets on 9/11. 00:45:00

Otis Air National Guard Base – Located in Massachusetts, this base had F-15 fighter jets on alert on the morning of 9/11. The symposium questions why these aircraft were airborne too late to intercept Flight 11 before it hit the North Tower, despite having had sufficient time to respond. 00:26:00

Andrews Air Force Base – Based near Washington, D.C., Andrews Air Force Base is mentioned as one of several bases that had fighter jets on alert on 9/11. The symposium questions why these jets were not launched in time to intercept Flight 77 before it struck the Pentagon. 00:26:00

Langley Air Force Base – Located in Virginia, Langley is another Air Force base with fighter jets available on 9/11. The symposium raises questions about the delayed response of these jets and why none were able to intercept the hijacked planes before they reached their targets. 00:26:00

Locations

World Trade Center (New York) – The symposium discusses the precise strikes on the World Trade Center towers, particularly highlighting the improbability of hijackers, with minimal training, being able to maneuver the planes at high speeds to hit such relatively small targets. These strikes are central to the critique of the official narrative. 00:22:00

Pentagon (Washington, D.C.) – The Pentagon is discussed as the target of American Airlines Flight 77. The symposium raises doubts about the ability of the alleged hijacker, Hani Hanjour, to perform the complex descending turn needed to hit the Pentagon with precision, given his poor flight training record. The improbability of the official account is emphasized. 00:58:00

Otis Air National Guard Base (Massachusetts) – This base had F-15 interceptors on alert on 9/11. The symposium questions why these jets, which took off at 8:53 AM, were unable to intercept Flight 11 before it struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, despite having had sufficient time to respond. 00:26:00

Andrews Air Force Base (Washington, D.C.) – Andrews Air Force Base had fighter jets available to intercept Flight 77 before it struck the Pentagon. The symposium highlights the failure to deploy these jets in time, questioning the delayed response and suggesting this as an area of air defense failure on 9/11. 00:26:00

Langley Air Force Base (Virginia) – Another key location with fighter jets on standby on 9/11, Langley Air Force Base’s delayed response to the unfolding hijackings is questioned. The symposium examines why none of the jets were able to intercept the hijacked planes before they hit their targets. 00:26:00

Freeway Airport (Bowie, Maryland) – This small airport is where Hani Hanjour, the alleged pilot of Flight 77, attempted to rent a Cessna 172 one month before 9/11. After three failed check rides, the airport refused to rent him the plane, citing his poor flying skills. This incident is used to highlight the improbability of Hanjour being capable of piloting Flight 77 into the Pentagon. 00:59:00

Fresh Kills Landfill (New Jersey) – The symposium refers to this location where recovery efforts took place to sort through debris from the World Trade Center. It raises questions about the improbability of recovering so few black boxes from the crash sites, given the extensive search efforts. 00:50:00

UK (World War II Operation Aphrodite) – The symposium references this operation, launched by the U.S. Army Air Corps from the UK during World War II, in which remotely controlled B-17 bombers were used. This historical example of remote-controlled aircraft is cited to support the argument that similar technology could have been used in the 9/11 attacks. 00:45:00

NASA (1984 Remote-Control Crash Test) – A joint experiment between NASA and the FAA in 1984, involving the remote-controlled crash of a Boeing 720 loaded with crash dummies, is referenced. The symposium uses this example to show that remote-controlled commercial aircraft technology was already in existence before 9/11. 00:45:00

Timeline

1944 (World War II) – The U.S. Army Air Corps launches Operation Aphrodite out of the UK, using remotely controlled B-17 bombers loaded with explosives. This demonstrates remote-controlled aircraft technology long before 9/11. 00:45:00

1984 – NASA and the FAA conduct a joint crash test involving a remotely controlled Boeing 720. This experiment proves the possibility of remote-controlling commercial airliners. 00:45:00

Mid-1990s – Hani Hanjour, the alleged pilot of Flight 77, struggles with basic flying skills during his flight training. 00:59:00

August 2001 – Hani Hanjour fails three check rides at Freeway Airport in Maryland and is denied rental of a Cessna 172 due to his poor flying skills. 00:59:00

November 2006 – Boeing patents the “Uninterruptible Autopilot” system, allowing remote control of an aircraft’s autopilot. The symposium argues that similar technology could have been available before 9/11. 00:45:00

08:14 AM (September 11, 2001) – Boston Center notices something wrong with American Airlines Flight 11 as it fails to respond to a flight level change command. 00:26:00

08:46 AM (September 11, 2001) – Flight attendant Betty Ong reportedly makes the first phone call from American Airlines Flight 11, describing the situation aboard the plane. The symposium questions the authenticity and timing of these calls. 01:20:00

08:45 AM (September 11, 2001) – American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The precision of this strike, given the hijackers’ limited training, is critically questioned. 00:26:00

08:53 AM (September 11, 2001) – F-15 fighter jets take off from Otis Air National Guard Base but fail to intercept Flight 11 before the North Tower strike. 00:26:00

09:03 AM (September 11, 2001) – United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The capability of the hijackers to execute such a precise strike is scrutinized. 00:26:00

09:12 AM (September 11, 2001) – Flight attendant Renee May reportedly makes a phone call from American Airlines Flight 77 to her mother, describing an ongoing hijacking. The symposium discusses the inconsistencies in the reported phone calls. 01:20:00

09:20 AM (September 11, 2001) – Barbara Olson reportedly makes two phone calls from Flight 77, stating that the passengers and crew had been herded to the back of the plane. The symposium questions the logistics and timing of these calls. 01:20:00

09:28 AM (September 11, 2001) – United Airlines Flight 93 is reportedly taken over by hijackers, and radio transmissions of a struggle in the cockpit are recorded. 01:20:00

09:35 AM (September 11, 2001) – Todd Beamer, aboard Flight 93, reportedly makes a phone call, saying “Let’s roll,” as passengers prepare to retake control of the aircraft. The symposium discusses the questions surrounding these phone calls. 01:20:00

09:37 AM (September 11, 2001) – American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon after reportedly performing a complex 330-degree turn. The symposium highlights doubts about Hani Hanjour’s capability to execute such a maneuver. 00:58:00

10:03 AM (September 11, 2001) – United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania after passengers allegedly attempt to retake control from the hijackers. The symposium raises doubts about the official story and the events leading up to the crash. 01:20:00

Bibliography

Another Nineteen by Kevin Ryan – This book is mentioned as a forensic analysis of 9/11, specifically examining the individuals who may have had more involvement in the attacks than commonly discussed in the official narrative. Kevin Ryan, who co-edits the Journal of 9/11 Studies, wrote this book to address the complexities behind the events of 9/11, particularly the failures in air defense. 01:15:00

Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil by Michael C. Ruppert – This book is referenced during the symposium, as it presents a deep investigation into the geopolitical and economic motivations behind 9/11. Michael C. Ruppert argues that the attacks were part of a broader plan linked to oil and power structures. 01:10:00

The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions by David Ray Griffin – David Ray Griffin’s critique of the official 9/11 Commission Report is mentioned in the symposium. Griffin argues that the report intentionally omits and distorts key facts about 9/11 to protect high-level individuals involved in the failures and cover-ups. 01:10:00

Glossary

Remote Control Systems – These refer to technologies that allow the operation of aircraft without direct pilot control. The symposium highlights systems like the “Uninterruptible Autopilot,” which allows aircraft to be remotely guided to a target. This technology is discussed as a possible explanation for the precise maneuvers seen during the 9/11 attacks. 00:45:00

Uninterruptible Autopilot – A system patented by Boeing in November 2006, which enables a remote source to take control of an aircraft’s autopilot, preventing hijackers or pilots from regaining control. The symposium suggests that such technology could have been available before 9/11 and may have been used in the attacks. 00:45:00

Hijacker Training – This refers to the minimal flight training received by the 9/11 hijackers, which is examined in detail during the symposium. The poor training records of individuals like Hani Hanjour are used to question the official account of the hijackers’ capabilities to pilot large commercial aircraft during the attacks. 00:59:00

Air Defense Failures – These are systemic failures of the U.S. air defense response on 9/11, particularly the inability of military jets to intercept the hijacked planes. The symposium explores why multiple air defense bases failed to respond in time, despite the known hijackings and deviation from flight paths. 00:26:00

Operation Aphrodite – A World War II operation in which remotely controlled B-17 bombers were used as flying bombs. The symposium references this as historical evidence of the feasibility of remotely controlled aircraft long before 9/11. 00:45:00

9/11 Phone Calls – These are the calls reportedly made from hijacked planes by passengers and crew, including calls from Betty Ong, Renee May, Barbara Olson, and Todd Beamer. The symposium critically examines the logistics and authenticity of these calls, raising doubts about their feasibility given the technologies available at the time. 01:20:00

Flight Simulators – Devices that replicate the experience of flying an aircraft. Pilots for 9/11 Truth used simulators to test the maneuvers reportedly performed by the hijackers, concluding that even highly experienced pilots struggled to execute some of the maneuvers, casting further doubt on the official narrative. 00:58:00

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) – The U.S. air defense agency responsible for detecting and intercepting hostile aircraft. The symposium critiques NORAD’s response on 9/11, particularly its delayed reaction to the hijacked planes, despite known deviations from flight paths. 00:26:00

Boeing 720 Crash Test – A 1984 crash test conducted by NASA and the FAA, where a Boeing 720 was remotely controlled to crash as part of a safety experiment. The symposium uses this as evidence that remote-controlled commercial airliners were technologically feasible before 9/11. 00:45:00

It WAS NOT a "curse".. it was a political "HIT JOB" on the entire family.. but WHY? Size of Family? Tight Knit Family? STRONG FAMILY? POLITICAL STRENGTH OF FAMILY? WHY… was there an attempt to wipe out the entire family???

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/15/us/kennedy-family-curse/index.html

Inside the Kennedy family ‘curse’

Thom Patterson

Program note: Explore the Kennedy family’s rise to power on “American Dynasties: The Kennedys” Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CNN TV and CNNGo.

CNN —

How is it possible for one family to suffer so much tragedy?

For some, the string of untimely deaths and scandals in President John F. Kennedy’s family may seem too unlikely to chalk up as bad luck.

In fact, JFK’s brother, the late Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy, actually wondered out loud if his family were victims of an “awful curse” — as if curses could be real.

Most people know about the assassinations of President Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s.

But, depending on your generation, these other terrible events within the Kennedy clan may not be so well known.

John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, in May 1999, a few months before they died in a plane crash.

1. The Kennedy family’s history of deadly plane crashes

Many remember the 1999 small plane crash off Massachusetts that killed JFK’s son, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette. The crash was blamed on JFK Jr., who was piloting the plane at night and became disoriented before crashing into the Atlantic.

But perhaps not as well known: 35 years earlier, Ted Kennedy survived a 1964 plane crash that killed two people.

JFK's brother Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy survived this deadly plane crash in Massachusetts in 1964.

This tragedy happened during a campaign flight from Washington to Westfield, Massachusetts. Ted Kennedy was flying with a fellow senator, the senator’s wife and a legislative aide. The pilot and aide were killed.

Low clouds and fog made flying difficult as the plane approached Westfield’s airport. The plane lost altitude and crashed in an orchard not far from the runway, killing the pilot and the aide.

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Kennedy suffered a broken back and ribs. Federal investigators blamed the crash on pilot error.

Ted Kennedy wondered if his family fell victim to an "awful curse."

President Kennedy’s oldest brother, Joe Kennedy Jr., died in a 1944 air disaster, after volunteering to pilot a secret and extremely dangerous World War II bombing mission in Nazi-occupied France.

During the mission, two in-flight explosions rocked his bomber aircraft “resulting in the death of its two pilots,” according to the JFK Presidential Library. The cause of the explosions remain a mystery.

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

Four years after the family lost Joe Jr., another plane crash killed President Kennedy’s sister Kathleen Kennedy, who was nicknamed “Kick.”

Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy was close to her brother and future president, John F. Kennedy.

Kick Kennedy had married William Cavendish, England’s Marquess of Hartington, giving her the title Lady Hartington. In 1948, she and three others died when their small plane crashed in France while flying in a storm. She was 28.

Kick Kennedy Cavandish died in a 1948 plane crash in France.

2. Woman dies in car driven by Ted Kennedy

It was known simply as Chappaquiddick, the tragedy that followed Ted Kennedy throughout his political career. Chappaquiddick was the Massachusetts island where campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne died in a 1969 car crash, with Kennedy at the wheel.

Kennedy was driving Kopechne home after a late-night party when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the water. Kopechne was trapped inside the car but Kennedy was able to swim ashore and walked back to his hotel.

He didn’t alert police until 10 hours later.

Eventually Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a two-month suspended sentence.

He went on national TV to explain the tragedy, saying, “All kinds of scrambled thoughts … went through my mind … including such questions as … whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys.”

A film titled “Chappaquiddick,” starring Kate Mara as Mary Jo Kopechne, is scheduled to hit theaters in April.

Mary Jo Kopeckne died after Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969.

3. RFK’s son dies from drug overdose

David Kennedy, one of Ethel and Robert F. Kennedy’s 11 children, died in 1984 in a Palm Beach, Florida, hotel after a drug overdose. He was 28. He had reportedly watched his father’s assassination on live TV as a boy and later struggled with addiction.

Family members accompany David Kennedy's body after his 1984 drug overdose.

4. Another son of RFK dies in tragic ski accident

Another son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, Michael Kennedy, died in a ski accident in Aspen, Colorado, on New Year’s Eve, 1997. The New York Times reported he was tossing a football with relatives while skiing down a mountain. The father of three was 39.

Family members carry a casket with the body of Michael Kennedy following a memorial service in 1997.

5. Kennedy nephew accused of rape

In 1991, Ted Kennedy was forced to testify about a bar-hopping weekend near the family’s vacation home in Palm Beach, Florida, that led to sexual battery charges against his nephew, William Kennedy Smith.

Smith was accused of raping a woman that he and the senator met at a trendy nightclub called Au Bar.

Eventually Smith was acquitted of all charges.

Because the trial was allowed to be televised live, cable news channels, including CNN and the newly launched Court TV, provided virtually nonstop coverage of testimony, creating fodder for the tabloid press, much to the chagrin of the Kennedy family.

Most news outlets chose not to identify Kennedy Smith’s accuser, whose face was covered by a blue blob during her testimony.

After Ted Kennedy’s emotional testimony, Kennedy Smith said of his uncle, “I think this process has been unfair to him,” Vanity Fair reported.

In 1991, William Kennedy Smith was tried and acquitted on sexual assault charges.

6. Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel convicted of murder

Michael Skakel, nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow Ethel Kennedy, was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning his neighbor, Martha Moxley to death during a jealous rage in 1975. Both were 15 at the time of the killing and lived near each other in Greenwich, Connecticut.

In 2013, he was granted a new trial and freed on bail. Three years later, prosecutors appealed the decision and the state Supreme Court reinstated Skakel’s conviction. Skakel has asked the court to reconsider and remains free on bail.

In 1975, Michael Skakel and Martha Moxley were both 15.

7. JFK’s sister Rosemary Kennedy and her failed brain surgery

The family had long described President Kennedy’s sister Rosemary Kennedy as “intellectually slow.” In hopes of improving her life, Kennedy family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy allowed doctors to remove part of Rosemary Kennedy’s brain in 1941, a relatively new procedure known as a prefrontal lobotomy. The operation only worsened her condition and Rosemary was institutionalized until her death in 2005 at age 86.

Eunice Kennedy, left, and her sister Rosemary Kennedy in 1938.

8. President and Jackie Kennedy lose their infant son

In 1963, President Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy announced the birth of their third child, Patrick. Weighing just under 5 pounds, Patrick was born nearly six weeks early. Patrick struggled to breathe, due to a lung condition. The infant survived for less than two days and was buried in the family grave site at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.

The President and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy at the White House in 1963.

9. Ted Kennedy’s son loses leg to cancer

Cancer has also played a role in Kennedy family tragedies. In 1973, Ted Kennedy’s 12-year-old son Edward Jr. lost a leg to bone cancer. “My father taught me that even our most profound losses are survivable, and it is what we do with that loss, our ability to transform it into a positive event — that is one of my father’s greatest lessons,” Edward Jr. said after his father lost his own battle with cancer in 2009.

Robert F. Kennedy, left, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy attend President John F. Kennedy's funeral in 1963.

10. Sons: There’s no curse

After surviving bone cancer, Edward Jr. and his brother, Patrick Kennedy, told CNN they reject the idea of a family curse.

“No. No. Obviously my dad had a sense of spirituality that transcended his ability to face these problems, you know, in a way that would have otherwise paralyzed the normal person,” Patrick Kennedy said in 2009.

His brother Edward Jr. added, “The Kennedy family has had to endure these things in a very open way. But our family is just like … every other family in America in many ways.”

An earlier version of this story listed the wrong date of the 1969 Chappaquiddick car crash.