Richard Gage, AIA, began his visit to Tucson at full throttle. He immediately visited the studio of AM1330 “Gnosis” Radio, where host Chuck Aubrey interviewed him prior to the 9/11: Blueprint for Truth presentation that evening. A video taken in the studio is archived on 911Blogger here.

This is the second time I have seen the dynamic presentation of Richard Gage, AIA. I have also attended numerous other lectures about the inconsistencies which occurred on 9/11. Gage does an excellent job of explaining the subject of 9/11 by focusing completely on the destruction of the high-rises. He does not attempt to place blame and thereby maintains the credibility of the AE911Truth organization of professional architects and engineers.  Only the anomalies in the government reports and the physical evidence are discussed -- and they are overwhelming. There needs to be a new investigation. There is such a large mountain of data on the subject that one could spend an incredible amount of time researching all the facts involved. What Gage does very effectively is narrow the talk down to a very specific set of facts, all of which are easily understandable to a person of normal intelligence.

Richard Gage is a successful architect who has designed many large fireproof steel structures and has a working knowledge of what it takes to put buildings up and likewise the forces necessary to bring them down. After reviewing the evidence four years ago surrounding the 9/11 cover-up, Gage sought to find other degreed architects and engineers who understood that the 3 high-rise “collapses” on September 11, 2001, could NOT have occurred in the fashion they did without forces other than plane impacts and fires being employed.

As of this time, Gage and his non-profit organization, Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, has over 1200 verified petition signers -- degreed architects and engineers who have attested to the need for a new investigation based on the explosive evidence. This is an amazing feat to say the least. Architects and engineers have among the most conservative job descriptions, necessary to insure the safety and integrity of their buildings or other designs. They have to deal with the forces of nature, materials, physics and mathematics. It is their job to make sure buildings are well designed and do not fall down due to fire.

174 people attended the presentation at St. Marks Church.  Most were already convinced of the evidence before they came.  We know this because Gage inquired of them up front and found that only eight believed in the official conspiracy theory that planes and fires brought down the Twin Towers, and that 32 were unsure. After hearing the explosive evidence, there were three who still believed the OCT and just three who were unsure.  Five architects and 16 engineers were in attendance.

Putting an event like this together requires extraordinary dedication and hard work on the part of many volunteers. Leading these activists were the highly focused and ever present 9/11 Truth Tucson torch bearers, Karen W., JTW, and Jody G.  They sent invitation letters individually to most architects and engineers in Tucson, and to many others. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

A difficult question was posed by Gage to the Tucson crowd, “if 1200 architects and engineers told you that your house was going to collapse, would you listen to them?” This highlighted their point that they deserve to be taken seriously.

AE911Truth guest speaker and structural engineer Paul Thomas, S.E., provided fascinating new evidence into the mix. Thomas, who has a Masters degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering, also has experience in the military with explosive demolitions. He has examined photos of the ends of the steel perimeter wall units where they were bolted to each other.  However, most of the bolts are missing and many of the holes were not deformed from the stress of the bolts during building collapse. Mr. Thomas’ hypothesis is that the bolts must have been removed prior to the actual collapse -- i.e. to aid the destruction of the exterior wall system, since the perpetrators wouldn’t have had the required unseen access to the exterior walls to plant the explosive charges (which, also, would have been too obvious as a detonation mechanism).  Certainly more research is required.

Gage mentioned up front in the presentation that he is not looking for believers. He encouraged us to check out every fact that we hear. Well -- it seems that the facts speak for themselves, and the evidence appears, unfortunately, irrefutable. Even though 9/11 occurred almost 9 years ago, this issue needs to be addressed. After all, it was the catalyst for two wars which continue today unabated. The Afghan war is now the longest in US history. Further, only with a true understanding of what really happened on 9/11 can we prevent another attack. One of the poignant quotes of the evening was “To identify the perpetrator, first know the crime.” We accomplished that in the presentation.

A Time Magazine poll finds that 36% of all Americans want a new investigation. Another by Scripps Howard Ohio University found that 16% of Americans believe the Twin Towers were brought down by explosives.  Americans are, apparently, ready for the truth about 9/11. Let’s do everything we can to help them.