I am very pleased to highly recommend a new film by Brett Smith, “Hypothesis,” about the odyssey endured by Dr. Steven Jones, a physicist formerly of Brigham Young University (BYU), as he discovered the explosive evidence contained in the dust from the World Trade Center catastrophe. At just under 45 minutes long, the film has much to laud and little to criticize. Both Smith and Ted Walter of NYC CAN provide excellent production value – and the original music by Jeremiah Olsen enhances the presentation.

The idea for the film began as an assignment in Smith’s documentary film class in the fall of 2006 to produce a 15-minute “final project”. The film was originally limited to basic information on the mysterious destruction of WTC Building 7 and the “impossible” molten metal that was found at Ground Zero.

“Hypothesis” takes you into the lab of Dr. Steven Jones as he analyzes the thermitic residue from the WTC dust with the most sophisticated equipment available

After Smith completed his assignment, the extreme gravity of the story compelled him to continue working on it, and the steady stream of new discoveries and information that contradicted the official 9/11 story kept his interest piqued. The final version of “Hypothesis” premiered in September 2010 at the Williamsburg International Film Festival.

As the film begins, we are introduced to Jones as he is working in his lab at BYU. He shows us his electron microscope and its accompanying EDAX system that identifies the chemical composition of materials.

“I decided early on that I’d rather stick with science and the facts,” Jones says, “and that’s what I do – that’s what I’ve done all my life.”

Amid some beautiful shots of Provo, Utah, Jones tells us that he loves to teach and interact with students. He describes the awards he has won for teaching from BYU, including one of the most prestigious, the Alcuin Fellowship Award in 2005, and the Brigham Award, which is given by the students themselves. His sincere love of teaching and his serene, guileless, and gentle demeanor endear him to the audience and make the struggles that are covered later in the film more difficult to bear.

Jones had not given the events at the World Trade Center much thought until the spring of 2005, when he attended a presentation on 9/11 and saw the curious destruction of Building 7 for the first time.

“It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that there’s something really strange with WTC7 - especially when compared side by side with a controlled demolition,” he explains.

Jones cannot keep some humor from seeping into his expression and voice when discussing the official explanation that NIST supplies for the destruction of the buildings.

“I want to see data. That’s what I really like -data. I want you to explain to me how your explanation fits the data, and if it doesn’t fit the data I’m going to throw [the explanation] out! I’m a scientist; that’s what I do. I don’t care about being politically correct. The explanation has to fit the data. That’s what I like, data, and correspondence with explanation.”

In November of 2005, Jones published his first paper on the subject, titled Why Indeed Did The World Trade Center Buildings Completely Collapse? He describes the reaction as “generally negative,” and that story is fleshed out by coverage of some of the emails, name-calling, and hostile local media reports. Jones also says that the disparaging responses were “really quite remarkable”

As I watched Jones describe his experience onscreen, I was reminded of a famous quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’
Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’
But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.”

Jones certainly rose to the demand of the moral pressure, and his appearance on MSNBC with Tucker Carlson is further evidence of that. The film does a fine job of depicting the deceptive censorship that occurred when Tucker’s show refused to air the simple short clip of Building 7’s obvious controlled demolition..

In a revealing interview, C. Martin Hinckley admitted to sending emails to Jones in which he allegedly attempted to bribe and threaten him to stop the WTC dust analysis

Later on in the film, Jones describes why his focus on the science of the WTC demolitions was so important: “This society is mesmerized by this myth, this official story of 9/11 being due to the Muslims. Everyone ‘knows it’; you can’t challenge this myth. If you do, you’re a ‘conspiracy kook’. Well, I’m sorry, good science cuts through all that nonsense. It doesn’t care. When I analyze these samples of previously molten metal, it doesn’t care whether I’m a conservative or a liberal, a Republican or Democrat or Green – it doesn’t care. It’s just an experiment that’s run that’s objective. To have people say, ‘I don’t want to see the data – I don’t want you to challenge the official story which everyone knows’… That is just so contrary to science, to logic, to reason, to humanity…”

A segment of the film that was particularly intriguing for me was the coverage of C. Martin Hinckley, the person behind the threats and bribes that failed to deter Jones from his search for truth. It was disconcerting to actually see Hinckley and hear his own words, and to have that somewhat frightening and sordid portion of Jones’ journey nakedly exposed.

Jones took early retirement after being put on administrative leave for examining physical evidence from the WTC disaster

Jones found Hinckley’s offer of large grants from the Department of Homeland Security to be “not attractive at all – Oh boy.”

Stepping back from the film review, and into the opportunity to educate the public , I have found that situations like these can be useful for reaching others. Threatening people and offering bribes are criminal misconduct in the minds of most people – and considered evidence of such in a court of law. Smith deserves accolades for even getting Hinckley on camera to discuss his questionable activities.

The film arrives at an even more emotionally challenging chapter where Jones is placed on administrative leave and eventually is forced to take early retirement from BYU. I’m proud to say that I personally stood behind him at that extremely trying time of his by writing a petition to BYU in support of him and his evidence:

Dr. Steven Jones has done extensive scientific analysis on physical evidence pertaining to the attacks of 9/11/01. The importance of such work cannot be overstated. BYU, where he has been employed as a physics professor, has placed him on paid leave while it reviews his findings. This petition is in support of Dr. Jones, his work, the thorough examination by qualified professionals, and subsequent peer review, of physical evidence pertaining to the attacks of 9/11/01, and whatever conclusions or implications that are rationally derived from such data.

We the undersigned support Dr. Steven Jones and his work involving physical evidence pertaining to the attacks of 9/11/01. We are in favor of the scientific investigation of crime. We are in favor of honest and adequate peer review of such work, using the experimental method if necessary. If such examination substantiates Dr. Jones’ findings, we consider a full and unequivocal endorsement of the findings and Dr. Jones to be the only rational course of action available to BYU.

To its dishonor, BYU bowed to forces other than its ethics and – though there was considerable dissension in the ranks of the university – forced Jones out. His reflection on his teaching career of over 21 years and what it meant to him to lose it all, is deeply moving.

The BYU administration, on many levels, declined to be interviewed for the film. It should be said, however, that BYU did allow Jones to continue using its high tech laboratory facilities and that a number of individuals in the university repeatedly encouraged him to pursue his research – off the record, of course. Without this concession on the behalf of BYU, he might not have identified the active thermitic material in the dust of the WTC disaster. While BYU should be censured for going on the offensive against a very good man doing incredibly important work, it should also be commended for allowing his work to continue.

The scorn that Jones has received for exposing this explosive 9/11 evidence is also reminiscent of a quote penned by novelist Mark Twain centuries ago:

“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man; brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”

Through the details of Jones’ tests for explosive material – which investigators and law enforcement would have been doing if they had followed the guidelines set out by the National Fire Protection Association – is woven an inspiring tale of struggle, loss, and triumph.

Dr. Jeff Farrer, PhD., a Materials Science Engineer and Electron Microscopy Lab Manager at BYU, independently confirmed Jones’ startling findings

We are introduced to his son David, and his wife Leslie appears in the DVD extras. They voice understandable concerns for the safety of Steven Jones and his family.

We are also introduced to his colleague, Dr. Jeffrey Farrer, and vicariously experience his process of transformation as he comes to terms with what really happened at the WTC on 9/11. After experiencing considerable angst over the implications of the results he was getting from the examination of the dust, he needed to take a step back from the laboratory work and just not deal with it for a while.

Farrer explained in the riveting documentary how he had to forget the implications and just look at the science. “Once I did that,” he said, “there are a lot of questions that need to be addressed.”

In addition, we were able to meet the contributor of one of the dust samples, Frank Delessio, and see approximately where he collected it from. Tom Breidenbach, one of Frank’s friends who helped him preserve the dust, also makes an appearance in the film. They describe how they heard that a scientist was seeking dust samples from ground zero.

Initially, Delessio and Breidenbach were excited to learn that the samples they had were ideal because they were collected before noon on 9/11/01 – i.e., before rescue and cleanup efforts could contaminate them. Still, they were not sure that they wanted to know what the dust might reveal and actually delayed a couple of months before sending it in.

Frank Delessio and Tom Breidenbach discussed how the WTC dust they collected became a vital piece to the thermite puzzle

The process of finding the red-grey chips of unexploded nanothermite and working on the peer-reviewed paper detailing these revealing findings is very well covered and provides a rather dramatic conclusion to the film.

In a more just and honest scientific and political community, the discovery of active thermitic material in the dust of the WTC disaster would have put an end to much speculation about what actually happened on that tragic day and initiated an immediate and thorough criminal investigation. Unfortunately, we are not so blessed. But, the struggle goes on.

While the thermite analysis has already been completed, documented, and published in a 25-page peer-reviewed paper, Jones still continues to speak out in support of a real investigation of the WTC demolitions

Jones reflected on the difficulties that come with addressing this disturbing evidence. “I think that’s the first wall that people hit – do I want the truth or would I just rather not be bothered?” he said. “It took a while to assimilate. It changes your viewpoint. When I see the news, I’m always checking that. I don’t just accept what the media tells me; I’m always looking, what’s the other part of the story here?”

On the bright side, his early retirement has left him much more time for other very important things, like spending time with his grandchildren.

This enlightening new film is now available in the AE911Truth online store, and makes the perfect gift to the 9/11 activists and technical professionals in your circles – or a great addition to your DVD library. Be sure to pick it up while supplies last!