Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help.

An American flag is unfurled at the Pentagon in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, at sunrise on the morning of the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The American flag is draped over the site of impact at the Pentagon. (AP)

A CNN report from 9/11 was misleadingly edited, with the reporter’s words taken out of context. 

The former CNN reporter featured in the clip, Jamie McIntyre, responded to the conspiracy theory in 2015 to debunk it.

As a CNN reporter stood in front of the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, to give his live report, smoke billowed from the building behind him and grim images showed the aftermath of the attack that killed more than 180 people.

Now, 21 years later, social media users are sharing a misleadingly edited version of that news report to bolster the conspiracy theory that a plane never struck the building. 

A Sept. 12 Instagram post that shared the CNN video shows Jamie McIntyre, who was then the network's military affairs correspondent, saying he had walked up to the Pentagon building to get a closer look at the "huge, gaping hole." 

In the Instagram clip, McIntyre then says, "From my close-up inspection, there’s no evidence of a plane having crashed anywhere near the Pentagon." He also says there are no large sections of the airplane body anywhere nearby. 

The Instagram post’s caption says, "Watch the fact checkers say this is false and misleading when in fact every article or photo will show you ZERO debris at the alleged crash site at the Pentagon." Another Instagram user also shared the same clip.

The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

But the clip shared on Instagram was edited to truncate McIntyre’s remarks. In the original broadcast, just before the 5:41 mark, the anchor says eyewitnesses said it appeared that Boeing 757 might have landed short of the Pentagon, and she asked McIntyre how much of the plane struck the building.

McIntyre answered, "It might have appeared that way. But from my close-up inspection, there’s no evidence of a plane having crashed anywhere near the Pentagon. The only site is the actual site of the building that’s crashed in." 

He had also noted earlier in the broadcast that he saw a piece of 3-foot-long metal, painted green and red, and a large piece of shattered glass that appeared to be the cockpit windshield.

We also fact-checked a claim that there was no debris at the Pentagon crash site and rated it Pants on Fire! 

FBI releases new batch of 9/11 Pentagon photos showing scorched interior, plane debris, building's gaping hole https://t.co/E7AqxM5GDi pic.twitter.com/TsY6NsM0rg

McIntyre addressed the conspiracy himself in a 2015 video report for Al Jazeera.

"Little did I know as I was doing this live report … that I would fuel the doubts of so-called 9/11 truthers, who believe the attack was an inside job," he said.  

An Instagram post says a CNN report on 9/11 proved that a plane never hit the Pentagon.

The clip was misleadingly edited and the reporter’s words were taken out of context. The original broadcast makes it clear that the reporter said a plane had crashed into the building and that he saw parts of the airplane wreckage on-site. 

We rate this claim False. 

ABC News, FBI re-releases 9/11 Pentagon photos, accessed Sept. 14, 2022

ABC News Twitter post, March 31, 2017

Al Jazeera America News Daily, A first person account of 9/11: Jamie McIntryre, Sept. 11, 2015

YouTube, "CNN 9-11-2001 live coverage," accessed Sept. 15, 2022

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006

Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494