Reply #170: The crux is to understand why they decided to make that adjustment.

[eomer]

I'm with you on the part about choosing the time of 9:02:54 and basing their database on it. They did this at a point in the investigation when they didn't have much information about actual absolute times and were working mainly with relative time information.

But then later in the investigation they looked into the times shown on network news. They decided that these times were accurate within 1 second and used video from four of them to conclude that the actual time of second impact was 9:02:59. Based on that conclusion they then had to adjust all the times in the database (which had been established relative to second impact) by adding 5 seconds.

To recap, early in the process they somewhat arbitrarily chose 9:02:54 based on limited information. Later in the process they acquired better information and decided that the actual time was 9:02:59. Hence the adjustment.

I make no claim that what NIST did was correct. I'm just trying to get clear on what they did first. I have no way of evaluating at this point whether their conclusion was correct that the times shown on the network news screens were accurate.

So we have two conflicting conclusions that are based on "visual" information (since radar is essentially visual). The NIST network news video, which puts the impact at 9:02:59, and the FAA radar, which puts the impact at 9:03:11. One of these two conclusions must be wrong. I don't see, at this point, how it is that you know the NIST conclusion is wrong and the FAA conclusion is right. They are equal in their ability to convince since they both give us only general statements of how they were reached and don't give us the details. So if you know the FAA details, please give them.

Either of the two conclusions can be argued by saying "believe me, it is accurate" but that doesn't help much. Can you tell me why and how you reach the conclusion that the FAA time is the correct one? I also would be happy to have further details about the NIST 9:02:59 conclusion (that either bolster it or discredit it).

Regarding the burden of proof, neither side of an argument here has any official burden of proof. I assume you came here to convince people of your position. Some may be convinced by "believe me, it is accurate" but most, including me, won't. If you would support your position (the FAA time, essentially) with something more than "believe me" then you might convince me of it. If you can't or won't support your position (and if no one else comes up with further facts that shed light) then I still appreciate the fact that you brought it up because it is an important discrepancy. I will keep it in mind as another unanswered question. But if you can pin down detailed facts that prove the FAA time is right and the NIST time is wrong then you will definitely have demonstrated a smoking gun.