Funny things
did happen at the Pentagon that morning, but the missile theory doesn't rise above the folkloric. There is much to counter the claim. Here's a
compilation of some evidence,
here are photos of the plane's wreckage, and a
refutation of the missile theory by respected Washington-based conspiracy researcher John Judge.
Here's one thing to consider: when an anomalous event occurs, like a jet striking the Pentagon, we ought to make allowance for anomalous results. Yes, the hole
looks too small, but with what do we have to compare the event? The walls of the structure - particularly the side the plane went 270 degrees out of its way to hit, which had been hardened against attack - are much stronger than those of the WTC.
But for me, here's the big consideration: did the conspirators
need a missile to produce the desired result? No. And that's not to say Hani Hanjour did it. He couldn't fly a Cessna the month before. Hanjour didn't perform those high speed aerobatic maneuvers and hit the ground floor without scraping the lawn. But control
could be taken from the hijackers so Flight 77 would behave
as a guided missile. The technology exists. A month before, Raytheon had remote-flown a FedEx 727 to a safe landing on a New Mexico air force base in August 2001, without a pilot (
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techreviews/2001/10/2/remote-pilot.htm). Raytheon employees were on at least three of the four flights, and on Flight 77 was Stanley Hall, director of program management for Raytheon's Electronics Warfare Division. A colleague called him "our dean of electronic warfare" (
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/12/victim-capsule-flight77.htm). That incredibly, none of the black boxes were said to be recoverable, suggests to me there's data on them that someone wants hidden.
Substituting the flight with a missile, disposing of the plane and its people, risking detection in broad daylight before witnesses
who could have been taking pictures - none of that needed to be chanced.
I'm MIHOP, but we can't build our case upon urban myth.