Denie

And, no I didn't pull this out of my ass...

On September 22, 2005 Jones presented his views on the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and World Trade Center 7 at a BYU seminar attended by about 60 people. Pointing to the speed and symmetry of the collapses, the characteristics of dust jets, and reports of molten metal in the debris, Jones suggested that the evidence defies the mainstream collapse theory and favors explosive demolition. He called for further scientific investigation to test the controlled demolition hypothesis and the release of all relevant data by the government.[11] Shortly after the seminar, Jones placed a paper "Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?" on the Physics department web site.

He subsequently defended the research twice more at BYU,[citation needed] also at Idaho State University, Utah Valley State College, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Denver, the Utah Academy of Science, Sonoma State University, University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Jones' paper has been the center of controversy both for its content and its claims to scientific rigor.[19] Jones' early critics included members of BYU's engineering faculty;[20] shortly after he made his views public, the BYU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the faculty of structural engineering issued statements in which they distanced themselves from Jones' work. They noted that Jones' "hypotheses and interpretations of evidence were being questioned by scholars and practitioners," and expressed doubts about whether they had been "submitted to relevant scientific venues that would ensure rigorous technical peer review."[21]

Some of Jones' colleagues have defended his work on 9/11 to varying degrees,[22] and Project Censored lists his 9/11 research among the top mainstream media censored stories of 2007.[23]

Jones maintains that the paper was peer-reviewed prior to publication, though it has never been published in an independent peer-reviewed journal. One journal that has published Jones' paper is the online "Journal of 9/11 Studies", which was co-founded by Jones for the purpose of "covering the whole of research related to 9/11/2001" and is co-edited by him.[24] The paper is also published in Global Outlook,[25] a magazine "seeking to reveal the truth About 9/11"[26] and in a volume of essays edited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott.[27]

On September 7, 2006, Jones removed his paper from BYU's website at the request of administrators and was placed on paid leave. [28]

The university cited its concern about the "increasingly speculative and accusatory nature" of Jones' work and the concern that perhaps it had "not been published in appropriate scientific venues" as reasons for putting him under review. The review was to have been conducted at three levels: BYU administration, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and the Physics Department.[29]

Jones' placement on paid leave drew criticism from the American Association of University Professors and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Both organizations are long time critics of BYU's record on academic freedom.[30] Jones "welcomed the review" because he hoped it would "encourage people to read his paper for themselves," however the review was abandoned when Jones elected to retire, effective January 1, 2007.[31]