A quarter of a century after four hijacked airliners crashed into New York's Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a Pennsyvlania field false claims about the September 11, 2001, terror attacks still draw interest. Here is a list of the top 9/11 conspiracy theories fact checked by Lead Stories ranked by how many readers searched for information about them.
1. 1967 Medallion Is NOT An Israeli Shekel And Did NOT Predict 9/11 Attack On USA
Did Israel mint a shekel coin 33 years before the 9/11 attacks that included images of a plane crashing into New York's World Trade Center twin towers? No, that's not true: The image included in a meme implying prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks by the Israeli government is not of a coin, but a medallion produced privately to commemorate Israel's victory over Egypt in the Six Day War of 1967. Modern Israel did not adopt the shekel until 1980, when it replaced the pound as its currency. The imagery shows a Torah scroll, not two skyscrapers.
2. Kids Reading Words On 9/11 Is NOT Proof Of Conspiracy
Did children read words predicting the 9/11 attack "moments before" planes hit the World Trade Center as then-President George W. Bush sat with the children in a Sarasota, Florida, schoolroom? No, that's not true: An online claim to that effect distorts the facts by manipulating the timeline and changing the content of the lesson to fit the narrative.
3. 4,000 Israeli Employees Were NOT Warned Not To Go To Work On 9/11 -- Baseless Conspiracy Myth
Did approximately 4,000 Israelis avoid the attacks at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, because advance warning from an Israeli messaging service told them precisely when and where they would happen? No, that's not true: These claims are the foundation of a baseless conspiracy theory that the 9/11 attacks were a Zionist false flag and the lecturer who makes this claim in a social-media video combines two real but unrelated news stories. He misrepresents one from The Jerusalem Post to establish an inflated number of Israelis who purportedly cheated death. He embellishes the other from Haaretz.com with false details to build a fake scenario where someone with advance knowledge of the attacks warned thousands of Israelis who did not pass that warning on to anyone else.
4. Trump Did NOT Post Threat To Close New York's 9/11 Memorial Because He Was Not Allowed To Speak
Did President Donald Trump really make a post threatening to close the 9/11 Memorial in New York because he wasn't allowed to speak at the annual remembrance ceremony? No, that's not true: A review of Trump's Truth Social account found no record of such a post. There are also no credible reports that he ever made the online statement or threatened to close the memorial over being denied an opportunity to speak at the ceremony.
5. NO Evidence Abdul El-Sayed 'Celebrated 9/11' -- He Said 'I Don't Think 9/11 Was Justified'
Did Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, "celebrate 9/11"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that El-Sayed celebrated 9/11. In an interview in early April 2026, he said, "I don't think 9/11 was justified," and distanced himself from Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer he had appeared with on the campaign trail. Piker said in 2019 that "America deserved 9/11."
6. Donald Rumsfeld Did NOT Report That $2.3 Trillion Was Missing The Day Before 9/11 Attacks
Did then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld report that $2.3 trillion was missing the day before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks? No, that's not true: Rumsfeld gave a speech on September 10, 2001 about the bureaucratic red tape in the U.S. government and his plans to update processes. He remarked that it was difficult to track financial transactions within the current system. He did not say that $2.3 trillion was missing.
7. NO Evidence Economic Reforms Known As NESARA Were Secretly Approved by Congress And Bill Clinton
Did President Bill Clinton quietly sign into law an economic reform measure secretly passed by Congress and did President George W. Bush later orchestrate the 9/11 attacks to prevent the enactment of the law, commonly known as NESARA? No, that's not true: The claims about NESARA, which at the time of its introduction stood for the National Economic Security and Recovery Act, are not supported by any basic documentary evidence or credible named witnesses nor are they backed by scholarship and investigative reporting about the Bush and Clinton administrations.
8. This Video Of Exploding Twin Towers Without Planes Is NOT Real -- Plane Crashes Are Edited Out
Does a video of the South Tower at the World Trade Center in New York City exploding without a plane crashing into it during the 9/11 attacks mean that bombs were the reason the buildings exploded? No, that's not true: The video has been edited to remove the hijacked United Flight 175 plane hitting the South Tower on September 11, 2001, as historical footage shows. The 9/11 Commission Report described the hijacking of flight United 175 with eyewitness accounts, including phone calls made from the plane.
9. 'Rare Pentagon Impact Video' Does NOT Show Missile Hitting The Building On 9/11
Does a "rare Pentagon impact video" show that something other than a commercial plane hit the building on September 11, 2001? No, that's not true: The video shown has been digitally edited to show an object crashing into the building. It is a stock footage video of the Pentagon that is easily found on the internet. The 9/11 Commission Report extensively documented how hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
Was the plane from United Airlines Flight 93 not at the reported crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: The hijacked plane crashed into the ground on September 11, 2001, almost upside down at a speed of up to 580 miles per hour, exploding, according to the National Park Service website for the Flight 93 National Memorial. Wreckage was found up to eight miles away.
11. Video Does NOT Prove That No Plane Hit Pentagon On 9/11
Does footage related to the 9/11 attack at the Pentagon prove that no airplane struck the building? No, that's not true: The video -- which was published online by the FBI more than a decade ago -- only shows "recovery and investigative operations" at the Pentagon following the attack. Additionally, there are images and a thorough investigation detailed in The 9/11 Commission Report that prove an airplane struck the Pentagon.
12. The Twin Towers Were NOT 'Hollow' Or Largely Empty On 9/11
Were the Twin Towers almost empty when the 9/11 attack took place on September 11, 2001? No, that's not true: The recycled conspiracy theory contradicts a large body of evidence that proves the opposite, including government documents, medical examiner's reports and video and photo materials shot by journalists and filmmakers at Ground Zero on the day of tragedy.
Does a BBC report from September 11, 2001, saying World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC 7) fell more than 20 minutes before it actually did prove a conspiracy? No, that's not true: There's no evidence of a WTC 7 conspiracy. The discrepancy in the reporting of WTC 7's collapse time, after the Twin Towers' collapse, can be explained by the chaos and confusion of the 9/11 events (and breaking news in general), with early reports often containing inaccuracies or errors in real-time information gathering, which were later corrected.
Were two of the airplanes involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack listed as "valid" instead of "destroyed" in FAA records? No, that's not true: The planes involved in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack that bore tail numbers N591UA and N612UA were listed as destroyed in FAA records reviewed by Lead Stories. What explains the re-appearance of the tail numbers is that N-numbers are not permanently assigned to a particular aircraft and can be re-used on other planes, according to the FAA.
Was the second plane to hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, a military plane? No, that's not true: The plane that hit the south tower was United Airlines Flight 175, a commercial plane. The 9/11 Commission Report described "The Hijacking of United 175" with eyewitness accounts including phone calls made from the plane.
Did World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC 7) collapse due to a controlled explosion right after the collapse of the first two World Trade Center buildings in New York City on September 11, 2001? No, that's not true: Investigators found no evidence of such an explosion and specialists found it was caused by fire. All the World Trade Center buildings shared a sprinkler system. When the first two buildings went down, the sprinkler system was then cut off from the remaining buildings. Debris from the attack on the first two World Trade Center buildings started fires in WTC7. Unchecked fires caused the building to warp and collapse hours after the initial attack.
Does a video showing an explosion at the World Trade Center's South Tower on September 11, 2001, but no aircraft, prove no planes were involved in the 9/11 attacks? No, that's not true: Video and images from other angles show the planes hitting or about to hit the Twin Towers. In addition, The 9/11 Commission Report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States details the flight paths of the four commercial aircraft hijacked and used in the terrorist attacks.
18. Trump Did NOT Say '9/11 Attack Was The Work Of The United States'
Did Donald Trump say the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were the "work of the United States" during a New Hampshire campaign stop in January 2024? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence or statement from the former president making such a claim. Trump's comments as claimed in a social media post were either faked, taken out of context or misrepresented.
19. 'Measurements' Do NOT Prove That Plane Didn't Crash Into Pentagon On 9/11
Do "measurements" of winds, the Pentagon, and a plane prove that an airplane did not crash into the Pentagon on 9/11? No, that's not true: According to multiple credible and corroborating sources, including videos and photographs of the attack, witness accounts and the 9/11 Commission Report, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, killing all 64 people on the plane and 125 people in the Pentagon. The video in which the claim appeared did not offer any details on the supposed "measurements".
20. Obama, Clinton And Rice NOT Pictured Chumming With Osama bin Laden
Is a post making the rounds on Facebook showing Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice chumming with Osama bin Laden real? No, that's not true. The faked photos, arranged in a collage, are poorly altered images. But they are gaining traction on the Internet - even though most commenters have noted they are doctored images.
Did Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley pose for a photo in front of a photo of Osama Bin Laden and an ISIS flag? No, that's not true: A photo taken of the four freshmen members of congress was photoshopped to add the portrait of the late Al Qaeda leader and the flag of the ISIS terror group. The actual photo was taken as the newly-elected woman met in a Capitol Hill conference room in November 2018.
Does a news report from CNN that aired on September 11, 2001, prove that a plane didn't crash into the Pentagon on that day? No, that's not true: There is plenty of evidence that a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, and the news report used to justify the claim has been clarified by the journalist who made the report.
23. CNN Report From 9/11 Does NOT Prove That Plane Didn't Crash Into Pentagon
Does a news report from CNN that aired on September 11, 2001, prove that a plane didn't crash into the Pentagon on that day? No, that's not true: There is plenty of evidence that a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, and the news report used to justify the claim has been clarified by the journalist who made the report.
