TruthBurn Up Again in Marin County!

The Truth sign that made its debut at this year's Burning Man is now on a ranch in Marin County. We have plans to continue using it as an art object to bring awareness to the Truth about what really happened on September 11, 2001

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Dr. Steven Jones Compares WTC to Burning Man Thermite Residue

Electron microscopy reveals similarities to WTC thermite residue.
Dr. Steven Jones just turned in these electron microscope images of thermite residue from the September 2, 2007 TruthBurn demonstration at Burning Man. Iron rich spheres that look very similar to WTC iron spheres were revealed by the powerful microscope at Jones' lab. An analysis is forthcoming.





This photo is from WTC dust samples submitted to Dr. Jones.



More photos and story at http://911blogger.com/node/11880

~70 lbs of Thermite, Ignited as Part of 911 Truth Demonstration at Burning Man-Slow Motion Video

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Bear in mind, that the sign is 22 feet wide.

Updates Sept. 6, 2007

Sept. 6, 2007 San Rafael- We’re back home exhausted and nearly unpacked. I’ve included some posts here that I was never able to send because of a tenuous internet connection at Black Rock, partly due I believe to the daily onslaught of dust storms interfering with satellite communications. As mentioned below, we made what I believe was a safe and smart decision not to place our thermite cutter charges on the sign itself, rather ignite them beneath the sign on a hunk of steel we obtained from another artist. We talked to many people about 911 Truth, the use of controlled demolition on the World Trade buildings and of course, thermite and what it does to steel. Richard Gage, on hand for the event, gave a stirring talk about the melting temperature of steel, the numerous fire fighter observations of molten metal in the basements of World Trades 1.2 and 7 and the use of controlled demolition techniques to bring the buildings down. We remotely ignited about 75 lbs of thermite for the event. A huge arc bright fireball resulted that was seen all over the desert. The slag samples that were produced by this reaction are saved and some will be shipped to Steven Jones for a comparative analysis with samples from the actual twin towers. Though this art event didn’t fit our original plan, we feel that it was a great success nonetheless. I contacted most of the major controlled demolition companies in the US and even one in Japan, to solicit bids for using thermite cutter charges to bring the sign down. I heard back from none of them. This left me, a novice in the field, to devise the devices myself. The federally licensed pyro crew at Burning Man congratulated me on the safety and success of this rather large thermite burn. Cost was a factor as well. I did get one bid from a shadowy tech person with ex-defense contacts in Virginia to build 2 sol-gel thermate cutter charges. The price was $10,000.00 per charge.

As I wanted to pull this event off, I had to scale the cost, size and scope of it down a bit. Working with a skeleton crew of volunteers including KPFA radio’s Guns and Butter’s Yarrow Mahko, we were able to pull off a very difficult task, on time, close to our revised budget estimates, and with extreme safety measures given the often wild and unpredictable nature of events and people at the Burning Man festival.

So the sign lives on and will be displayed at various locations. I have two commitments from art exhibitors at this point and must work out additional transport and heavy equipment set up. This is a lot of work and it’s left me a little beat up but deeply satisfied all the same. We have some very decent video of the erection of the sign and the ignition of the thermite and Richard Gage’s talk. Editing is in process and I hope to have at least a teaser film with the ignition ready by this weekend.

My plans are to continue exploring the use of thermite or thermate cutter charges to bring down a substantial piece of steel in a monitored environment, as a protest demonstration to illustrate how the twin towers and building 7 were most likely brought down.. After having successfully experimented with the stuff, I can tell you that I have a strong understanding of thermite’s violent effect on steel. The burn stayed hot for at least an hour after we ignited it early Sunday morning, the 3^rd of Sept. around 2 am. In all cases I have worked under the supervision of licensed professionals and plan to obtain the proper permits and work within the boundaries of local and state laws regarding future tests. I don’t plan on sharing how I rigged my devises. The technology is too dangerous.

I invite any Truth supporters to contact me with future ideas or suggestions for the sign. It will be made available for any 911 Truth event where possible. And yes, I still need to recover some of the costs of producing this event. Please see my blog for more info on that.

Thanks to all my supporters and volunteers, Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth, Richard Gage and the crews and staff at Burning Man for helping making this art-demonstration vision a reality.

John

August 31,2007 Black Rock- Last night at 11 pm we successfully ignited a pot of thermite on a piece of ¼” U-channel similar to the one holding up the Truthburn letters. The 20 lbs of thermite created an enormous, bright as the sun fireball that burned through the ¼ “ steel like, well, butter. The flowing streams of molten metal stayed very hot for about ½ an hour afterwards. Our crew cleaned up the steel residue after everything cooled down. Steel melts at about 3000°. TruthBurn is aimed at duplicating a possible technique used in the controlled demolitions of World Trade Centers 1, 2 and 3. Rivers of molten steel were observed by fire fighting crews in the lower levels of the collapsed buildings many weeks after September 11, 2001. Only an incendiary like thermite can raise steel to these temperatures. Last night we saw this first hand. The test caused me to re-evaluate our plan to bring the huge steel letters down using this method. In our test, the thermite flowed down the channel, and though it mostly cut the channel in half, there was an element of uncontrollability about the way the molten metal flows. Specifically I am concerned with safety. If the thermite charges don’t completely sever the channel holding the letters the structure can become dangerously unstable and pose a significant problem to already overtaxed Burning Man Department of Public Works (DPW) crews. Also the bolts that hold the upper structure together, may become fused thereby making disassembly very difficult. We have to take this giant 30000 lb structure down at the end of Burning Man and truck it back to the Bay Area. As a consequence, I’m working on a back up plan, that would still entail burning our themite, but this would happen underneath the structure, in three separate pots to symbolize the controlled demolition of all three World Trade Buildings. This after all an art project. We are not professional demolition people, though I was amazed at how relatively easy it was to setr up and remotely ignite the stuff. Licensed pryo tech personnel from Burning Man supervised the test and helped provide crowd control. Richard Gage, AIA, founder of Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth will be arriving tonight and we’ll consult about how to proceed.

John

Saturday, September 1, 2007: Black Rock City

There were two powerful dust storms that swept through the playa yesterday, making even the simplest effort a supreme challenge. The storm blew in Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth’s Richard Gage and Bill Donnelly. Yarrow Mahko of Guns and Butter also showed up. Great to see these guys here and plans are afoot to do some media show at the Truth sign, tonight and tomorrow night.

We have decided to burn the thermite beneath the TruthBurn sign because of safety and mechanical reasons. We will burn three pots of thermite in honor of the three World Trade buildings.

Yesterday also brought to the playa the most beautiful rainbow I think I’ve ever seen. Yarrow and I were taking a bucket load of photos of the sign framed by this incredible rainbow. Truly magical and thoroughly amazing. This morning, at the media tent where I “try” to establish an internet connection, I was greeted by a very beautiful black hen. Yes, some one of the guys here actually brought his pet chicken to the playa. It was neat seeing this in the desert.

John

New Thermite Schedule

Aug 29, 2007 Black Rock-Last night our crew got TruthBurn installed at Burning Man. Burning Man DPW iron worker Steve Valdez was magnificent in his careful manipulation of the giant fork lift to raise the 1000 lb pieces in place. A large moon could be seen above the powerful and artful piece. Many people drove by to thank us and tell us how beautiful the thing looked.

Sometime after 2 am a tagger hit one small corner of the piece. We’ll remove it this morning. I never before saw tagging of art, here at Burning Man. It’s a giant relief to get TruthBurn installed. It looks terrific. I almost hate to destroty it with thermite. The schedule for its destruction was moved to Saturday night at 12 midnight by Black Rock pyro officials. The small test burn will happen on Thursday at around 11pm. It is beautiful here at the mostly quiet now sound drenched desert. A big thank you to all the incredible people who helped to put this together.

John

August 30, 2007 Black Rock- We set up our sound system last night and it works great. Pyro Tech re-scheduled our thermite displays to

Tonight, Thursday, 11pm, for a small demonstration on 3’ section of the same type of steel used in making the TruthBurn art piece. This is mostly a test of our system and run through with safety procedures.

Then the main burn, the controlled demolition of the TruthBurn sign itself is scheduled for early early Sunday, September 2, Sunday at 12:30 am or 1am. This is after the Man burns. Pyro must insure that enough fire and ranger staff can be available to assist with crowd control and safety, that’s why we’ve been juggled around. I’ve been talking to many people about the sculpture, how it came into being, about Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth, and the probable use of controlled demolition techniques on the World Trade buildings. I’ve also talked to a reporter from the London Guardian. The reception for our sculpture seems generally supportive and favorable. Yesterday, at the BRC press conference with Burning Man Staff and founder Larry Harvey, I personally thanked Larry for taking the courageous step in hosting our controversial art project.

John

From the Playa

Got a crane, lift and a big crew to set up TruthBurn. The map here has many red dots around TruthBurn, and one big red dot. This means big time fire. Bigtime. Tomorrow we get to work.

All goes well in this dusty Mecca of creativity. The crew is fine and pumped for this.

TruthBurn Ready To Roll

Monday we arrive at the desert....a place of magic and transformation. Thanks to all who made this possible!

John Parulis on Visibilty 911

Michael Wolsey of Visibility911
interviews John Parulis, creator of TruthBurn.
Download show here
Michael is also on the steering committee of 911truth.org
The show covers the logistics at Burning Man, some personal background and a discussion of art and activism as it relates to the 911 Truth Movement.

Burning Man Says Yes To TruthBurn

TruthBurn Given Final Approval For Burning Man 2007

TruthBurn is happening at Burning Man! DaveX, the head of fire safety passed the final plan for the art project. A North SF Bay metal fabricator will be constructing the piece that has been designed by John Parulis, rendered into prints by Scott Page and engineered by Charles Pegelow, all members of ae911truth.org. The sculpture will be destroyed by about 40 lbs of remotely ignited thermite towards the end of the festival. With help from Ken Jenkins, audio and video from the 911 truth movement will be shown in the evenings on a screen suspended from the sculpture. Architect Richard Gage, AIA, is slated to give a talk during the demolition phase of this art project.

TruthBurn still needs your funding support. By reducing the original weight of the sculpture, we were able to save a considerable amount of money, but money is still needed to cover costs, approximately $7,000.. Please send your tax free donations to Agape/Northern California 911 Truth Alliance (in memo section of check write “TruthBurn”) P.O. Box 60511, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Thanks to Carol Brouillet for offering this service.

About 40,000 people attend Burning Man. A considerable number of national and international press attend as well. A video of the TruthBurn event will be made available after the festival.

For more information visit http://911truthburn.blogspot.com

The sculpture will be made available for demonstrations and exhibits.

A big thank you to Burning Man for having the guts to go ahead with this project!

Latest Blue Prints

A new set of updated blueprints is now available online here:
Detail
Elevation
Plan
Side

Thanks to architect Scott Page of ae911truth.org for CADD drawings.

Fire Safety & Camp Combustibles Location

These diagrams are required to exhibit flame effects at Burning Man. Burning Man makes every effort to ensure the safety of the participants and the safety of the art.

TRUTHBURN Art Project at Burning Man 2007

This is an art project plan for implementation at Burning Man 2007

Plan For The Burning of “TRUTH” at Burning Man

1) Philosophy Behind the Project

2) Description of the Project

3) Endorsements

4) Fundraising

5) Joining the Team

6) Timeline

7) Video and Art Show Strategy

8) Thank Yous and Prayers

1) Philosophy Behind the Project

Whether you choose to believe it or not, events around the attacks of September 11, 2001 are clouded in darkness. Voices that have asked for a deeper and more thorough look into the causes and details of this event have raised many unanswered questions and largely been ignored by the press and dominant thought in the public mind. Yet the questions keep coming through the crevices that are afforded to them at the moment.

Suppose there is some truth to the thought that Government knowingly permitted the attacks to happen and even embellished them in order to achieve what it thought was the highest good of those they represent? If true, then there would be momentous consequences for the acts and directions this country has taken since then. If true, the only way to reset the course, would be to manifest a complete and honest account of what happened. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation policy is a working model for how this can work.

The “Truth Burn” Project is an attempt to refocus the National gaze on a specific side of this event- the actual theoretical mode scientists and engineers have proposed for what really brought down the world trade towers and building 7. This would be the use of explosives and the steel burning incendiary called “thermate”. Traces of this substance were found at ground zero. (reference current article by physicist Steven Jones) We don’t plan on using explosives but we do plan on using thermate. By using a controlled demolition technique to destroy this artwork, we hope to provoke a wider examination about what really happened that day in September. We also want to demonstrate the speed and destructiveness of the incendiary, in a test use of the method to bolster the controlled demolition theory of a growing body of scientists, engineers and other professionals.

2) Description of the Project (Last modified on July 26, 2007)

The project involves a complex series of procedures designed to deliver a large steel frame structural art piece to the Black Rock desert in Nevada as part of the 2007 Burning Man Art Festival, and then destroy part of it in a flame-firework spectacle. After

the Burning Man event, the remaining pieces can then be removed and viewed in art shows, universities or wherever they are welcome.

The piece itself stands about 16’ tall and 22’ long. Two main support columns made of 10" by 10" x 1/8" thick tubular steel hold the structure up. A cross brace at the top made of 10" u-channel steel spans the gap between these support columns by 22 feet. The two main support columns rest on 2, 10’ long tubular steel A frame ‘sleds’ also made from tubular steel and run perpendicularly to the support structure to ensure its stability. Suspended from the top spanning steel beam are the words, TRUTH. This word is constructed out of a lighter steel and welded to the spanner beam. Illuminated smoke will emanate from the top of this word, thermite incendiaries bringing it down near the end of the festival .

Thermite will cut through the top header at each end and be set off by remote control.

Pre-recorded music only will accompany this burn, also, some live music.The selections are from Michael Franti,

“ Bomb the World ” , Cat Stevens, “Where Do The Children Play?”, and Krishna Das, “Mountain Hare Krishna”. The ignition will proceed when Krishna Das reaches the “Amazing Grace” section of “Mountain Hare Krishna”

All the necessary precautions will be taken to protect the public from any type of harm resulting from this project.

3) Endorsements

Architect Richard Gage, AIA, Architects and Engineers For 9/11 Truth http://ae911truth.org
ae911truth.org
Dr. Steven Jones, Kevin Ryan, 911blogger.com

Phil Arnot. Phil flew 21 combat missions over Germany in a B-17 as a co-pilot during WWII. He's a friend and an author of many books on climbing and hiking in the Sierras of California. He completely agrees with the premise of this project and supports it 100%

http://www.chickenjohn.com
- Chicken John, famous performance artist and Burning Man cultural icon
"Like it, why I LOVE TRUTH!!! Truth is one of my favorite things. That and thermite...."

4) Fundraising

An estimate for the structure’s construction as described here has been obtained from a number of steel fabricating companies. The amount is $7,000.00 -A rough estimate for transport, assembly & removal (the piece will come in three pieces) , demolition experts, peripherals, publicity materials, security, housing & insurance is estimated to be an additional $13,000.00 We therefore seek a total of $20,000.00 for this project. As we have missed the filing deadline for the art grants for the 2007 Burning Man festival, we are seeking this amount from organizations and individuals who see the value in such a display. A temporary tax deductible escrow holder will be set up to collect funds.Please help us realize this worthy dream. The consequences of a successful art experience from this are hard to measure .We believe they will be significant and far reaching.

5) Joining the Team

We need a range of people to help in the following areas:

Fundraising, Sub Contractor contact person ( Truck drivers, iron workers (to assemble the art and de-assemble it) demolition contractor contact person. Sound assist, eye protection dispensing, security (our own) video crew. Press contact. Bookkeeper, endorsers.

If funds permit, there will be compensation for these positions.

Email John Parulis here: truthburn at brightpathvideo.com

6) Timeline.

May: secure funding, Burning Man permissions, schedule from fabricator, line up sub contactors. Secure storage for materials after event removal,

June: Establish press strategy, video dissemination strategy, solidify crew

July: Run tests on burn on small but representative materials. Secure insurance, safety measures. RV living situations for key crew members

August: Mid August set up delivery, testing

September: After event clean up art show considerations.

7) Video & Art Show Strategy

Make contacts, entertain inquiries and prioritize.

8) Thank Yous and Prayers

This is a collaborative effort. Many people will need to be thanked, even feted for their help. This is as important as the event itself.

This is the reasoning for and the prayer that guides this project:

The Reasoning for the Prayer

Prayer is an important way to start things off on a good track. In this case it is vital. Consider for a moment, the following:

911 Prayer Intention

"Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)

That saved a soul like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see. "

John Newton penned these words around the time he experienced an ‘awakening’ around the early 19th century.

He had been the captain of a slave ship. During a violent storm at sea, he experienced a shift in consciousness. Soon after, he renounced slave running for an altogether different way of life.

Outer transformations are really inner transformations. How does this happen? What makes a Daniel Elsberg decide to risk career and personal freedom to publish a disturbing classified account of America’s darker reasons for engaging in the Vietnam War?

What causes any whistle blower to take the sometime life threatening risk of revealing truths that would otherwise never see the light of day? It is, in short, the higher mind at work.

Positive prayer or focused intention is a way for the universal to operate on the level of a well placed, well crafted thought put to its highest use. The Transcendentalists spoke of the “over soul”, a kind of unifying principle. There is a commonality in experience. Making contact with the source of that commonality, is to share some of its attributes, namely, the shaping of higher thoughts. Higher thoughts vibrate at a different frequency that tends to lift up the atmosphere of general thought. Grace is the constant movement in all sentient beings towards a higher expression of itself. In times of great troubles, many minds converge with thoughts of peace and solution. These deeply felt longings are what’s at work especially now, in the time we live. We can re-create what we have created. The complexity of what we have created can be worked with and set to balance.

The Prayer

Being that we are all intimately connected by our common inheritance of shared life on one planet and that our common shared higher intelligence governs life in both seen and unseen ways, and being that this common ancestry has its roots in cosmic intelligence or mind, and being that we therefore incarnate with this shared higher intelligence, we share its creative power as well. We are imbued with this creativity and its commonality.

As an outlet, voice, individual manifestation and aspiration for this cosmic intelligence, I claim the highest thought of calling forth truth telling on an unprecedented scale in the minds and hearts in high levels of government and other individuals. I call forth the energizing of personal courage where it matters the most to catalyze this movement of truth telling on a grand scale. I know that truth telling is at the foundation of healthy individual as well as a healthy societal life. I know that what has gone astray can be righted by a personal and public, fearless embrace of the truth, with safety for the truth teller.. The deepest space in the heart of all people knows this to be true and wants it revealed without delay. The refined and subtle physics for this is already in place and happening at this moment.

For this I give my deepest and profoundest thanks.

I release this prayer this intention this shared spark of light into the creative mind running through us all and through all of life. Happily, I know the glory of its fulfillment is accomplished already in ways unimaginable and realizable.

And so it is.

What TRUTHBURN is trying to replicate...

Artist's Rendition of Scale Model

This is a concept drawing of TruthBurn using a model drawn to 1 inch to the foot scale. The overall height & length of the piece is 20 feet. A constant stream of propane flames from a trough beneath the letters will engulf them in flames at dusk & night. These flames will stop the day of the destruction of the art piece. As thermate burns the two steel main support columns, the letters will be engulfed by a pyrotechnic display.