BBC 23 September 2001: some named hijackers reported still alive

Observation

Reputable outlets reported in September 2001 that some named hijackers were alive.

Interpretation

Identity-list quality was poor in week one. That is not the same as proving the 19 did not exist.

Source text

OBSERVATION: Within two weeks of the attacks, BBC and other outlets reported that some published hijacker identities were of living people.

INTERPRETATION A (Commission / later official): the FBI list used names that collided with other passports; the actual hijackers were who the airlines and visas said they were; some photos were of the wrong people.

INTERPRETATION B (H019): the published perpetrators were fabricated.

A news-agency identity error is common after mass-casualty events. The reports are real and were not invented by later internet culture.

Hypothesis linkage

• H019supportsseeded

  BBC still-alive reports in week one.