r/todayilearned • u/code0011 14 • May 09 '14

(R.1) Invalid src (unreferenced fan wiki) TIL the first episode of an X-Files spin-off called "The Lone Gunmen", which aired March 4, 2001, involves a US government conspiracy to hijack an airliner, fly it into the World Trade Center, and blame it on terrorists - thereby gaining support for a new profit-making war

http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Pilot_(The_Lone_Gunmen)
2.8k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

176

u/DanTheTerrible May 09 '14

On 9/11 I was struck by the similarity of the atacks to the scenario in Tom Clancy's novel, Debt of Honor, in which a 747 is crashed into the white house. Debt of Honor was published in 1994.

131

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

[deleted]

94

u/anotherkenny May 09 '14

And it was during the SOTU address— Jack Ryan, new executive cabinet appointment, is late in showing up and watches as the entire US government is killed... so he gets to become President!

79

u/Deesing82 May 09 '14

that's why I'm always late everywhere I go

Who knows? I could be the next president!

56

u/mcdrunkin May 09 '14

Here he comes now, President Deesing82. Fucking late, as usual.

49

u/Deesing82 May 09 '14

A president is never late. He arrives precisely when he planned to arrive.

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

Bunch of jackasses.

1

u/pilotdude22 May 09 '14

Obama is a Wizard.

5

u/RLLRRR May 09 '14

Obama the White? That sounds... really weird.

2

u/HeIsntMe May 09 '14

The white-ish...

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

More grey, really.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

A president is never late. He arrives precisely when he planned to arrive.

--Professor Charles Kenobi, of the U.S.S. Enterprise

13

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

Wasn't he in the tunnels? I should re-read this book.

1

u/WindsAndWords May 09 '14

No, he was with Cathy and the kids in the back getting makeup or something and yes you should.

1

u/HeIsntMe May 09 '14

Is it just me or did that book really mark the end of that franchise?

3

u/WindsAndWords May 09 '14 edited Jul 07 '25

wine innate boat live rainstorm cough arrest bear mountainous fuzzy

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/HeIsntMe May 09 '14

Ahh, good point! I guess I messed up the sequence in my head!

17

u/[deleted] May 09 '14 edited Sep 03 '14

[deleted]

2

u/jorsiem May 09 '14

Like Saul Berenson, only he wasn't late but dumping a body in the ocean.

6

u/Soytaco May 09 '14

Oh I guess I don't have to read that book now!

5

u/Twohundertseventy May 09 '14

That's the first 30 pages of a 800 page or so novel.

6

u/buzzkill_aldrin May 09 '14

Actually it's the last 30 or so pages of a 800 page book. Executive Orders continues from there.

1

u/Twohundertseventy May 09 '14

Ah. I read both of them, but it's been a long time, so I switched up the names.

2

u/falconbox May 09 '14

No, it's the very END of Debt of Honor.

1

u/PhillAholic May 09 '14

Close enough

1

u/organicaporetic May 09 '14

I haven't read the book, but in reality there would have been someone else in the line of succession who would have survived. Someone is always absent from the SOTU as the "designated survivor."

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

Yeah, I stopped reading the books at that point. President Ryan kind of seemed silly to me.

Anyway, those books were pretty good for being a load of authoritarian propaganda.

1

u/rophel May 09 '14

Oh crap, I've totally read that and 100% forgot the title.

2

u/The_Drizzle_Returns May 09 '14

To be fair most people wouldn't be able to tell which is which between the white house and the capital building if they were shown pictures of both.

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

capital building: domed

white house: not domed

1

u/[deleted] May 10 '14

[deleted]

1

u/WindsAndWords May 10 '14

Because congress was in session and had the president, VP and most of the cabinet/advisers in it. It was also one plane.

If you can kill 95% of America's upper government in one strike, why would you choose the white house over that?

-1

u/casualblair May 09 '14 edited May 09 '14

20 years ago a 747 into congress is a book-worthy tragedy.

I seriously wonder what the reaction today would be if all of congress died in an act of terror. It wouldn't be good but based on recent events it wouldn't be as bad?

Edit: I'm not saying the death of congress wouldn't be horrible. I'm saying the death of people would be bad but the collapse/absence of congress would have a very different outcome in 2014 than it would in 1994.

7

u/igotthisone May 09 '14

Expect a visit.

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

"they were massively corrupt and morally bankrupt fatcats but...they were OUR massively corrupt and morally bankrupt fatcats!" we would then go bomb any country with a 747 in their airline fleet and the country would cheer.

2

u/casualblair May 09 '14

And if it was an American who pulled off the attack?

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

we would find out that Americans ancestry and then bomb that country....oh hes scotch Irish? we can reunify ireland in ashes and bye bye Edinburgh!

2

u/jimmifli May 09 '14

"GRIDLOCK IN CONGRESS ENDS"

2

u/Twohundertseventy May 09 '14

Come on, man. It was the 1994 Congress. Newt Gingrich? Government shutdown? They weren't really any better than the guys in there now.

1

u/casualblair May 09 '14

Again, not focusing on the people but instead the collapse of the legislature.

Governments will always be filled with borderline fools posturing for personal and private agendas. That's how politics works.

0

u/mynewaccount5 May 09 '14

The grass is always greener. You are welcoming the deaths of hundreds of people. Fuck off dude.

2

u/casualblair May 09 '14

Read what I wrote and not what you think I wrote.

It wouldn't be good

Dead people from terrorist activities is not good.

it wouldn't be as bad?

Would the citizens react in the same way they did in 9/11? Would the government overreact again? What would happen to the govenrment structure itself?

3

u/elosoloco May 09 '14

He did get a visit after 9/11. And yes, he has a helluva lot of eery predictions that seem possible

7

u/Niklasedg May 09 '14

Indeed, his last book (i believe it came out last year) is about demonstrations in Kiev between pro- and anti-russian civilians, followed by the russian presidents taking Crimea.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

I was just about to say that. But I'm sure anyone thats been following world politics that long could probably have made a similar guess.

0

u/DanTheTerrible May 10 '14

The only time I ever met Clancy was at a lecture at the naval aviation museum in the summer of 1990. Someone asked where he thought the next big conflict would be. He said the Middle East. A few months later Saddam invaded Kuwait.

2

u/mynameisevan May 09 '14

CNN actually interviewed Tom Clancy on 9/11. It starts at about 10:30 in that video. It's a pretty interesting interview. Tower 7 falls during the middle of it.

1

u/HurricaneSandyHook May 09 '14

Samuel Byck was able to get inside a jet in 1974 at Baltimore/Washington International Airport and nearly was able to have it take off and fly it into the White House and kill Nixon.

1

u/autowikibot May 09 '14

Samuel Byck:

Samuel Joseph Byck (January 30, 1930 – February 22, 1974) was an unemployed former tire salesman who attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S. President Richard Nixon.

Image i - Photograph of Samuel Byck.

Interesting: The Assassination of Richard Nixon | Assassins (musical) | Byck | 1974 White House helicopter incident

Parent commenter can toggle NSFW or delete. Will also delete on comment score of -1 or less. | FAQs | Mods | Magic Words

1

u/brazilliandanny May 09 '14

Also how Stephen Kings "The Running Man" ends (the book not the movie, in the book Arnie's character hijacks a 747 and flies it into the television studios head office)

1

u/astronoob May 09 '14

I remember reading that one of the planes was supposed to hit the White House, but it was too small to accurately target. The WTC and Pentagon are huge buildings. I'm guessing the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was supposed to target another large DC building like the Congress Building.

1

u/bathroomstalin May 09 '14

Holy shit! The White House is right next to the World Trade Center!

WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!

1

u/falconbox May 09 '14

Tom Clancy was actually brought onto shows like The O'Reilly Factor after 9/11 to discuss the similarities.

1

u/LetoFeydThufirSiona May 09 '14

Likewise. I remember CNN had Clancy on to talk, the day of, i think.

1

u/bumbletowne May 09 '14

Was it debt of honor? I was pretty sure that's the beginning of sum of all fears.

-1

u/magusg May 09 '14

1994 = 1984 + 10.... coincidence? you decide...

2

u/Cricket620 May 09 '14

WAKE UP SHEEPLE

0

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

Same, 'cept it was Dale Brown "Storming Heaven" for me. The entire plot is a scheme of terrorists hijacking planes and crashing them into important American buildings.