''Loose Change'' is a series of films released between 2005 and 2009 that argue in favor of certain

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

relating to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. The films were written and directed by Dylan Avery and produced by Korey Rowe, Jason Bermas, and Matthew Brown. The original 2005 film was edited and re-released as ''Loose Change: 2nd Edition'' (2006), a third time for the ''2nd Edition Recut'' (2006), and then subsequently edited for a fourth time for the ''HD Remastered Edition'' (2017). ''Loose Change: Final Cut'', deemed "the third and final release of this documentary series" was released on DVD and Web-streaming format on November 11, 2007. Another version of the film, ''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'', released on September 22, 2009, is narrated by

Daniel Sunjata Daniel Sunjata Condon (born December 30, 1971) is an American actor who performs in film, television and theater. He is known for his role as Franco Rivera in the FX television series '' Rescue Me''. Early life and education Sunjata was born a ...

and distributed by Microcinema International. Coverage of the film increased in 2006 with the recut release having airings on U.S. and European television stations and over four million views online in four months, leading ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' to say it could be the first

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

blockbuster. ''Loose Change'' asserts that the account of the Pentagon attack, World Trade Center collapse and United 93 phone calls and crash is implausible and instead suggests the 9/11 attacks were a

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

operation. The film's main claims have been debunked by journalists, independent researchers,Salon.com: Ask the pilot
by Patrick Smith and prominent members of the scientific and engineering community.DemocracyNow.org
Loose Change Filmmakers vs. Popular Mechanics Editors of "Debunking 9/11 Myths"

History

In May 2003, when researching for a fictional screenplay based on the 9/11 attacks, writer Dylan Avery felt there was enough evidence to support the

9/11 conspiracy theories 9/11 conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories attribute the preparation and execution of the September 11 attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda. These include the theory that high-level government ...

that the attacks were orchestrated by members of the United States government, and started working on a non-fiction version. The name is a pun on the idea of political change concerning 9/11 conspiracy theories and others allegedly related to it, hence renegade or "loose," and the idiom loose change as coins or pocket change. In April 2005, the first edition of ''Loose Change'' was made available for free on the Internet and was given a limited DVD release with 50,000 sold and 100,000 given away. It cost around $2,000 to make and was made primarily on Avery's laptop computer, featuring a distinctive soundtrack produced by DJ Skooly. Avery's childhood friend, Korey Rowe, left the service of the United States Army in June 2005 to assist with the marketing of the movie. Soon after Avery decided that, "There was new information that needed to be added and improvements made," and so began creating ''Loose Change: 2nd Edition''. Rowe assumed the role of producer, and Jason Bermas, a graphic designer, worked as production assistant. This edition cost around $6,000. It was originally released in December 2005, but was re-released in June 2006 as ''Loose Change: 2nd Edition Recut''. Before the release of this edition, Avery, Rowe and Bermas set up an

independent movie An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

production company called Louder than Words, an organization that identifies with the 9/11 Truth Movement. In April 2009 the rights to Loose Change were bought by Microcinema International DVD. In August 2006, Rowe was featured in an article admitting to the inaccuracy found in ''Loose Change'', such as inaccurately stating a

B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

flew into the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...

(it was actually a

B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

in the 1940s). "We don't ever come out and say that everything we say is 100 percent. We know there are errors in the documentary, and we've actually left them in there so that people discredit us and do the research for themselves." In 2007, media entrepreneur

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

was going to distribute ''Loose Change'', entrepreneur Matthew Brown would finance, and

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

was going to narrate the film. However, this did not happen;

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

political talk show host Bill O'Reilly interviewed Cuban on his radio show and said Sheen's career would be over if he narrated it. The third edition of the movie, ''Loose Change Final Cut'', was released in November 2007. According to the Loose Change website, this edition "is substantially different from ''Loose Change'' and ''Loose Change 2nd Edition Recut'' in the way it presents the information surrounding 9/11/2001. However, it remains true to the spirit that has made ''Loose Change'' what it is today." Professor

David Ray Griffin David Ray Griffin (August 8, 1939 – November 26, 2022) was an American professor of philosophy of religion and theology and a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.Sources describing David Ray Griffin as a "conspiracy theorist", "conspiracist", "conspirac ...

was brought on as script consultant, and

radio host A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a radi ...

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

and Tim Sparke of Mercury Media served as executive producers. Due to an estimated cost of $200,000, this version is the first that is not available for free online, although it is in fact available for free on Google Video and YouTube in a lower quality version. This edition is over two hours in length, substantially longer than previous versions. Director Avery, producer Rowe and entrepreneur Matthew Brown released a new film through their production company, Collective Minds Media Company, entitled ''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'' on September 22, 2009. The film is distributed by Microcinema International. It is narrated by

, and explores historical events leading to 9/11 and its aftermath. It was financed by Joel Bachar and Patrick Kwiatkowski of Microcinema International, and its world premiere was on September 9, 2009 at the 9/11 Film Festival at the

Grand Lake Theater The Grand Lake Theatre is a historic movie palace located at 3200 Grand Avenue and Lake Park Avenue in the Grand Lake neighborhood of Oakland, California. History The Grand Lake Theater, designed as a single auditorium theater by Architects Re ...

in Oakland, California.

Recut contents

''Loose Change 2nd Edition Recut'' (2006) opens with a brief description of past suspicious and questionable motives in the history of American government. This discussion mentions

Operation Northwoods Operation Northwoods was a proposed false flag operation against American citizens that originated within the US Department of Defense of the United States government in 1962. The proposals called for CIA operatives to both stage and actually co ...

, a plan put forward during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

in 1962 to launch

terrorist attacks against the United States and blame them on

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

as a pretext to invade that country. Focus is particularly directed at the previously proposed plans to substitute real commercial airliners with pilotless drone aircraft in order to investigate the plausibility of covertly using them as weapons while maintaining the cover of an accident. Attention is also given to the

Project for the New American Century The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservativeneo-conservative think-tank that released a report in 2000 titled "Rebuilding America's Defenses". In particular the film points out a line from that report that states: It also highlights the fact that during the same year the report was released, the Pentagon conducted the first of two training exercises that simulated a

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maid ...

crashing into the building. It also says that from September 6 to September 10, an unusual amount of

put option In finance, a put or put option is a derivative instrument in financial markets that gives the holder (i.e. the purchaser of the put option) the right to sell an asset (the ''underlying''), at a specified price (the ''strike''), by (or at) a ...

s were placed on the stock of American Airlines, Boeing and United Airlines. The opening montage intertwines clips of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7 with a Hunter S. Thompson interview, who talks about the motive, the public version of 9/11, and answered a question saying "Absolutely," that this worked in the favor of the Bush administration. This is followed by an examination of the attacks on the Pentagon. The film opposes the official story of

Flight 77 American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled American Airlines domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. The ...

hitting the Pentagon, alleging that the path of destruction does not match what a 757 would leave. In particular it claims that the size of the hole in the Pentagon, a lack of debris and, little landscape damage seem inconsistent with prior airliner crashes. It also alleges that too few parts were recovered from the crash site to reliably ascertain that they were of a Boeing 757, and that a flywheel observed at the site seemed too small to have been part of the aircraft's engine turbine. Experts officially declared that the wheel was part of the APU, but others say it didn't come from the APU of a 757 but likely from an

E-3 Sentry The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-wea ...

aircraft. The film also claims that the alleged hijacker-pilot

Hani Hanjour Hani Saleh Hasan Hanjour ( ar, هاني صالح حسن حنجور, ; was the lead hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, crashing the plane into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Hanjour first went to the United ...

had difficulty operating basic controls on a small

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing ...

that he rented at a flight school, and that perhaps not even an experienced pilot could have manoeuvred the reflex angle of turn at the airspeed and altitude at which the aircraft approached the Pentagon, without going into a high speed stall. The film mentions three cameras on nearby buildings that allegedly caught the entire incident at the Pentagon on film, which it says the government confiscated and has refused to release in full. The next section focuses on the destruction of the World Trade Center. The film favors the controlled demolition theory of the destruction of World Trade Centers 1, 2 and 7. It cites as evidence eyewitness reports from a janitor, firemen, and other people near the buildings who heard bangs, many of them describing them as explosions as well as videotapes that show windows far below the burning floors blow out during the collapse, and seismograph results recorded during the collapse compared to the collapse of other similar buildings. The film claims that WTC 1, 2 and 7 were the first steel frame buildings in history to collapse due to fire. Another allegation centers on an audio recording that the film claims contains two distinct explosions at the time of the impact. The film also posits that the official story of the collapse ignores the laws of physics. In particular, the video alleges that the fires inside the twin towers were not hot enough to bring the buildings down. An audio tape is presented in which the Captain of Ladder 7 claims that the fires can be brought under control by two lines and it is mentioned that building 7 had taken only minor damage before its own collapse. These allegations follow a listing of buildings that burned longer than the Twin Towers and did not fall. For

Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda attackers aboard the plane on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The plane eventually crashed in S ...

, the video ignores the mainstream theory of passengers crashing the plane to instead allege that it landed safely at

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is an international airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the primary airport serving Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, the largest and busiest airport in the state, and the 43rd busiest ...

where it was evacuated by government personnel into an unused NASA research center. As evidence, the film contains photographs and eyewitness reports of the crash site, media reports of a corresponding and bizarre evacuation at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, oddities in the transcripts of cell-phone calls supposedly placed from the plane during the hijacking, and the sighting of the tail number of Flight 93 on an aircraft in use at a later date. The film follows this with a miscellaneous listing of allegations. It claims that cell phone calls could not be made from American Airlines flights at the time of the crash—asking why American Airlines had to install a system in their own airplanes to allow the reception of cellular signals within the planes if they could do this regardless on September 11. It suggests that calls from passengers and crew were faked using sophisticated voice-morphing technology developed by the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

in New Mexico—and that the December 13, 2001 video of

Osama Bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated ...

claiming responsibility for the attacks was also faked, featuring what appeared to be an overweight lookalike version of Bin Laden. Finally it alleges that of the list of hijackers the government initially released, many were not in the planes and therefore survived September 11, 2001 and may even still be alive. In the end, the film gives financial motives for people it says would have benefited from launching the attacks. It first mentions Larry Silverstein, who stood to receive a substantial insurance payout after the attacks due to a specific anti-terrorism clause. It makes other allegations of insider trading and

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest oil field service company. It has operations in more than 70 countries ...

's benefiting from the subsequent launch of America's ''

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

''.

Presentation and revisions

Although each version of the film asserts that the events of 9/11 were essentially an "inside job", there were significant revisions between the particular theories that different editions posited. For example:

''Loose Change: 1st Edition'' (2005)

The first edition, ''Loose Change'', suggested that there was an unusual device (which the filmmakers refer to as a "pod") under the fuselage of

the plane In mathematics, a plane is a Euclidean ( flat), two- dimensional surface that extends indefinitely. A plane is the two-dimensional analogue of a point (zero dimensions), a line (one dimension) and three-dimensional space. Planes can arise ...

that struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The "pod" was presented as evidence that the planes involved in the attack were replaced with remote-controlled drones. Another film '' 911: In Plane Site'' delves into the topic of the commercial airlines being military airlines with "pods". Official flight records were also presented as evidence that the aircraft involved are still in active service, though it is stated that the producers do not know what happened to the passengers of the flights. This information is omitted from all subsequent versions.

''Loose Change: 2nd Edition Recut'' (2006)

''Loose Change: 2nd Edition Recut'' is one hour and 29 minutes in length. The film consists of Dylan Avery narrating over photographs and news footage relating to 9/11, with an underscore of hip hop and other urban style music. Avery does not appear in the video itself, though he is shown in the bonus features. Video and still footage used includes considerable video content from CNN,

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and

, as well as a number of other sources. *While the first edition asserted that

United Airlines Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda attackers aboard the plane on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The plane eventually crashed in S ...

was shot down over Pennsylvania, ''Loose Change 2nd Edition'' and ''Loose Change 2nd Edition Recut'' theorize that Flight 93 was actually flown to and landed at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The third edition states less information about Flight 93, but maintains that it is impossible that it crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. On May 26, 2006, a letter was sent to Avery alleging copyright and

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may ...

in ''Loose Change 2nd Edition'' resulting from the use of footage from French filmmakers the Naudet brothers. The letter states that Avery used copyrighted images from the film ''

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

'' and that those images violate the

Lanham Act The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal trademark statute of law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising. ...

"by suggesting that the Naudet brothers or Mr. Hanlon have endorsed or sponsored the controversial views in your film." The letter concludes: "Accordingly, we hereby demand that you confirm to us within three (3) business days of the receipt of this letter that you have removed all footage taken from our clients' 9/11 film from your ''Loose Change'' film, including from the version of your film that can be downloaded on the Internet, the DVD version of your film and anywhere else you have used or are using our clients' footage." Avery announced that the recut version of the 2nd edition would omit some of the infringing material. *The statement that New York's

was hit by a

B-52 bomber The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

"sometime during the 1950s or 1960s" was corrected; the Empire State Building was hit by a much smaller plane, the twin-propeller

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

, in 1945. *References to the rumors concerning the amount of gold stored beneath the World Trade Center (such as one claim of $167 billion in gold) were removed, leaving only confirmed statements, including that of the "$230 million in precious metals". *The implication the film makes that Flight 77 had

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military av ...

engines made of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

and

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion i ...

alloy, was corrected; in fact the engines of Flight 77 were

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

engines. *Multiple instances of Wikipedia articles being shown as source material were removed and replaced with news articles containing the reported information. *Throughout the film minor changes in

talking point A talking point, often used in the plural, is a pre-established message or formula used in the field of political communication, sales and commercial or advertising communication. The message is coordinated ''a priori'' to remain more or less inv ...

s, images and language were made. The end of the film shows a clip from The American Scholar's Symposium that was aired on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

on June 25, 2006 at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles. Jason Bermas, wearing the signature "Investigate 9/11" T-shirt that he designed, is describing their plans to peacefully demonstrate at

Ground Zero In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the grou ...

on September 11, 2006. The credits music was reMo Conscious' "We Know".

''Loose Change: Final Cut'' (2007)

With new distributors, ''Loose Change: Final Cut'' was an attempt to remove all the speculative points from previous versions and weave the reported facts into this version. For instance, references that Flight 93 diverted to Cleveland Hopkins Airport, calls from the plane using voice-morphing technology, and the stance that a missile hit the Pentagon were removed from this version. Avery asserted that this was the film he wanted to make due to the new information he found out later and due to the funding and distribution he was offered; in addition, with many firefighters, survivors and witnesses going to him about events of that day, he felt it was necessary to update the film. David Ray Griffin was a script consultant and radio host Alex Jones was associated with the production of this film as well. This was over two hours long, had a new musical score, and included additional interviews and new information that was not available in the prior versions. The film was split up into the following acts and chapters: * Prologue: focused on September 11, 2006 and the thousands of individuals who wore "Investigate 9/11" in New York. * Act I / Chapter I: Hijackers. * Act I / Chapter II: Wargames. * Act II / Chapter I: Pentagon. * Act II / Chapter II: Twin Towers. * Act II / Chapter III: Shanksville. * Act II / Chapter IV: WTC7. * Act III: The 9/11 Commission. * Epilogue: This talked about the Bush administration. The credits music of the film was reMo Conscious's "Loose Change".

''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'' (2009)

''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'' was the 2009 edition that was written, directed, and edited by Dylan Avery. Unlike the previous editions, this was narrated by actor

. Original music was composed by Mic Cartier and the music/score used in previous versions were not used. This version started with a history of false flag operations. The graphics, interviews, and footage were changed and updated. There were interviews with Stephen Jones about the alleged nano-thermite residue found at the bottom of World Trade Centers 1, 2, and 7. In addition, near the end of the film, there was an exclusive interview with Barry Jennings, an eyewitness who had been trapped in building 7, who claimed to have heard explosions and "stepped over bodies", and questioned why and how World Trade Center 7 was brought down. The film also notes the coincidence of Jennings' death occurring two days prior to the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

building 7 report release date, as well as the fact that Jennings' testimony contradicts the "official explanation" that there were no deaths or witnesses of explosions in building 7. It goes on to state that a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

was hired to investigate his death, which was prompted with a reply stating that the case was referred to the police, that a full refund is given, and to not email about that individual again. The final segment of the film talked about former

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

Smedley Butler Major general (United States), Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881June 21, 1940), nicknamed the "Maverick Marine", was a senior United States Marine Corps Officer (armed forces), officer who fought in the Philippine–American ...

and the

Business Plot The Business Plot (also called the Wall Street Putsch and The White House Putsch) was an alleged political conspiracy in 1933, in the United States to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install Smedley Butler as d ...

, which claims that wealthy businessmen backed by mainstream media and corporations approached him to overthrow then United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a fascist regime. The credits music was reMo Conscious's "Welcome to the Aftermath", which prominently features the verse "9/11 was an inside job".

''Loose Change 9/11'' (2015)

On December 15, 2015, Journeyman Pictures re-released ''Loose Change'' as a condensed, high-definition version of ''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup''. According to the producers Dylan Avery and Korey Rowe, this edition included the new released video by NIST, a new ending and a much shorter duration made for a digital platform.

''Loose Change 2nd Edition: HD'' (2017)

On September 7, 2017, ''Loose Change 2nd Edition'' was released on YouTube via Loose Change's official YouTube channel. The movie was remastered into high-definition, graphics were updated, and new text was added to most of the movie. The audio from the original 2005 movie remained, however. The credits music to this updated version of ''Loose Change'' was Remo Conscious's "Lies".

Release and reception

In North America it aired on Fox TV affiliates, but received further screenings internationally. On September 10, 2006 BNN (Bart's Neverending Network) Nederland 3 and Portuguese

public TV Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

Station RTP aired Loose Change in prime time hours. RTP aired it again on 2: for September 17, 2006. FreeLooseChange is an initiative in Berlin, Germany. One-hundred shops, galleries, theatres and a daily newspaper office so far distributed 50,000 free DVDs featuring the documentaries ''Loose Change'' and ''Terrorstorm'' by Alex Jones in

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

versions. An August 2006 ''

'' article suggested that ''Loose Change'' "just might be the first Internet blockbuster." Millions more have viewed the film via unaffiliated websites. More than one million copies of the DVD have been sold, and many more have been given away."Click Here for Conspiracy"
Vanity Fair article, by Nancy Jo Sales, August 2006 The film has been broadcast on state media outlets in Belgium, Ireland and Portugal. According to ''

Broadcast magazine ''Broadcast'' is a monthly magazine for the United Kingdom television and radio industry, owned by Media Business Insight. History ''Broadcast'' was started in 1973 by Rod Allen, who went on to work at LWT, HTV and HarperCollinsInteractive. ...

'', the video was to have a special screening at the UK

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

on June 14, 2006.

Michael Meacher Michael Hugh Meacher (4 November 1939 – 21 October 2015) was a British politician who served as a government minister under Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and Tony Blair. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

, the British MP who had considered sponsoring the screening, decided against it. On September 11, 2006, Dylan Avery and Jason Bermas appeared on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

the War and Peace Report'', to debate with James Meigs and David Dunbar, two of the editors of ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'' and the book '' Debunking 9/11 Myths''.

DVD releases

*''Loose Change: 1st Edition Remastered'' DVD included bonus interviews and a feature on the Pentagon strike. *''Loose Change: 2nd Edition'' DVD included featurettes of Jason Bermas and the 9/11 Truth Movement in New York from 2005 handing out DVDs of Loose Change to others. A featurette showed the protesters at the United 93 premiere. A third featurette showed Avery, Bermas, and Rowe taping flyers of Loose Change in the city of New York. *''Loose Change: Final Cut'' DVD included reMo Conscious' music video "We Know" and a nine minute deleted scene on the Pentagon strike. *''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'' DVD had interviews with narrator Daniel Sunjata, architect Richard Gage, and Jeannette McKinley (the woman who supplied World Trade Center dust samples to physicist Stephen Jones). In 2011, which was the ten year anniversary of 9/11, ''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'' included a 2nd limited edition disc that featured extended interviews, a documentary on the Loose Change phenomenon, stills gallery and more.

Criticism

Journalists, researchers,Salon.com: Ask the pilot
by Patrick Smith social critics, as well as scientists and engineers,DemocracyNow.org
Loose Change Filmmakers vs. Popular Mechanics Editors of "Debunking 9/11 Myths" and even members of the 9/11 Truth movement have spoken out against the film's claims about the September 11 attacks. ''Loose Change'' has been subject to criticism from a variety of sources. In March 2007, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

published an article called "Loose Change Debunked" that says the movie makes "sloppy mistakes". The article is highly critical of the evidence cited to support the claim that Flight 77 did not hit the Pentagon, and it criticizes the controlled demolition hypothesis of the World Trade Center claiming that, "Demolition professionals say controlled demolition of the Towers that day would have been impossible." The article goes on to say: It also notes that ''Loose Change'' has also been criticized by other members of the 9/11 Truth Movement, referring specifically to the critique ''Sifting Through Loose Change''. Michael Green, a member of the 9/11 Truth Movement, has analyzed the film and is critical of many of its claims and methods. Several independent researchers have also written critiques of the film. Prominent social commentator

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

has argued that any scientists with plausible evidence would have gone through the traditional channels of scientific journals to convince other professionals, and that such a course of action is extremely low-risk for the scientist. In May 2006, the blog ''Screw Loose Change'' was created to criticize the claims in the film. Another analysis of the film has been created by the ''Internet Detectives''. Many of the critiques argue that ''Loose Change'' quote mines, uses unreliable or out-of-date sources, and cherry-picks evidence to claim that there are serious problems with official accounts of the events of September 11. One of the many aspects these critiques focus on is ''Loose Change's'' analysis of the collapse of the World Trade Center. The comparison to other notable high-rise fires that did not lead to collapse ignores differences in

building design Building design refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licensed architect. Smaller, less complica ...

, significant WTC structural damage, and compromised fireproofing, as most steel loses over half its strength at . The comparison with Madrid's Windsor Tower fails to note its steel-supported perimeter floors that collapsed during the fire. Kevin Ryan, described by ''Loose Change'' as working for

Underwriters Laboratories The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions. Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded as ...

(UL), was actually employed in a water-testing subsidiary.DemocracyNow.org
9/11 Debate: Loose Change Filmmakers vs. Popular Mechanics Editors of "Debunking 9/11 Myths" Furthermore, UL does not certify

structural steel Structural steel is a category of steel used for making construction materials in a variety of shapes. Many structural steel shapes take the form of an elongated beam having a profile of a specific cross section. Structural steel shapes, si ...

, and ASTM E119 certification is not meant to predict performance in real uncontrolled fires. The NIST found no evidence of any firm having conducted tests on WTC materials in the past. Another expert quoted, Van Romero, has clarified that he was misquoted by the ''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was ...

''; he had actually said that it "looked like" explosives took down the WTC. When the misquote was printed, he felt his "scientific reputation was on the line." On September 11, 2006, the public-TV network program ''Democracy Now!'' broadcast a discussion between two ''Loose Change'' creators and two editors from ''Popular Mechanics'', where they debated at considerable length various aspects of the documentary. Jason Bermas claimed United Flight 93 did not crash into the field, and classified ''Popular Mechanics'' as a publication in the spirit of Hearst's ''yellow journalism''.

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

, political activist and columnist for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', wrote an article on the improbability of the conspiracies cited in ''Loose Change'', and then wrote a follow-up article in response to negative comments from some of his readers. On '' SModcast'',

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

discussed ''Loose Change'' and other conspiracy videos about aliens and various things. However, he maintains that he enjoys the film purely as entertainment, and does not believe or agree with the theories presented in the film. ''

The Best Page in the Universe ''The Best Page in the Universe'' is a personal satirical humor website created by George Ouzounian, better known as Maddox, of Salt Lake City, Utah. Launched in 1997 without any high expectations, the website was primarily a personal homep ...

'' parodied the movie with a short video, "Unfastened Coins", that "exposes" a ''Titanic''-sinking conspiracy, and an article mocking the logic of conspiracy theories in the film. The

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

aired a two-hour episode entitled "The 9/11 Conspiracies: Fact or Fiction?" featuring interviews with the creators of ''Loose Change''. Mark Cuban, who was going to distribute the film, told the Dallas News "I don’t believe the movie. Not at all." Financier Matthew Brown shared similar remarks though "supports free speech, even when I vehemently disagree." In Britain, BBC's documentary television show ''

The Conspiracy Files ''The Conspiracy Files'' is a British documentary television series broadcast on BBC Two, investigating various modern-day conspiracy theories. So far in two series and 13 programmes, the show has investigated the theories surrounding the Sept ...

'' aired two documentaries focused on 9/11 and the conspiracy theories surrounding the collapse of WTC7. Several claims made by ''Loose Change'' were investigated and specifically rejected. Dylan Avery was interviewed for the program, which cast him in a negative light.

Music

''The Beats of Loose Change''

A gapless album soundtrack for ''Loose Change: 2nd Edition'' was released in December 2006 by now-defunct company Third i Records and features hip-hop music by various artists. ''The Beats of Loose Change'' featured music by DJ Skooly, who was Dylan Avery's roommate Dustin Marshall along with Marshall's friends' work: Josue Guadalupe (''Swae Da Ricanstrukta'') and Nick Hernandez (''Nick Tha 1da''). ''The Beats of Loose Change'' also included vocals from the film. The ''Loose Change: 2nd Edition'' DVD release had optional "music-only" and "vocals-only" features for the film.

''More Beats of Loose Change''

''More Beats of Loose Change'' featured music from ''Loose Change: The Final Cut'' and was a rare album release that featured new music with a primary focus on a hip-hop score. There were also full submitted rock and rap tracks. This was another "gapless album" and was also noted as ''More Beats of Loose Change: The Loose Change 3rd Edition Soundtrack''. This album also included key quotes and narration that was used in the film. The track "Opinions" was also on the original ''Beats of Loose Change'' as ''What They Saw''. Also, the track "Hani Hanjour" may share the same title as a track from ''The Beats of Loose Change'', but it was a complete different melody. The ''Loose Change: Final Cut'' DVD release also had optional "music-only" and "vocals-only" features for the film.

''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup—Official Soundtrack''

Original music for the 2009 revision ''Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup'' was composed by Mic Cartier. On June 24, 2018, the official soundtrack to this movie was released on

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that " ...

and subsequently to other streaming websites.

In other media

In 2008, film director

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

was interviewed on Dutch television about ''Loose Change'', to which he said that the film made him look at what he thought he saw, that he now had questions and "... no answers." In his book '' American Conspiracies'', specifically in Chapter 12 ("What Really Happened on September 11?"), former

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. ...

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

wrote that he urged "everyone to see" the documentary ''Loose Change''.Ventura, Jesse (2010). ''American Conspiracies'', p. 145.

Skyhorse Publishing Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. is an American independent book publishing company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, with a satellite office in Brattleboro, Vermont. History The current president and publisher is founder Tony Ly ...

, New York. The version Ventura saw was the 2007 (Final Cut) and he wrote that from the film, he was "amazed at the many firefighters and other eyewitnesses who talked about a whole series of explosions before and during the collapse of the buildings." In 2011, film writer and director

stated that he "loved" ''Loose Change'' and said it was a compelling watch. In 2012, Smith said ''Loose Change'' was a "gripping, well-made film", "excellent filmmaking", but said he did not know if any of it was true.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loose Change (Film) 9/11 conspiracy theories American aviation films American propaganda films Documentary films about American politics Documentary films about conspiracy theories Documentary films about the September 11 attacks Pseudohistory Pseudoscience documentary films English-language films