In the SHOH33 poll conducted on 6 July 2006 by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University about one third of the people surveyed said that they believed that there was a government conspiracy involving 9/11. The survey has received some national attention and the results are compelling. Yet, when put in context they may be far less compelling.
In the SHOH33 poll conducted on 6 July 2006 by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University about one third of the people surveyed said that they believed that there was a government conspiracy involving 9/11. The survey has received some national attention and the results seem compelling prima facie. Yet, when put in context they may be far less compelling. The wording of the question (Question/VAR 28) was:
There are also accusations being made following the 9/11 terrorist attack. One of these is:People in the federal government either assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted to United States to go to war in the Middle East.
Very likely 16%
Somewhat likely 20%
Not likely 59%
Don't know 5%
However, the same poll got similar results on at least two other government conspiracy-related questions. Question Var/25 says:
Here are several serious accusations that some people have made against the federal government in recent years. Please tell me if you think each of these is very likely, somewhat likely, or unlikely.
Officials in the federal government were directly responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy. Is this very likely, somewhat likely, or unlikely?
Very likely 12%
Somewhat likely 28%
Unlikely 51%
Don't Know 9%
Also, Question Var/ 26 says:
The federal government is withholding proof of the existence of intelligent life from others planets?
Vyer (sic) likely 16%
Somewhat likely 22%
Unlikely 54%
Don't know 8%
All three of these questions received 992-993 respondents. So, 36% of the respondents believed that it was to some degree likely that there was government involvement in the terror attacks of 11 September 2001. 40% of the respondents believe that it was to some degree likely that government officials were involved in the assassination of former President Kennedy. Finally, 38% believe that it is to some degree likely the federal government is withholding proof about the existence of extra-terrestrials.
To be fair, Oliver Stone's JFK had some compellingly plausible information presented and there have been documentaries with similarly plausible information about the events of 11 September 2001 and I am sure the same is true about extraterrestrials, though the latter seems to be significantly more far-fetched. That is the reason that the fact that this poll, which has garnered national attention, demonstrated that 2% more of the respondents believe that the government is withholding evidence about the existence of E.T. than believe that the government has some involvement in the terror attacks of 9/11. This strikes one as absolutely inexplicable.
As a control Question/VAR 28 says:
The Pentagon was not struck by an airliner captured by terrorists but, instead was hit by a cruise missle fired by the U.S. military.
Very likely 6%
Somewhat likely 6%
Not likely 80%
Don't kniow (sic) 7%
Other response 1%
This means that only 12% of the respondents believed that the government actually utilized a missile to orchestrate the attack on the Pentagon, which is a more specific proposition relating to government involvement in the events of 9/11.
It should be also noted that this was not a scientific survey because it was posted online and taken on a voluntary basis by those who utilize computers and were inclined to log on to the site. This means that the survey group of respondents does not constitute a representative sample of the American population under the current standards of academic research.