ERROR: 'The Pentagon Attack Left Only a Small Impact Hole'
This image is commonly cited to assert that the initial impact hole in the Pentagon was less than 20 feet across. However, fire suppression foam conceals the broad expanse of breached walls on the first floor.
The most common argument advanced to support the no-757-impact theory is that, on the one hand, there was almost no aircraft debris outside the Pentagon, but on the other, the hole in the building's facade was much too small to have admitted the plane into the building. The conclusion that no jetliner crashed there seems simple and inescapable when presented with certain photographs. However, analysis of the available photographs shows that the debris outside the building is difficult to quantify, and the dimensions of the impact hole (or more accurately, holes) are frequently underestimated.
Hole Dimensions
Some of the most prominent advocates of the no-757-impact theory have radically mis-characterized the dimensions of the impact "hole". Thierry Meyssan describes the hole as 15 to 17 feet wide, apparently on the basis of photographs, such as the one to the right, in which the spray from the fire suppression efforts obscures the first floor, which had far more extensive damage.