Twenty years after TWA Flight 800 crashed in the US, new book sensationally claims plane was struck by missile… and the government covered it up
At least 258 witnesses described seeing a streak of light tearing towards the craft before the explosion, with 100 people claiming they saw the streak travel from the earth up towards the plane
A SENSATIONAL new book aims to lift the lid on the TWA Flight 800 explosion, which the author claims may have been downed by a missile - something which the government allegedly covered up.
Doomed TWA Flight 800 took to the skies for the last time 20 years ago, when it combusted in mid-air just 12 minutes into its final journey.
The aircraft took off from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on the evening of July 17 1996, and was en route to Paris when an explosion through the craft, resulting in a crash which killed all 230 passengers.
After a lengthy investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board put the disaster down to a short circuit in the plane's fuel tank, but many observers didn't buy this explanation.
Instead, the theory emerged that the Boeing 747-131 was struck by a missile, and the US government attempted to hush up what really happened.
And this sensational theory has recently gained traction, thanks to the publication of a book which explores the alternate explanations for the disaster.
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In author Jack Cashill examines the claim that a rocket fired by terrorists - or even the US navy - downed the aircraft, theories which were originally rubbished by the FBI one year on from the crash.
The aircraft, which had completed 16,000 flights, had been in operation for 25 years before it crashed into the ocean at 8:30pm on that fateful evening.
The wreckage of the aircraft burned so intensely that rescuers couldn't approach it, and 10 months had passed by the time all 230 victims were recovered and identified.
With investigators piecing the wreckage back together in an attempt to uncover the truth, the best accounts of what really happened came from the 755 eyewitnesses who saw the crash.
At least 258 witnesses described seeing a streak of light tearing towards the craft before the explosion, with 100 people claiming they saw the streak travel from the earth up towards the plane.
Author Jack Cashill spoke to some of these witnesses for his book, including the anonymous Witness 73, a woman who played a crucial role in the FBI investigation.
The woman, who watched the crash from a nearby beach, claimed she saw a streak of light tearing towards the craft which looked like "an upside down NIKE swoop logo."
The FBI report into the crash summarised her interview, in which she reported that the red streak passed above the aircraft before arcing back down towards its wing.
Cashill's book sheds more light on this shocking account, claiming that someone working for the US government tried to cover up her statement by tampering with the records.
Another shocking account came from David McClaine, a pilot preparing to land before the plane exploded in front of him.
The aviation expert filed a report immediately after touching his own craft down safely, but he wasn't even interviewed about what he saw until three years after the crash.
Meanwhile, another eyewitness claimed to have seen a white light shoot up from a nearby beach before arcing over the plane, which exploded moments later.
But, despite the hundreds of witness statements, the official CIA report concluded that there was no missile involved in the crash, with the plane's wreckage bearing none of the hallmarks of a rocket strike.
But Cashill told that these CIA findings do not add up with the FBI's verdict on the disaster.
He said: "'The single greatest structural cause for the September 11th problem was the 'wall' that segregated or separated criminal investigators and intelligence agents.
"Thanks to a treasure trove of recently unearthed CIA documents we now know that the FBI and CIA ignored the 'wall' and collaborated from day one of the TWA 800 investigation.
"The CIA had no other role but to discredit the 258 FBI witnesses to a missile strike.
"Overseeing the TWA 800 investigation was deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick. In 1995, Gorelick wrote the wall memo. In 2004, Gorelick sat on the 9-11 Commission.
"This scandal dwarfs Watergate."