The Wet Noodle, or Column Failure, Theory

Heat from fires causes columns to lose most of their strength precipitating a progressive collapse.

• Endorsed in a paper Why Did the World Trade Center Collapse?-Simple Analysis by Bazant and Zhou. Uses elastic dynamic analysis to conclude:
  "The structural resistance is found to be an order of magnitude less than necessary for survival."
  • Published on September 13, 2001.
  • Authors pull numbers out of thin air.
  • Reveals authors' ignorance of structural engineering, and of the towers' design.
    "[... if the] majority of columns of a single floor were to lose their load carrying capacity, the whole tower was doomed."
  • Described as "simple and approximate," yet no other papers have quantitatively analyzed collapses.
• Endorsed by Silverstein insurance claim investigation conducted by Weidlinger Associates Inc.