Jon, what is the primary citation for the "19 minute intercept"? All I can find is a reference to an ABC report in an article at Rense;

"In that legendary intercept, a fighter jet out of Tyndall, Florida was diverted from a training flight to escort the Lear, whose pilot had become incapacitated, trapping Stewart in the stratosphere. An F-16 was reportedly sitting off the left wingtip of Payne's pilotless business jet within 19 minutes of the FAA alert. [ABC News Oct25/99]"

http://www.rense.com/general45/911.htm

There is not even a link to the original ABC article where this information apparently came from.

Is the alleged link to the original story...

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/plane102599.html

It doesn't work anymore, but I remember vividly reading that particular ABC News story, and reading the 19 minute claim.

http://web.archive.org/web/20000823041612/http://www.abcnews.go.com/sect...

This was crawled in August, 2000, and there is no 19 minute reference, so I guess this not the report.

I have no idea which report it was... but I do remember being able to read the story at one time on abcnews... I wish I, or someone else, had archived the report. The 19 minute reference is listed on septembereleventh.org as well...

In that legendary intercept, a fighter jet out of Tyndall, Florida was diverted from a training flight to escort the Lear, whose pilot had become incapacitated, trapping Stewart in the stratosphere. An F-16 was reportedly sitting off the left wingtip of Payne's pilotless business jet within 19 minutes of the FAA alert. [ABC News, Oct 25, 1999]

I found this reference:

Instead, according to an Air Force timeline, a series of military planes provided an emergency escort to the stricken Lear, beginning with a pair of F-16 Falcons from the Air National Guard at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., about 20 minutes after ground controllers lost contact.

As the NORAD guy told me...

An F-15, with a top speed of 1,800 mph could intercept an aircraft 600 miles away flying parallel to where the fighter took off in 20+ minutes or so, now if the "target" aircraft is flying at 600 mph and heading toward the place where the fighter took off then the intercept would be at the 400 mile mark and would likely take only 13 minutes or so--theoretically, depending on winds and weather, etc...

I dunno reprehensor... 19 minutes seems a helluva lot more accurate than 1hr and 19min.

I am suspecting that ABCNews, and Knight Ridder were either told 19-20 minutes by the Air Force, or were given an Air Force timeline chart that said 19-20 minutes.

Wasn't he the first to document CIA's involvement in drug trafficking? Anything he writes and says is worthwhile. He has a new book coming out this September, "The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America".

Thanks, Reprehensor, for getting out this speech!

I was once debating this topic & tried to explain it like this. I live two hours drive from Chicago, Illinois & Chicago is an hour behind my time zone. So, If I leave my house at 3:00 & arrive in Chicago at 4:00 does that mean it only took me an hours drive? The person I was debating couldn't grasp this simple concept, as the majority of Sheeple can't. I just don't get it.

Edit: This is also a very interesting read.

"According to the Chairman, the air defense force was structured to
intercept the former Soviet Union's long-range bomber force if it
attacked over the North Pole. Since that threat has largely
disappeared, the United States no longer needs a dedicated
continental air defense force, and the force has refocused its
activity on the air sovereignty mission, concentrating on
intercepting drug smugglers. However, anti-drug smuggling activities
at some units and alert sites have been minimal and at others almost
nonexistent. **** Overall, during the past 4 years, NORAD's alert
fighters took off to intercept aircraft (referred to as scrambled)
1,518 times, or an average of 15 times per site per year. **** Of these
incidents, the number of suspected drug smuggling aircraft averaged
one per site, or less than 7 percent of all of the alert sites' total
activity.\3 The remaining activity generally involved visually
inspecting unidentified aircraft and assisting aircraft in distress.
Appendix I contains additional information on the scramble activity
at each air defense unit and alert site and on the continental air
defense and air sovereignty missions.

http://www.fas.org/man/gao/gao9476.htm

The last contact took place at 9:33 EDT. At that time, it was 8:33 in the Central time zone.

The plane crossed into the Central time zone at 10:10 EDT, which was 9:10 CDT.

The intercept took place at 9:52 CDT. That is 1hour and 19 minutes after the last contact at 8:33 CDT.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010417054609/http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2...

You left your house at 2:00 CDT and arrived at 4:00 CDT. Or you left at 3:00 EDT and arrived at 5:00 EDT. That's two hours.

The time is at the point of intercept in the Central time zone. The intercept took place at 9:52 CDT, or 10:52 EDT. The failure to contact Payne's plane was at 9:33 EDT, or 8:33 CDT, or 7:33 MDT, or 6:33 PDT. There is only one point in time -- the time zone is just a way to relate the time to the sun.

Put the failure to contact and the intercept on Greenwich Mean Time, and you will find they were 1hour 19 minutes apart.

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

The news reports may have been mistaken.

Was the chairman?