QUOTE(coughymachine @ Apr 2 2007, 01:28 AM) [snapback]1609578[/snapback]
Could you give some detail please?
Coughy, sorry for the late response, but I am at work and it is one I'd like to keep for a bit longer

There are several aspects of DEWs (Directed Energy Weapons) that contradicts the 9/11 stories of this. The main two are really the energy required to bring down a building the size of WTC and how it is done. Lets take the latter first.
The structural integrity of the WTC was clearly compromised from the fire and the heat inside the building. I still firmly believe that it was due to the burning jet fuel, however, let us just entertain the idea of a DEW bring down the buildings. There are only two kinds of DEW that are looked at for high energy applications, which is the LASER and the MASER. We all know the laser, but the MASER is the microwave equivalent of the LASER, just at a different wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. The MASER is basically a large scale microwave oven (your microwave is typically at 600W or above, a MASER much more). In a microwave you can heat your food almost inside out. And this is exactly why DEWs could not have been used at WTC.
It is all a question of energy absorption. LASERS delivers all the energy to the surface of the target, and in the case of WTC, so would a MASER because of the metal structure. Ever tried leaving a piece of metal in your microwave? Not good. And the face of the WTC no matter from where you looked, was glass and metal girders. Yes, LASERS are used to cut metal and could also cut the outer layers of the WTC, although it would be a slow process. MASERS are a little different. What happens is that when a MASER hits a metal grid like the face of the WTC, it will induce currents in the metal structure and that heats up, and if energy enough is supplied, they will melt. Thus, to cut through an I-beam or the like, a LASER is clearly preferred simply due to the efficiency. But both LASERS and MASERS would probably have been focused in a very small beam, as they would have to be in the neighboring houses (more on that later). That also means that if it was really a LASER or a MASER responsible for this, we should see the effect of said DEWs literally walking across the face of the building at the floor where it collapsed, which we obviously do not. And no LASER nor MASER would ever penetrate deep into the building without leaving a nice entry hole at the front.
But that means that one would need a couple of such DEW systems to ensure the collapse, one for a couple of sides of the building. And such DEWs are not only rather large, but also extremely energy hungry. Trust me, you can't just plug them into a wall plug. You'd blow every fuse before you even brought the system to a temperature equilibrium.
And the notion that it is Airborne or spaceborne is a no go as well. The only systems are the ones at White Sands test range and the Airborne ABL. But if the Airborne system was responsible, we would have seen it eat it's way down from the roof, with molten metal running off everywhere. Obviously, that didn't happen.
Finally, as also mentioned before, the energy required to bring down such a building is far beyond what any DEW technology can currently offer. The largest laser is currently able to melt and deform the skin of a theater ballistic missile, causing in-flight break up. The energy to cut through an I-beam is a lot more and given the number of I-beams and other stuff in WTC, completely unrealistic.
Thus, in my honest opinion the whole notion of DEWs being used is outright absurd and the dear Doctor bringing this forth should probably read up on DEWs and do some math on the actually energy requirement for that endeavor. If they really wanted to bring the WTC down, explosives would be the way to go.
Best,
Badeskov