With these opening images and sound bytes, the viewer is thrust into the world of the conspiracy theory. The world in which elaborate schemes and plots are the only plausible explanation for world-changing events. Whether or not the theories expressed in the film are valid, they warrant an examination, a serious look.

I am always wary of conspiracy theories. There are basic ways to attract viewers and followers, but the major component of any conspiracy theory is a line of reasoning that leads to only one possibility. Couple this type of thinking with an extremely unpopular White House, and you've got yourself a powerful social tool. It is with this extremely skeptical (some may say jaded) mindset that I examine any theory, but especially those related to little green men and elaborate global conspirators.For a more in depth look at the strategies of conspiracy theory propagation, see the entertaining and outlandish film 'Mao, the Real Man.'

The first revelation is mild: The government knew that something involving planes and buildings was possibly in the works. This is the same bit used to attack Pearl Harbor as a setup, and is equally valid, and equally open to dispute. It's a large world, and as anyone will tell you, there seems to be a large population of people bent on making life difficult, or short, for those around them. As a result, high profile entities (think power, money, the American Dream) receive numerous threats and suffer attacks of all kinds and levels of subtlety. After seeing this portion, I felt that the government was negligent by not acting or reacting to news that was obviously flowing from the ground up. What I did not feel, however, was that the 'higher ups' of the US government were in some way involved in the planning or execution of the attack.

What struck me as a potent bit of information was the assertion that one of the accused hijackers (Mohamed Atta, the so-called 'ringleader' of the plot) received $100,000 from a General in the Pakistani army via an outside source. This news was reported by CNN, but was not deemed a pertinent point in the investigation that took place after the attacks. According to the film, the General responsible for the money transfer was in Washington when the attacks occurred. It is at this point that the brain begins to wander with the information it has taken in up to that point.

Following this, the movie presents information that claims that a number of the alleged hijackers are alive, and that none of the names of the accused appeared on any flight manifest. These claims raise a number of serious questions: Are some of the hijackers alive? If so, does this represent poor intelligence, or an intentional misleading on the part of the US government? How is it that none of the names appear on the manifests of the flights? Important questions, that unfortunately, do not seem answerable. The film's design is to leave the viewer with this series of questions, leading to the unavoidable conclusion that 'something' is going on and 'something' is being hidden.