1. First, the timeline implied by Shelton’s account is implausible.
   • The second WTC tower came down at 10:28 AM, so if Shelton’s plane flew over the Twin Towers “just a few minutes after they collapsed,” then it must have flown over New York City before 11:00.
   • And if, as Giesemann stated, Shelton’s plane landed at Andrews “within an hour of passing New York City,” [17] it should have arrived there by roughly 12:00 noon, and the escorted drive should have brought them to the Pentagon by approximately 12:30.
   • Upon arriving back in the USA, Shelton was again the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [18] At 12:30 there would have been many decisions still to be made. Indeed, following the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, he should have, fearing further attacks, gone immediately to the NMCC. Yet, he wrote, he went first to his office and then to the crash site. [19]
   • He certainly should not have waited until 5:40 PM, which, according to General Myers, is when Shelton arrived at the NMCC. [20]
   • The idea that Shelton spent five hours at the Pentagon before going to the NMCC is implausible. Indeed, it is contradicted by Myers’ statement that at 5:40 Shelton had “just returned” from the aborted European flight. [21]
2. Second, Shelton’s account of his return trip is contradicted by the Andrews AFB flight tracking strips for his flight (which were obtained through a FOIA request [22]).
   • The flight tracking strip indicates that Speckled Trout – code named “Trout 99” [23] – landed at Andrews at 4:40 PM. [24]
   • Why would Shelton and Giesemann indicate that they arrived at Andrews at roughly noon – almost five hours earlier than Speckled Trout’s actual arrival time?
3. Third, the accounts by Shelton and Giesemann, which indicate that they arrived at the Pentagon by roughly 12:30, are contradicted by one of Giesemann’s statements:
   • Although her description of the drive from Andrews to the Pentagon parallels Shelton’s, even saying that the streets were “eerily” empty, [25] Giesemann also wrote: “No one spoke as we sped across the Southeast-Southwest Freeway, usually jammed with cars at this late afternoon hour.” [26]
   • This “late afternoon” statement is, of course, supported by the flight tracking strip.
4. A fourth problem is that Shelton’s account is contradicted even more severely in a September 2011 article describing the account of the Speckled Trout flight navigator, Col. Rob Pedersen. [27] According to this article:
   • “The first three hours of Shelton’s flight went smoothly” until the BBC reported on the WTC strikes.
   • After Shelton gave his order to turn around: “The airplane did turn, but it didn’t head directly back to the United States. For the first couple of hours, the crew didn’t have clearance to return – or a destination – ‘so we went into a holding pattern near Greenland,’ Pedersen said. … Speckled Trout made it back to Canada, but it was initially denied entry to US airspace. The crew started holding once again.” [28]
   • “It wasn’t easy getting a security clearance, even for such a high-profile passenger. … ‘[We couldn’t] say over the radio who [we were] carrying because they don’t have secure communications at the FAA. … It took a little bit of time … before they let us back in,’ he [Pedersen] said.” [29]
   • “[The] flight back to Andrews took [the crew] directly over New York City. … The fly-by was quick. … By early afternoon, they had made their way to Andrews.” [30]
   • Although Pedersen’s account contains some obviously false elements – including his statement that the flight returned “by early afternoon” [31] – his story, according to which Shelton’s plane was forced into a holding pattern near Greenland and again over Canada, would explain why it did not return to Andrews until 4:40.

The account provided by both Shelton and Giesemann, according to which they were able to return to the Pentagon without delay – evidently reaching it by roughly 12:30 PM – is contradicted by their plane’s flight navigator, by the flight tracking strip, by General Richard Myers, and by one of Giesemann’s own statements. If, as it appears, Shelton and Giesemann falsely claimed that they returned almost five hours earlier than they actually did, it must be asked: Why?

And if, as appears to be the case, Shelton returned to Andrews at 4:40 PM, why was the aircraft of the top US military commander delayed for almost five hours on this critical day?

Any new investigation should ask these two questions.