. >> highly respected pierre salinger unleashing 17 years of controversy charged back in 1977 that twaght 800 was no accident. craig investigates. >> we identified the number of bodies. there was an area about the size of a football field that was actually burning on the surface of the water. i had never seen anything like that before in my life. >> july 17th, 1996, twa flight 800 takes off from jfk airport bound for paris. as the jumbo jet fliclies abovee shore of long island it explodes in midair killing all 230 on board and contrary to government findings, hundreds of witnesses are convincing the plane was shot down. >> i was scanning over in this area right here on a night very much like this, and i picked uppup a vapor trail and it was moving left center, further to my left. it was horizontal to the horizon. a gradually descending arc. i was very much surprised, something out of my past. >> why did you describe it as something out of your past? did it look like a missile? you served in vietnam. >> it definitely looked like a missile. >> they combed through records in a four-year-l

. >> it was pierre salinger, a former white house secretary, u.s. senator and network correspondent who went public. salinger who died in 2004 claimed to have official proof that a navy missile shot down twa 800 specifically naming this ship the "uss normandy" responsible, but for what salinger claimed exclusive was neither. >> i asked him to read me the document. >> former cnn producer is the one who told salinger that the unsubstantiated report was on the internet for hours. >> i called him and it was an unguarded moment that what he thought for one moment that was an exclusive scoop was not. >> and in spite of evidence to the contrary collected by the fbi, salinger persisted. >> now that this thing is becoming more complicated, i can understand why i want to continue the investigation. >> nevermind that the "uss normandy" was too far away to shoot any of the missiles to the plane. the ship's missiles would have blown that plane to smithereens and there would have been plenty of evidence. >> they call his investigation a distraction. bob francis w

the airline association, and it was his e-mail on the internet in 1996 that turned out to be pierre salinger's so-called proof of a friendly fire cover-up. >> i have friends in high places, and they were in private industry, but they were in interface with the government agencies. >> these friends in high places also gave russell a tape of a new york area radar showing the last moments of twa 800. >> talk me through this. what are we looking at right here? >> well, this is twa 800, the time is 8:29:29. >> you can see the blip that is flight 800 stop in mid flight. >> and you can see it coast. >> what does that mean? >> that means that there is no more signal coming from twa 800. >> that is where it happened? >> that is where it happened. >> but the other tape shows more blips and one of them according to russell is the missile. >> if this is a missile, it is 30 seconds away from the target, and how does it take a missile 30 seconds to reach the aircraft when it is so close. >> i have no explanation for that. >> we don't see it cross the path of flight 800. >> we don't. >> but russell is remain

and the word went out, and pierre salinger, the press secretary, was absolutely terrified of jackie. the president, on the other hand, began to see the value of these children and how adorable they were. stanley went to hyannis port to photograph the shriver family for a cover story he was doing for "look" magazine. and he was under orders not to photograph the president's children. but he said he couldn't help himself. and when maria shriver came over, she gave caroline that postcard. and she said that's the president. caroline said, it is not, it's my daddy. and she said it's the president too. she said, no, it isn't. and stanley said he just couldn't help himself. he just found himself snapping picture after picture. this is caroline waiting on the dock for her father to come back at hyannis port during that trip which stanley was not supposed to take any pictures of her. and this is a famous picture called the golf cars. stanley was at hyannis port and saw the president get into his golf cart, and the president would drive a few feet, and he'd clap his hands, and all the little k

>> well, pierre salinger was not an accident investigator. what's unique about this documentary is we have inside investigators who handled the wreckage directly that are saying this. these aren't people just on the street. this isn't just me. i have i have investigators behind me backing up everything we say in this documentary. they're saying it themselves as you said in the lead up to the show. there was an external detonation. the person that said that laid out the reconstruction of the aircraft and oversaw the entire reconstruction of the inside of that aircraft. senior ntsb investigator hank hughs who once he retired came to join us in this documentary. >> it will be fascinating to watch. tom stalcup thank you for joining me today and answering my few questions. i'm sure it will bring forth a lot more. i should remind people as well, that documentary, twa flight 800, it premiers july 17th, and that would just happen to coincide with the 17th anniversary of that crash. >>> it has been a long time since the expression nuclear holocaust wa

. >> reporter: in march of 1997, pierre salinger claimed to have verified the friendly fire coverup,he u.s.s. normandy as the ship that fired the missile. but there was a problem with his claim. his proof turned out to be the same unsubstantiated document that had been on the internet for months. investigators concluded the u.s.s. normandy never fired any of its missiles and even if it had it was out of range. more than four years after that explosion, in august of 2000, the ntsb finally released its final report concluding that twa flight 800 was the victim of fundamental design problems with the engineering and wiring that cracked allowing high voltage into the center fuel tank full of highly explosive fumes. that remains the official story and one reason, jim, people close to the investigation are pushing back so hard against this documentary suggesting otherwise. >> but it is a fascinating story and subject to go back and take a look at. and those images from that documentary that you had in your piece of them reconstructing the plane, so many americans remember that and obviousl

. >> in march of 1997, pierre salinger, the former press secretary, former u.s.verified the friendly fire cover-up. specifically naming the uss "normandy" as the ship that fired the missile. but there was a problem with his claim -- salinger's proof turned out to be the same unsubstantiated document that had been on the internet for months. and investigators concluded the u.s.s. "normandy" never fired any of its missiles and even if it had, it was out of range. >> the ntsb looked at this for four years after the explosion and in august of 2000, they put out the final report and concluded that twa 800 was the victim of fundamental flaws in the design and engineering of the aircraft. wiring that cracked and lost its insulation allowing high voltage into the center fuel tank full of highly explosive fumes. that's the official story. jake? >> tom foreman, thank you. >>> and joining me now is peter goals, a former ntsb managing director who worked closely on the twa flight 800 investigation. mr. goals, thanks so much for being here. i want to play for you a clip of th

then we got pierre salinger talking about the "uss normandy" we did a military investigation of allsthe area. it didn't happen. >> i think one thing that confounds foam this day is,is hundreds of people, hundreds of witnesses felt they saw a light streaking up toward the plane. how do you account for that? >> well, i account for it that they certainly saw something. the vast majority of the witnesses, when we interviewed them, heard the bang and then looked up in the sky. and it's simple physics they heard an event that happened somewhere between 30 seconds and 55 sends before they heard the bang, the speed of sound, the speed of light. so they were looking at a plane in distress that was breaking apart. and probably climbing 3,000 feet. so they saw things going up, they saw things coming off. and plus, you know, i don't mean to degrade the witnesses, they reported what they saw and they are good -- they are good americans and we appreciate their participation but eyewitness testimony is traditionally not very accurate. >> in the ten seconds i have left, sir, what do you think about