Hi All,

As many of you know, I work near the south corner of the District of Columbia. A little after 9:15 or so this morning I heard the first reports of the fire/plane crash at the World Trade Center in NYC, and then later the report of the second crash. When the first reports said that the weather was perfectly clear in NYC, I knew that it was a terrorist attack and not a "radar control error" or some such.

The timeline I recall may be a bit muddled at this point.

As I was getting ready to drive to work I heard the first reports of an explosion and a fire at the Pentagon. Driving to work I saw a huge cloud of black smoke rising from the area where the Pentagon was, and saw it drift over National Airport. It was obvious it was a very bad fire.

At the same time, Bush's first comments about the NYC crashes were on the radio. There were also reports of fires at the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House, and a report of a fire at the Gannett building in Arlington Virginia (a few blocks from the Pentagon). Those reports seem to have been wrong, as apparently the report about a car bomb at the State Department was.

Shortly after 10:00, maybe 10:15, people in the hallway in my building said they felt an explosion and felt the building shake. I didn't feel that myself - I was near the center of the building. Shortly thereafter, we were told to go home.

My normal 20 minute commute took 3.5 hours, but was otherwise uneventful. There was still steamy smoke rising from the Pentagon over 3 hours after the fire started.

I have seen conflicting reports about lots of what's going on. I haven't seen an authoritative explanation for the 10:15 or so explosion in DC, but I will tell you that that explosion was long after the Pentagon fire started.

CNN is now reporting that the damaged portion of the Pentagon collapsed at 10:05. That's the most likely explanation for the rumbling we felt - that's a lot of concrete...

So be very skeptical of reports until you get confirmation. I hope our civilian and military leaders are taking the time to get correct information before doing anything draconian.

Don't buy into some of the news media's sensationalism about "DC Under Seige!" or the like. We've got to be strong and rational at times like this. Be angry, but don't lose your cool.

Hang in there, everyone.

My thoughts are with the victims and their families.
Scott.