What evidence confirms American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon on 9/11?

1. Security-camera footage captured the aircraft’s impact

Pentagon exterior security camera recordings released publicly show the aircraft approaching and striking the western facade; fact-checking organizations and news outlets report that the clip clearly depicts the nose or tip of the jet just before impact and has been used repeatedly to refute claims that no plane hit the building ^{[1] [5] [6]}.

2. Photographs and physical debris documented at the scene

Photographs taken the day of the attack and later released by the FBI and other agencies document fragments and identifiable aircraft wreckage at the Pentagon crash site, and those images have been cited in debunking false social-media claims that no plane debris was found ^{[1] [2] [7]}.

3. Victim and hijacker forensic identification tied people to the flight

Remains recovered from the Pentagon and associated evidence enabled forensic identification of the victims aboard the aircraft and, by process of elimination, the remains of the five hijackers; those remains were processed by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner and turned over to the FBI as evidence ^{[8] [9]}.

4. Structural damage aligns with a high-speed jet impact

Engineering and institutional assessments describe a hole in the Pentagon’s E‑Ring roughly corresponding to the plane’s entry and a diagonal path of destruction through interior corridors; structural engineers who examined the site reported wing and fuselage interaction with load-bearing columns consistent with a large jet striking at speed, and professional bodies measured the breach and collapse pattern in post‑event reports ^{[4] [10] [3]}.

5. Official investigations and contemporaneous records corroborate the timeline and interceptions

Department of Defense histories, FBI photographic releases, and investigative reports document Flight 77’s course, impact time (about 9:37 a.m.), and the fact that military jets were scrambled but unable to prevent the crash; the Pentagon’s Historical Office and later DoD and FBI releases compile these records into an official account ^{[6] [11] [2]}.

6. Conspiracy claims and why mainstream evidence rebuts them

Some online claims allege no airliner struck the Pentagon or that footage and debris were fabricated; fact-checkers and technical analyses have repeatedly shown the security footage, photo evidence, physical debris preserved in museums and archives, and engineering damage assessments are consistent with a Boeing 757 impact, and experts have explained why the building’s reinforced concrete and collapse dynamics would not produce a tidy, outline‑shaped imprint of the aircraft ^{[5] [10] [1]}.

7. Where reporting is clear — and where limits remain

The assembled public record — surveillance video, photographs, forensic identifications, engineering reports, and official timelines — provides multiple, independent confirmations that Flight 77 struck the Pentagon ^{[1] [2] [8] [10] [3]}. Reporting does not, however, settle every peripheral claim advanced by skeptics about fine details of debris distribution or the precise hardware visible in every released image; where sources do not supply a claim, this analysis does not assert its falsity ^{[1] [2]}.