-Hiding Engineering History- NIST's Report gives the reader no clue of how unprecedented and unexpected the total collapses of these skyscrapers were. Rather, it suggests that total collapses of high-rise buildings are normal events, but usually happen less suddenly. "In our cities, there has been no experience with a disaster of such magnitude, nor has there been any in which the total collapse of a high-rise building occurred so rapidly and with little warning. (p xli/43)" Indeed, buildings are normally evacuated and cordoned off before being taken down by controlled demolition, so the statement is literally true. But the Report doesn't contain the word demolition, so the statement seems crafted to mislead. In fact, there appear to be no examples of total collapse of skyscrapers anywhere in the world except through controlled demolition. There are examples of steel-framed buildings about 20 stories in height being knocked over by severe earthquakes, but large portions of earthquake-destroyed buildings remain intact. In contrast, the steel skeletons of the Twin Towers were shredded into thousands of pieces, and their non-metallic constituents and contents were pulverized into fine dust.