saw a line of flames shooting upward. those eye witness accounts of a trail of fire hit the internet less than 36 hours after the explosion. people speculated it was a terrorist surface-to-air missile. then, a document began circulating on the web, taking the missile theory in a new direction. it said a u.s. navy ship accidentally shot down flight 800 and a cover-up reaching the highest levels of government was in play. it might have stayed an internet conspiracy theory, had it not been for one man. >> it's a document that i got about five weeks ago. from an intelligence agent of france. >> in march of 1997, pierre salinger, the former press secretary, former u.s. senator and network news correspondent claimed to have 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