Two years later he was asked to testify in front of the 9/11 Commission. Unlike others in his position his testimony was heard behind closed doors. “They never used any of the evidence I gave to the commission,” he says. He came to believe that there had been a cover up. “They didn’t mention the other explosions. A lot of the findings of the commission just don’t add up.” Rodriguez lost his job because of the attack on the WTC, and has subsequently found a role for himself helping the victims of major disasters, such as the Madrid bombing and the supermarket fire in Paraguay, to cope with the subsequent trauma. He has also been trying to tell people his story - a hard task in the United States, where the mainstream press will not listen, only accepting the official version of events. “Journalists have to get permission to go to Iraq and they have to repeat the official version of events,” he says. “There's something similar going on here”.

“In my talk I am going to try to dispel a number of conspiracy theories about 9/11,” he says. “But I want people to accept that the biggest of these is the one put about by the US government.” So what does he think happened that day? “The first explosion, in the basement, was to weaken the foundations to make it come down faster,” he says. “This has never properly been investigated.” And why? “The government put out their version because they wanted support for the war against Iraq. They made a connection between Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, before they started talking about Weapons of Mass Destruction.” He believes the government is trying to silence him. “It is difficult for them, after awarding me the National Hero Award.” He has had a no-fly order put on him, and his computer, containing important information, has been stolen from his house, while a $5,000 camera sitting next to it was left on the table.