http://www.centrexnews.com/columnists/skousen/2001/07013.htm
TACTICAL EMP TESTED IN CENTRAL TENNESSEE?
A story swept over the Internet with the claim that some entity of government
may have tested a small tactical Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon in the
small town of Hartsville in north-central Tennessee--about 50 miles northeast
of Nashville. Upon investigation I have come to the conclusion that this was
not the case. It will be useful for my subscribers to go through the analysis
of this situation with me, to aid in your understanding of these kinds of
weapons. Because of the future threat of war, which will be initiated by EMP
strikes, all Americans need to know how to recognize the signs of an attack.
The event occurred at approximately 10:45 AM on July 6, 2001. They only
reason we know about this was that one of the victims of the damage was a
country music radio station--WJKM--which published the details of the damage.
There are three possibilities that could explain what happened: lightning,
birds shorting out a transformer, or a very small EMP attack. First, let's
examine the damage reports according to witnesses.
1) The radio station's power lines were knocked out, as well as those of the
local newspaper next door (Hartsville Vidette).
2) A main power transformer some distance from the radio station was burned
out, but the smaller one directly feeding the station was not. The damaged
transformer was so overheated that it was billowing smoke.
3) All phone lines in a small radius, including those at the newspaper and
the local farm co-op, were knocked out.
4) The high power field-effect transistors and the entire output tuning
network in the radio station's transmitter were destroyed. (It takes a lot of
surge power to do that kind of damage.)
5) All computers at WJKM, specifically motherboards and network cards, were
damaged
6) The station's ISDN internet cable was knocked out.
7) There were numerous dead and damaged birds around the stations showing
signs of high power electrical shock (burned wings, feet and tails). See
photos of damage to the birds on the station's website at
http://www.1090wjkm.com
I spoke with the Hartsville newspaper and they confirmed this story, adding
some crucial details. Apparently, there were two power surges, about a minute
apart. The first was not very powerful and the power reset itself almost
instantly. The second was stronger, knocking out the power for two hours and
damaging electronic equipment. Both surges were accompanied by a low
vibrating, humming sound which increased steadily until reaching a crescendo
when the power went out. One witness at the newspaper also saw a large flash
of light coming from outside after the second pulse.
ANALYSIS: A localized lightning bolt could have caused all of the described
damage, but there was no lightning in the area, no clouds, and no explosive
sound that would have accompanied such a direct hit. A normal power spike
could have caused the computer and phone system damage, but not the damage to
the main transformer or the burn damage to the birds. There were several
damaged birds all in the same area, some still alive. Their burns could not
have been caused by normal electric currents on high-tension lines (which
birds land on regularly) but only by getting caught within the flashing arc
of some short circuit of high power. This could have been created by
lightning, EMP, or their wings contacting and shorting the terminals of a
high power transformer. It is possible one or two birds under the right
circumstances could have caused a short between the leads on the transformer,
especially if they were flocking together on the unit. The flash could have
been explained by the explosion of a pole-mounted fuse above the transformer,
which would tend to blow when a short occurs or when lightning strikes.
OTHER THEORIES
What about the possibility of an EMP attack? There are two main types of
weapons capable of generating EMP. The more powerful are nuclear weapons set
off above the earth's atmosphere that give off huge amounts of free
electrons. As these electrons blast through the atmosphere, they cause a huge
wave of energy, called a Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (NEMP), to blanket the
earth below. As this electromagnet wave passes through power lines, telephone
lines, or any electrical conductor (like the electrical cord leading to your
TV or computer) it cause the electrons in the wire to be rapidly displaced
and shot down the line, setting up a powerful and near instantaneous surge
that blows out everything in its path.
This is the type of EMP attack will most likely be used by Russia immediately
before a direct nuclear strike on the US. Its function will be to knock out
communications and other vital electrical equipment in the US to help ensure
the success of the nuclear strike. Perhaps the only warning you will ever
have prior to a Russian nuclear strike is a widespread blackout of
electricity, radio, and TV, and damage to your computers and phones. An EMP
pulse has a rise time of less than 2 nanoseconds so it jumps through surge
protectors that aren't designed to clamp down on such a rapid pulse. (When
you buy a surge arrestor, check the label to make sure it has a clamping time
of less than 2 nanoseconds if you want some nominal protection against
moderate doses of EMP.)Your cars will most likely not work either since they
are controlled by ignition computers. (I would advise you to buy a spare one
and keep it in a closed metal case).
The attack that occurred in Hartsville could not have been a high-altitude
NEMP because such an explosion would have affected an area about 300-500
miles in diameter. Smaller, non-nuclear tactical pulse weapons have been
invented that use powerful electrical capacitors and antennas to direct
blasts of EMP energy toward localized targets on the ground. The Hartsville
phenomenon could have been caused by a tactical EMP weapon mounted inside
something as benign looking as a tractor-trailer rig.
WHAT ABOUT HAARP?
Some have hypothesized that the power surge could have been caused by a HAARP
(High frequency Active Auroral Research Program) transmission. I don't think
so. The HAARP system is not capable of concentrating a narrow beam of energy
into a small area such as the Hartsville incident. For those who are
unfamiliar with HAARP, it controls a huge radio transmitter system consisting
of 180 crossed dipole antennas arranged in a rectangular, planar array, and
linked to a powerful 3.6-million-watt transmitter . It is located near the
town of Gakona (150 miles NE of Anchorage) just off of Hwy 1. For some
official pictures and views of its purported research purpose see:
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/.
The HAARP antennas are oriented to be trained upward. Ham radio operators can
track when HAARP is operating because it interferes with or completely
dominates the radio frequency spectrum around 3.39 Mhz. If you have a
broadband shortwave radio you can listen to it too. There is a website run by
a "Brother Jonathan" that tells you when HAARP is operating and allows you to
listen to its sound: http://www.geocities.com/brojongazette/index.html.
There are numerous claims within the patriot movement that HAARP has a dark,
secret purpose beyond (or instead of) the supposed scientific cover. Weather
modification and mind-control are some of the usual claims. Regarding the
allegations of mind-control, I have never bought into the theories that
external forces can control the human mind. Forces or drugs can harm and
damage the mind, or reduce its resistance to interrogation, but I have never
seen credible information that proves that specific ideas can be transmitted
or controlled electronically against the will of the normal person.
Weather modification is a remote possibility, but unlikely due to the
non-directional nature of HAARP'S antenna array and the fact that even 3.6
million watts would not even put a dent in the weather's natural energy
equation. There is a theory, however, that links HAARP transmissions to the
chemtrails being spread over certain areas by military tanker aircraft that
could be plausible. If the chemtrails were testing minor concentrations of
biological or chemical warfare dispersants, as still suspected, why would
they be laying them down at 30,000 feet of altitude where they could drift
hundreds of miles before settling to the earth? On the other hand, if those
aerial spray patterns were laced with metallic based reactants that could
interact with the HAARP transmissions to alter weather, then there might be a
correlation between the non-specific transmissions of HAARP and the specific
targeted areas of chemtrails (which have included almost every part of the US
at one time or another). I've witnessed at least two chemtrail incidents (and
as a pilot, I know the difference between regular condensation trails and
these chemtrails). I have not, however, noted any specific weather change
after the sprayings. So, unless such sprayings are having long range weather
effects, I'm not sure this theory is true. That the government is spraying
chemicals into the atmosphere, and lying about it, I am sure - but for what
purpose, I still do not know.
The above-mentioned Brother Jonathan website has another scientific
explanation for the purpose of the HAARP system. The author has traced down
one of the HAARP patents and published it on his website. According to the
patent the HAARP system is capable of generating a concentrated particle beam
of ionized particles in the upper atmosphere that in turn generates a
electromagnetic pulse that bounces back and forth between the North and South
poles--creating, in effect, an umbrella shield against a Russian missile
attack. Incredibly, he points out that the patent lists the "missile shield"
as one of the patent's purposes (which I was able to confirm). In a similar
manner as the EMP weapons described above, HAARP is capable, according to the
author, of creating a large concentrated channel of electromagnetic energy in
the ionosphere which can damage computer control and release mechanisms in an
ICBM--thus supposedly protecting us against a Russian missile attack.
However, this patent may well be planted as disinformation. Even though his
theory is backed up by the publicly available patent material, which has been
legally assigned by the government to the contractor who built HAARP, I'm
still skeptical of this explanation. There are several tactical military
factors that make this kind of a missile shield highly unlikely or
ineffective:
1) The shield, if effective, would only affect a narrow beam of space
extending from the North Pole, downward over the HAARP antenna in Alaska,
then over the Pacific ocean east of Hawaii to the South Pole. The thickness
of the channel is relatively small, and its height is related to the
frequency employed. The Brother Jonathan website postulates that even though
the channel itself is relatively thin, super low frequencies can lower the
HAARP shield sufficient to affect any missiles traveling under the arch of
the pulsing shield. At least that's the theory.
2) Computer controls on most missiles are only used in the guiding phase--not
once the missile goes ballistic. An exception is MIRVed missiles, with
multiple warheads, which also use electronic controls to initiate warhead
separation. Thus, only MIRVed warheads would be threatened. Straight
ballistic missiles with a single warhead with contact detonators could
potentially survive any amount of electromagnetic energy in their path once
they passed the boost phase.
3) Because of the location of HAARP, ICBMs would only be vulnerable to this
narrow shield over Alaska if they were launched in Siberia. Missiles launched
in Moscow would travel over the polar route eastward near Greenland and would
bypass the HAARP shield. Within a year or two, most of Moscow's ICBMs will be
mobile so HAARP shields would have to be erected all along the Canadian
border to be effective against Russia's ability to bypass it.
4) The HAARP antenna array could be easily defeated by conventional attack
such as sabotage, low flying cruise missiles, or visual aerial bombing from
Russia, since the area is not heavily defended. A Russian missile attack
could then be launched without interference.
5) The US has developed electronics for satellites, bombers and missiles that
are hardened against EMP. The Russians claim to have the technology too.
THE ANSWER TO OUR STORY: I spoke with the local utility and they confirmed
that there was a problem at that time and date, but that it was due to a
shorted transformer which caused a very high voltage spike. The birds were
the culprits and the flashing arc was the blowing of the fuses above the
transformer when the birds shorted the unit the second time. The surge was so
great that a portion of the line had to be replaced. The voltage spike that
took out the station's electronic equipment was probably caused by the
initial surge after the first partial shorting of the transformer when the
power recovered on its own.
So, while this story has a normal ending, the future threat of EMP attack is
real. I want to direct my readers to a new website on the Internet that has a
tremendous amount of background information on this future threat which you
should all read. It is called The Final Phase and is featuring this week a
major piece I wrote on the growing window of vulnerability we face due to the
Bush administration's decision to pursue unilateral disarmament. Check it out
at http://www.thefinalphase.com.
