Those with a good memory for quirky media stories about things that have no direct bearing on their own lives might recall this article or this one from last year. These stories covered the use of proven fraudulent explosive detectors at Iraqi checkpoints by police and security personnel. Ben Goldacre also covered the story a year earlier on his blog Bad Science.
Why am I bringing this old stuff up now? Well for one the repercussions of this debacle are ongoing, and two these devices or others like them are still in use – sometimes no number of weight challenged females displaying their melodic oratory prowess will sound the death knell for frauds and scams. Plus somebody asked me to.
That’s right, ask me to write about something and I’ll say how high; or something like that.
Actually I thought that this was a subject worth bringing up again as not only are lives put in danger around the world by these devices and the fraudsters who sell them but the principles by which they “work” are also promoted here in NZ for more benign purposes. It’s dowsing dressed up for the technology age. Unfortunately the camouflage seems to distract people from the fact that it’s all bunk. I also consider it a sort of “gateway woo” that could in severe cases lead to Crystal Therapy and possibly even, Reiki. Stay in school kids.
Back to the subject at hand. The devices I’m referring to all appear to be based on the same basic design: a handle and a free moving antenna. That’s about it folks. This set up allows the scammer, uh, I mean legitimate business man, to take advantage to two phenomena; the ideomotor effect and our ability to be fooled by the ideomotor effect.
An example of one of these gadgets is the Alpha 6*:

No relation to this Alpha 6, who is way cooler:

Anyway, as you can see the “detector” can be held and the antenna may swing back and forth. In this manner it can be influenced by slight movements by the handler and appear to give a clear signal. Trouble is, independent tests keep showing they’re worthless.
Now a movement has been initiated to put pressure on responsible governments to crack down on the continuing frauds that cost lives. Sign up if you feel strongly about the lives lost due to the trade of these useless detectors. For more information regarding the background of many of these devices go here.
For more coverage as it happens see these sites:
http://ade651gt200scamfraud.blogspot.com/
http://explosivedetectorfrauds.blogspot.com/
http://sniffexquestions.blogspot.com/
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* For more pics go Here, some of them are hilarious.
I have also been asked to give credit to the following for their input on this issue over the years: James Randi, Dr. Keith Conover, Andres Tonini, Bruce Hood, Techowiz, Lumpy Low, Techhead, BBC Newsnight and to many others who have devoted time and effort to this campaign since 1995. As well as all those that have suffered from this fraud, whether through loss of life, limbs, liberty or because the money could have been spent so much more effectively.
Related articles
- UK promoted failed bomb detectors (news.bbc.co.uk)
- Bogus Dowsing Rod ‘Bomb Detector’ (milkandcookies.com)
- Iraqi General Turns Down JREF Challenge, Gets Arrested for Bomb Detector Scam (randi.org)
- Man bailed in bomb detectors probe (mirror.co.uk)
Just to say thanks so much for doing another piece on this. The more coverage, the more chance we can get this trade properly stamped on.
Just for clarity, please be good enough to sign the petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-action-and-justice-in-fake-explosive-detectors-scandal
Many thanks for any support!!
Latest media coverage of the issue here:
http://ade651gt200scamfraud.blogspot.com/2012/01/clinton-rogers-reports.html
Thanks for that, cross posted comment on the Sciblogs version of this post:
http://sciblogs.co.nz/skepticon/2011/04/04/fraudulent-bomb-detectors/
This petition is great, and of course I signed it, but it’s a shame people are fooled by this so easily. i did a report on an actual explosive detector kinda like this one and the detail in which they function is tremendous.
Hi John, Good to see someone keeping an interest in this ongoing sorry saga. We have a lead to attack one of the main players in the game, and anyone interested can refer to the blogs above in the next few days to see this new lead.
Sadly, suspiciously and shockingly, the main perpetrators in the U.K. remain free, and no charges have been brought against them, nearly four years into the campaign here, and 17 years since Randi first exposed Quadro Tracker, Indeed, Gary Bolton of GT200 fame has not even been arrested! Remember he’s the one who had deep links into the British military establishment! Anyway, onwards we go, looking for opportunities to undermine the bastards who sold this stuff at every opportunity we can find!
Was discussing with Techowiz last night and we are quite pleased that we have managed to flood the internet with anti fraudster info, and significantly limited their scope of potential sales.
keep on Skepticking! Peter The Fake Explosives Detectors Campaign.
GREAT NEWS! McCormick charged! And a huge thank you to Techowiz, without whom this would never have happened!
http://ade651gt200scamfraud.blogspot.co.uk/
http://explosivedetectorfrauds.blogspot.co.uk/