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I agree, Poole, that you cannot build an EMP weapon in the garage with spare parts from Radio Trash. On the other, we know terrorist states have actively sought people and hardware from the FSU. All it would take is for our enemies to get a nuclear weapon(s) in orbit above CONUS to cause some mischief.

"...when he first discovered EMP in July 1962 during the last U.S. nuclear test conducted in the atmosphere. That test involved the detonation of a 1.5-megaton weapon at an altitude of 400 kilometers (248 miles) over Johnston Island in the Pacific. 'Eight hundred miles away in Hawaii, streetlights went out within seconds,' Cikotas says. “Fuses failed on Oahu, telephone service was disrupted on Kauai and the power system went down on Hawaii itself. What caused it was the high-powered electromagnetic pulse set off by the nuclear explosion, which hit Hawaii like a lightning bolt.'"

Consider the damage from say a half dozen megaton+ nukes in high orbit around CONUS. Not pretty.

-- Remember (the@ld.forum.com), September 27, 2001

Answers

"Consider the damage from say a half dozen megaton+ nukes in high orbit around CONUS. Not pretty."

Certainly not pretty. But putting a payload into high orbit is not exactly within the reach of any terrorist group on earth. Even China, which has successfully built ICBMs, has been having a hell of a time building rockets than can boost payloads into high orbit.

Of course, EMP at 30,000 ft. would not be pretty, either.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), September 27, 2001.

Remember,

Go back and re-read what I said. I was specifically questioning the idea that hackers could build something capable of "destroying civilization" out of spare parts for under $400.

Of course nukes will create EMP. We've known that for decades.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), September 27, 2001.

248 miles is space, not high altitude. I didn't know it was that high. I'm now wondering what launcher they used in 1962 that could have been retrofitted to deploy a weapon. I don't think this is a very accurate statement.

LN, thanks to Clinton, the Chinese know lots more.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), September 27, 2001.

Relax, Poole. I was just adding some snippets on EMP. I am not worried about $400 "ray guns." The threat from EMP, however, is serious. What we haven't "known for decades" is that rogue states have access to nuclear weapons technology. The FSU has nukes it cannot account for. Do you know where they are?

And, Nipper, don't underestimate the Chinese space program. In August 2001, the Chinese SZ-2 orbital module reached an altitude of around 240 miles. China claims it will be in the business of manned spaceflight next year. The Shenzhou program has worked and China is fully capable of putting nuclear weapons over the U.S. If you didn't know (and I doubt you did), China launched a NavSat in 2000 and plans to launch six MetSats within the next six years. How hard would it be to hide a nuke in a satellite package? Not very.

-- Remember (the@ld.forum.com), September 27, 2001.

"I was specifically questioning the idea that hackers could build something capable of "destroying civilization" out of spare parts for under $400. "

Yeah, and until Sep. 11, I would have "specifically questioned" the idea that terrorists could bring down both WTC towers for the cost of a one-way Priceline ticket.

-- (@ .), September 27, 2001.

Not so. The science is there on that one; we've known since the 1920's that aircraft could cause incredible damage if they crashed -- purposely or not -- into heavily-populated areas and/or tall buildings.

There IS no science on $400 EMP weapons that could "destroy civilization," only speculation from nincompoops and somewhat-disingenuous security "consultants" who want to sell their services to governments.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), September 28, 2001.

I run a business that specializes in selling anti-nincompoop protective services to governments. My fee? Oddly enough it is $400.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.