AF6LJ
11-05-2009, 08:04 AM
Thank You Slashdot.org
When I was Ten years old I met an employee of my grandparents. He was a Corporal in the Army and did his tour in Viet Nam. He use to go scouting for mines and used a similar technique for finding landmines. He could even find the all plastic ones.
He taught me that technique, it's dowsing and allows you to find items you know about. What I mean by this is items you know their composition, things you have seen or held. So it's no wonder I find this article quite ordinary, I use to think everyone could do this and more....
In my mid teens I found out that was not the case.
Iraq Swears by Dowsing Rod Bomb Detector
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/04/2340204/Iraq-Swears-By-Dowsing-Rod-Bomb-Detector
jggimi writes "According to the New York Times, more than fifteen hundred remote sensing devices have been sold to Iraq's Ministry of the Interior, at prices ranging from $16,500 to $60,000 each. The devices are used for bomb and weapon detection at checkpoints, and have no battery or other power source. Sounds great, but according to a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack they work on the same principle as a Ouija board — the power of suggestion. He described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod. Even though the device has been debunked by the US Military, the US Department of Justice, and even Sandia National Laboratories, the Iraqis are thrilled with the devices. 'Whether it's magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,' said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior's General Directorate for Combating Explosives."
When I was Ten years old I met an employee of my grandparents. He was a Corporal in the Army and did his tour in Viet Nam. He use to go scouting for mines and used a similar technique for finding landmines. He could even find the all plastic ones.
He taught me that technique, it's dowsing and allows you to find items you know about. What I mean by this is items you know their composition, things you have seen or held. So it's no wonder I find this article quite ordinary, I use to think everyone could do this and more....
In my mid teens I found out that was not the case.
Iraq Swears by Dowsing Rod Bomb Detector
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/04/2340204/Iraq-Swears-By-Dowsing-Rod-Bomb-Detector
jggimi writes "According to the New York Times, more than fifteen hundred remote sensing devices have been sold to Iraq's Ministry of the Interior, at prices ranging from $16,500 to $60,000 each. The devices are used for bomb and weapon detection at checkpoints, and have no battery or other power source. Sounds great, but according to a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack they work on the same principle as a Ouija board — the power of suggestion. He described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod. Even though the device has been debunked by the US Military, the US Department of Justice, and even Sandia National Laboratories, the Iraqis are thrilled with the devices. 'Whether it's magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,' said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior's General Directorate for Combating Explosives."