The ADE 651: The Ultimate Non-Working Bomb Detector
November 5th, 2009 10:20 AM | by Steve Anderson | 3 Comments
The ADE 651 is a device with an impressive marketing angle. Over in Iraq, it’s being used to sniff out everything from bombs to guns to drugs and beyond, and detect them all from a distance of up to half a mile. It’s a handheld device, easy to carry, the Iraqi military swears by it…there’s just one problem.
It doesn’t actually work.
ATSC, the company that makes the ADE 651, claims that they work via “electrostatic magnetic ion attraction”, which if I remember my collegiate physics courses correctly means “a bunch of sciencey terms strung together almost at random”. Independent testing of many similar devices by the Department of Defense shows none of them work much better than pure chance. And here’s the part that’ll kill you–they sold the Iraqi military fifteen hundred of these things at prices ranging from $16,500 to $60,000 dollars EACH.
And there you go. The Iraqis bought at least $24 million worth of bomb detectors that don’t detect.
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This has got to be a wind-up. The address that this ‘company’ is registered at (26 York Street, London) is just a forwarding address.
This ADE 651 issue is to me is further evidence of the impossibility that Iraq will ever have anything approaching a democratic government in this century. There is no real desire on the part of any of the various factions to cooperate with each other. Eveyone is trying to subvert the process to theiir own political advantage.
This phoney surveillance device is Carte Blanche to search anyone, anytime by alleging that some sort of contraband was detected. Then contraband is perhaps actually found, or not. Or it is planted or not. Or friends and confederates of the personnel at the checkpoint useing the phoney device are permitted to pass with actual contraband that will profit the group running that particular checkpoint.
The entire poitical process is hopelessly corrupt, and the ubiquitous use of these deviices is simply further evvidence of this. I look back to the days of Saddam Hussein with wistful ennui.
I am currently using the ADE651 in a private organisation in Cairo Egypt. I cannot believe all the abuse this product is recieving from people who have never used the product and have never worked in security before. I USE IT AND BELIEVE ME THIS PRODUCT WORKS. You people are accusing the manufacturers having never even come close to one of the devices. Do you all believe that governments and private organisations would buy the product without testing it, under their own conditions first. How stupid do you think people are?
James Randi is a magician!!!!! What the hell does he know about security and protecting people. I really wish someone would take him up on his offer. Everyone is discussing scientic issues when the real question should be does it work in the field or not, which from a personal point of view it does.