Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

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Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby pepsified thinker » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:13 pm

I'm watching a YouTube video and that name was mentioned as a man-made EMP event. There are video game-related items when I google it, and a weird partial file on wikipedia (a pic but no info).

<scratching head>

. . . could be just a YouTube dude with some made-up/misremembered/bad info, but thought I'd check.

The YouTube clip is: 'How To Prepare for an EMP'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWriyOaK ... re=related
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby justdrew » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:19 pm

I don't know why he's saying it was close to the ground, it was a high altitude atomic test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFXlrn6-ypg
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby Simulist » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:17 pm

Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

I just assumed it was another installment of the Starfish franchise:

• Starfish SG-1
• Starfish Atlantis
• Starfish Universe
• Starfish Prime
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby anothershamus » Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:57 pm

justdrew wrote:I don't know why he's saying it was close to the ground, it was a high altitude atomic test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFXlrn6-ypg


Are EMPs line of sight or do they radiate above the horizon? I thought anything above ground would cause some level of EMP.

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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby Sepka » Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:18 am

anothershamus wrote:
justdrew wrote:Are EMPs line of sight or do they radiate above the horizon? I thought anything above ground would cause some level of EMP.


EMP propagates preferentially along the lines of the earth's magnetic field. You get kind of an oval-shaped footprint. It's possible for it to propagate over the horizon.
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:43 am

Literally one of the main reasons I started Brainsturbator:

http://www.brainsturbator.com/articles/ ... ish_prime/

^^I would like to point out the above link is also incoherent and poorly written content...

Anyways. It has obsessed me since I was a kid. I saw footage of the testing in a big theatre and it really made a dent on my frontal lobes. That obsession is a big inspiration for my first music video being centered around nuke testing, too.

Image

... in 1962 ... STARFISH PRIME was one of the high-altitude nuclear tests in the Operation Fishbowl series conducted in the Pacific Proving Ground ... It was launched in the Johnston Island area to an altitude of about 400 kilometers by a Thor rocket and had a yield of 1.4 megatons. ... When a nuclear weapon detonates at a high altitude, many of the effects are attenuated. Most of the x-ray energy is absorbed in the air, which decreases the fireball temperature. Absorption of thermal x-ray energy also decreases the energy available for a shock wave. This all results in the development of a toroidal or donut-shaped cloud instead of the usual mushroom shape of ground or near ground explosions. ... Within a second or two after the burst, a brilliant aurora appears from the bottom of the fireball. The formation of the aurora is attributed to the motion, along the lines of the earth's magnetic field, of beta particles emitted by the radioactive fission fragments. ..




Nukes seem like an obvious mistake. Most of what science does these days is like that, though.
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby pepsified thinker » Tue Jun 29, 2010 2:42 am

Thanks for the links and info--next question:

Will a simple faraday cage--aluminum screen-wrapped set of shelves--give protection vs. an EMP? Here's the YouTube video for that item.


Bulid a Faraday Cage - EMP electromagnetic pulse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWjT0Bh_KZ8

Seems too simple/easy. But then again, you have to have your useful electronic devices IN the thing for them to be safe--not so convenient.
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby Sepka » Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:45 am

pepsified thinker wrote:Will a simple faraday cage--aluminum screen-wrapped set of shelves--give protection vs. an EMP?


Most assuredly.
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby Searcher08 » Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:44 am

Sepka wrote:
pepsified thinker wrote:Will a simple faraday cage--aluminum screen-wrapped set of shelves--give protection vs. an EMP?


Most assuredly.


Over the last few years, I have been having intermittent dreams that feature what seems to be an EMP type event.

In the dream, people knew that there was a chance of it and seemed surprisingly well prepared. However on the day, all the damage happened because the pulse came FROM BELOW. There was no way 'this could happen' - and the devastation caused was immense, added to by the fact that people felt cheated that some fprm of simple precautions could have prevented much of the ensuing disaster.

I was wondering if this is a possible scenario - is there a way an EMP could be 'bounced' from below?
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby elfismiles » Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:48 am

My name is Plissken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed6Yr81jZ6g

The Electromagnetic Threat – by Jamie Glazov
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/10/the- ... ie-glazov/

New Warnings On EMP Threat
Posted by George Hulme, Sep 10, 2009
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/mai ... gs_on.html

Electropulse weapon fear spreads to UK politicos
Civilisation threatened by bombs over the Atlantic
By Chris Williams / 24th July 2009 14:01 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/24/emp_uk/

One Second After by William R. Forstchen
http://www.onesecondafter.com

Image

Cannon-fired shock wave could stun, kill people
http://www.physorg.com/news183142646.html

Eureka’s EMP cannon destined for the Marines? (video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT5EJYY_6HQ
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/20/eure ... nes-video/


Silicon-based shielding may protect military electronics from EMP
By John McHale


WASHINGTON-Engineers at Transtector in Hayden, Idaho, are producing electromagnetic pulse (EMP) shielding devices based on silicon for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) classified applications.

The company supplied EMP shielding equipment for two DOD contracts-one for a HUMVEE application and one for a missile command shelter, says Bill MaGee, business unit manager at Transtector.

MaGee declined to comment further on the contracts because of contractual and security concerns. He did say, however, that the market for this type of technology is growing at about 10 percent every year and shows so much promise that Transtector officials have formed a new division around the military market and are looking at investing in an EMP testing laboratory on sight. Currently, the military market is only about 5 percent of Transtector’s business, but these investments show its leaders’ faith in this market.

MaGee says that the goal is to have every military base and C4 application shielded from EMP attacks.

EMP attacks are one of the biggest threats the nation and its military face, MaGee says. A report to Congress last year, “Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack (EMP),” outlined the seriousness of the threat, he explains. However, not many heard about it “because it was released at the same time as the 9-11 report.”

According to the report, “A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication. EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. EMP will cover the wide geographic region within line of sight to the nuclear weapon. It has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures and thus to the very fabric of U.S. society, as well as to the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power.

“The common element that can produce such an impact from EMP is primarily electronics, so pervasive in all aspects of our society and military, coupled through critical infrastructures. Our vulnerability is increasing daily as our use of and dependence on electronics continues to grow. The impact of EMP is asymmetric in relation to potential protagonists who are not as dependent on modern electronics.”

“Standards require EMP shielding, but many claim these standards are not necessary. We say they should be and we have the products that will do it,” says Dan Rebeck, electrical engineer at Transtector.

Typical electronic products that Transtector devices protect are AC power or network products such as Ethernet or T1-E1, Rebeck says.

One Transtector product is the EMP-T1E1 surge suppressor, a high-speed, high-current solid-state device designed to protect balanced AMI T1/E1 lines from EMP, EMI, electrical transients, and low-level CW noise. The EMP-T1E1 surge suppressor uses only silicon avalanche-suppression diodes (SASD). It connects to the service in a pass-through configuration.

Transtector’s EMP products are silicon-diode-based, which gives them advantages such as the nondegradable nature of silicon, he says; as long as the surge does not exceed the energy level of an EMP shot, the silicon will never degrade. Gas-tube devices have varying rates and degrade more quickly, Rebeck explains. Silicon also turns on quickly after the surge hits, Rebeck says.

For more information on Transtector visit http://www.transtector.com.

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/index/ ... m-emp.html



Aw hell ... let's not leave out TGFs:

Shuttle Mission Update; Gamma Rays In T Storms?
http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blog ... storms.asp

Are TGFs Hazardous To Air Travelers?
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1821 ... travelers/
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby anothershamus » Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:31 pm

Sepka wrote:
pepsified thinker wrote:Will a simple faraday cage--aluminum screen-wrapped set of shelves--give protection vs. an EMP?


Most assuredly.



You can also use old tube electronics, they are immune to EMP.
)'(
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:32 pm

It would be the supreme tactical maneuver, obviously, to clear out opposing tech while preserving your own.
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby surfaceskimmer » Sun Jul 04, 2010 1:05 pm

A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space
A multi-media link

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... t=1&f=1026

tip of the cap to Cryptogon
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby seemslikeadream » Sun Jul 04, 2010 2:51 pm

ImageImageImageImage
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Anyone ever heard of 'Starfish Prime'--an EMP event?

Postby elfismiles » Sun Oct 15, 2017 10:26 am

More right-wing fear-mongering?

Note presence of UFO skeptic James Oberg being quoted.

Experts Warn Congress: North Korean EMP Would Kill '90% of Americans' – Consider Nuke First Strike
By RYAN SAAVEDRA October 13, 2017 67.3k views

Two EMP experts warned Congress on Thursday that North Korea is capable of executing an EMP attack over the United States which would send the U.S. back to the stone age and would lead to the deaths of 90 percent of all Americans within one year.

Chairman Dr. William R. Graham and Chief of Staff Dr. Peter Vincent Pry of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack told the Committee on Homeland Security that the U.S. is now facing a “doomsday scenario” as U.S. intelligence under the Obama administration grossly underestimated the capabilities of North Korea.

Former NASA rocket scientist James Oberg visited North Korea’s Sohae space launch base, witnessed elaborate measures undertaken to conceal space launch payloads, and concludes in a 2017 article that the EMP threat from North Korea’s satellites should be taken seriously:

…there have been fears expressed that North Korea might use a satellite to carry a small nuclear warhead into orbit and then detonate it over the United States for an EMP strike. These concerns seem extreme and require an astronomical scale of irrationality on the part of the regime. The most frightening aspect, I’ve come to realize, is that exactly such a scale of insanity is now evident in the rest of their space program.


Graham and Pry referenced writing from Ambassador Henry Cooper – former Director of the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, and a preeminent expert on missile defenses and space weapons – who has repeatedly warned U.S. officials about the threat presented by North Korea:

U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) interceptors are designed to intercept a few North Korean ICBMs that approach the United States over the North Polar region. But current U.S. BMD systems are not arranged to defend against even a single ICBM that approaches the United States from over the South Polar region, which is the direction toward which North Korea launches its satellites… So, North Korea doesn’t need an ICBM to create this existential threat. It could use its demonstrated satellite launcher to carry a nuclear weapon over the South Polar region and detonate it…over the United States to create a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP)…The result could be to shut down the U.S. electric power grid for an indefinite period, leading to the death within a year of up to 90 percent of all Americans—as the EMP Commission testified over eight years ago.


Graham and Pry stated the U.S. now faces a serious and potentially imminent threat of a nuclear EMP attack from North Korea and that immediate action is needed:

* Just six months ago, most experts thought North Korea’s nuclear arsenal was primitive, some academics claiming it had as few as 6 A-Bombs. Now the intelligence community reportedly estimates North Korea has 60 nuclear weapons.
* Just six months ago, most experts thought North Korea’s ICBMs were fake, or if real could not strike the U.S. mainland. Now the intelligence community reportedly estimates North Korea’s ICBMs can strike Denver and Chicago, and perhaps the entire United States.
* Just six months ago, most experts thought North Korea was many years away from an H-bomb. Now it appears North Korea has H-Bombs comparable to sophisticated U.S. two-stage thermonuclear weapons.
* Just six months ago, most experts claimed North Korean ICBMs could not miniaturize an ABomb or design a reentry vehicle for missile delivery. Now the intelligence community reportedly assesses North Korea has miniaturized nuclear weapons, and has developed reentry vehicles for missile delivery, including by ICBMs that can strike the U.S.


Congress received a variety of solutions for the mid-term and long-term in how they should approach the situation – however Graham and Pry did not mince words about what President Donald Trump needs to do, immediately:

We recommend that the President declare that EMP or cyber-attacks that blackout or threaten to blackout the national electric grid constitute the use of weapons of mass destruction that justify preemptive and retaliatory responses by the United States using all possible means, including nuclear weapons.


http://www.dailywire.com/news/22236/exp ... -saavedra#
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