One second after……
One second after what, you may ask? The answer to this question is in the form of a new novel by William R. Forstchen, “One Second After”. I finished reading this best selling novel a few weeks ago and it has caused me to consider my own family survival if the situation that the novel describes takes place in our country.
The novel describes an Electro Magnetic Pulse attack on our country, and the resulting break down of government, society, and all support measures that we currently depend upon.
EMP is shorthand for Electro Magnetic Pulse. It is a rather unusual and frightening by-product when a nuclear bomb is detonated above the earth's atmosphere. We all know that our atmosphere and the magnetic field which surrounds our planet is a thin layer which not only keeps us alive, but also protects us from dangerous radiation from the sun. On a fairly regular basis there are huge solar storms on the sun's surface which emit powerful jets of deadly radiation. If not for the protective layer of our atmosphere and magnetic field, those storms would fry us. At times though, the storm is so power that enough disruptive energy reaches the earth's surface that it drowns out radio waves and even shorts electrical power grids. . .this happened several years back in Canada.
View the detonation of a nuclear bomb, two hundred miles straight up as the same thing, but infinitely more powerful since it is so close by.
As the bomb explodes it emits a powerful wave of gamma rays. As this energy release hits the upper atmosphere it creates an electrical disturbance known as the Compton Effect. The intensity is magnified. View it as a small pebble rolling down a slope, hitting a larger one, setting that in motion, until finally you have an avalanche.
At the speed of light this disturbance races to the earth surface. It is not something you can see or hear, in the same way you don't feel the electrical disturbance in the atmosphere during a large solar storm.
For all electrical systems though, it is deadly. As ham operators and potential emergency responders this represents a huge threat for our mission as communicators in a time of emergency. Any solid state radio hooked to an antenna or even to the AC power line would most likely be fried. This EMP effect would also disable all telephone systems, cell phones, and the entire electricity power grid system. Almost all vehicles made since 1980 would suffer damage to the electrical system and computer control vehicle engine systems. Even more dire, any civilian airplane in the air at the time of the EMP wave would most likely crash due to loss of all electrical control systems.
One second after such an attack, we as a country would be set back to conditions similar to the mid 1850's in a society not able to cope without modern support systems.
Unlike a lightning strike, or other power surge, an EMP surge is “front loaded.” Meaning it doesn't do a build up for a couple of micro-seconds, allowing enough time for the circuit breaker to “read” that trouble is on the way and shut down. It comes instead like a wall of energy, without any advance wave building up as a warning. It therefore slams through nearly all commercial and even military surge protectors already in place, and is past the “safety barrier” and into the delicate electronics before the system has time to react.
Such an attack could be carried out fairly easy by a rogue nation or terrorist group with just two or three very small nuclear warheads exploded above our atmosphere by a small rocket such as North Korea and Iran currently have. The threat is very real and could be carried out by these groups now or in the near future. We as a country are not prepared for this type of attack. Our military and some government sites are hardened for this but the civilian side of life, for the most part, is totally unprotected for this.
What can we do as individuals to protect ourselves and families and also as ham operators our equipment and ability to get on the air to handle emergency communications? I have been researching the Internet for information on EMP and steps you can take to protect yourself and electronic equipment. I have also consulted with several hams, who are retired military and industry experts who have done extensive professional study of EMP. They suggest we store our main radio, or a backup radio, in a metal box, to protect the circuits from an EMP blast. Any modern radio hooked to an antenna and plugged into a power supply will probably not survive the attack even if you have lightening protection on your station already. Interestingly, any older rig with tubes instead of modern solid state would most likely survive if not connected to an antenna or AC power. A simple thing called a “Faraday Cage” is nearly a fool proof protector of electronics from an EMP. Your metal box or screen could be as simple as a metal filing cabinet or box or small wire screen grounded.
We will need alternative power, as the AC will be out for a very long time. Batteries with recharge ability would do. Solar panels to recharge 12 volt batteries will do fine. Small gas generators will do but you must protect them from EMP if they have any computer or electronic control circuits built in them.
You should prepare to survive without any additional food or water sources from existing normal supplies. Also complete cut off of all medically supplies.
There will be no grocery store or pharmacy to re-supply you for a very long time after such an attack.
I am not writing this to scare you but to inform you of the possibility of such an event that our country is wide open to an attack. I encourage you to research this topic on your own. Start with Dr. Forstchen's website,
http://www.onesecondafter.com/ Other websites with information are:
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/em...aday_cages.htm
Re: From Bill Ryan -- the Ultimate Hypothesis
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks