Digging into the story a little has produced interesting additions. Of course, trying to contact the ATSC website is futile. Or rather, "website is under repair..."
However, thanks to the miracle of the interweb and the use of multiple marketing sites, it is possible to get a little peek at their marketing and claims at ecplazaglobal ("More Trade Chances for You").
"Overt or Covert operation," "Detection range exceeding 100- metres!*(in ideal conditions)", "Land-Mine detection" and able to "...detect all current known drug & explosive based substances" (or "..all know substance in the Narcotic or Explosives field."
The applications listed are "Government, (Police, Army, VIP's, etc;), VIP/Presidential Protection, Airport Authorities, Hotels, Wildlife Reservse, Private Security, Secure Premises/Shopping Malls". No price is given, though under payment the entries range from "terms negotiable" and "CALL or email" to "CIP". (The only acronym for this cryptic reimbursement method I can find that would seem to apply here is "Classical Internet Protocol Over ATM" from The Free Dictionary.)
Now I don't know a whole lot, but I do know that when I start coming across such blatant errors in spelling, grammar and syntax, reflags start going up. Of course, this is not the official website of ATSC, and judging from the overall quality of this site and wide variety of items offered (food stuffs, handbags, bust massagers, used engine oil recycling machines, cement mills, tool kits, Ugg boots, unlicked iPhones, skid loaders, flash drives and so very much more) it doesn't seem like the best place to be buying critical materials to protect the lives and limbs of military and police personnel, to say nothing of civilians.
But wait, there's more! So very much more!
Pro.Sec ("A World of Security") is a Lebanese based "Professional Security S.A.R.L." (I couldn't even find an acronym for that one) that also lsits the ADE 651, described as a "PORTABLE EXPLOSIVE DETECTOR. This equipment detects traces and particles of explosive substances, narcotics or any other that are same substances of the cards used in the card box holder. It works on nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR)or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). It can detect substances at long range to levels as low as simple contamination. The range of detection is around 50 meters with obstacles and up to 600 meters in outdoor areas, the unit can also detect explosives submerged in water or buried underground. Detection from a hovering helicopter is also possible." There's even a nifty little mpeg "add" link there as well, complete with explosions and a fellow pulling out a bundle of sticks explosives with wires coming out of it, which surely is what most explosives look like these days.
Okay, so enough of this selling of wishes to a gullible fear ridden security marketplace with more dollars than sense. As I delved into this story from the comfort of m'armchair, more starts to come about. This is not a new story, but actually the subject of an earlier NYTimes article, Iraq Swears by Bomb Detector U.S. Sees as Useless. Back in November of 2009 they were being described by a retired USAF officer as little more than "an explosives divining rod", even though over 1,500 were in Iraq, at most police stations and many military checkpoints, largely at the instigation of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior's General Directorate for Combating Explosives, Major General Jehad al-Jabiri. He's quoted saying "Whether it's magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs...I don't care about Sandia or the Department of Justice or any of them. I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world."
The NYTimes did a little testing of their own, and drove right through 9 police checkpoints using the ADE-651 and was stopped at none of them, despite the two AK-47s and ammunition in the car. When they later interviewed Jabiri in his office, they were offered an opportunity to use the device to detect a weapon and grenade sitting out there. While a policeman there was able to detect those weapons hidden in plain sight, the reporter failed to get it to work for him after several attempts, leading the general to chide him that "You need more training."
After all, backers of the ADE-651 "...often argue that errors stem from the human operator, who they say must be rested, with a steady pulse and body temperature, before using the device. Then the operator must walk in place a few moments to “charge” the device, since it has no battery or other power source, and walk with the wand at right angles to the body. If there are explosives or drugs to the operator’s left, the wand is supposed to swivel to the operator’s left and point at them. If, as often happens, no explosives or weapons are found, the police may blame a false positive on other things found in the car, like perfume, air fresheners or gold fillings in the driver’s teeth. "
Oh, but I weary of such back and forth, and this little debacle is not really about what this blog is supposed to be about, aside from the insight it offers into the malleability of human belief systems. Someone is always out there waiting to capitalize on your most fondly held notions.
There are several much better sites on the ADE-651 issue than this. Jon Starbuck's ADE651 - the milliion - dollar bomb detector scam, which led me to the Pro.Sec site, was posting on this back in early November of 2009, and the comments section has a number of links that should be followed up on by anyone with an interst in this subject. (My favorite comment on one of those links was "What happened to the days when you can buy a divining rod for $100?")
There's also Questions About Sniffex, ADE651, GT200, H3 Tec, HEDD1, and Other Explosive Detectors, which was questioning similar devices back in April of 2008, as well as on a surprisingly large number of divining rod type detectors. There are links to a official US government test of a similar device that was brought to light by The (Not So) Amazing Randi, comments by Randi, and an update on similar problems being encountered by the Thai government.
The depth to which governments through out the world (and the depth of their pockets) are accepting an anomalistic mode of detection once relegated to the paranormal is truly astounding, to say nothing of the abysmal depths to which individuals hiding behind corporate facades are willing to cash in on such openmindedness.
Consider everything, but beleive nothing, especially when large amounts of cash are operating behind the scenes. And when it comes to corporations, rest assured that their fiduciary feasibility comes before the common good.
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