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ily have checked that all tracks in the event ground-zero were devoid Federal Police have been analysed in the WA Government of personnel—if this was even considered necessary. They could Laboratory in Perth. These rocks contained such low levels of urani- certainly have filmed the events of 28 May and/or carried out moni- um that the chemists and Police laughed at the Aum's apparent stu- toring of field scientific parameters. pidity in attempting to use these ores for nuclear-bomb-making pur- In late September 1993 Shoko Asahara, the bearded guru-leader of poses. There is no other evidence of any illegal uranium mining or the Aum sect, arrived in Perth with deputy leader Hayakawa and sev- large-scale sampling by the Aum at or near Banjawarn. eral group members (including young teenage girls), carrying excess Thus Hayakawa had undertaken geochemical sampling of the local air freight baggage reportedly costing some A$330,000. uranium shows before and after the 28 May '93 Banjawarn fireball This "baggage" included laboratory and "mining equipment" in the event with its associated explosion, earthquake and two-hour orange- cargo hold, as well as dangerous chemicals (hydrochloric acid) con- _ red hemispherical structure. cealed in toiletry containers and sake bottles in personal luggage. Later news reports, sourced from an Aum detainee imprisoned in Many of these items were confiscated by Australian Customs, and Tokyo, suggested that Aum had attempted to extract fissionable ura- two Aum members spent time in detention over their infringement of nium from the Banjawarn ore. air safety regulations. This nuclear technology story fitted the earlier press releases of US The Aum entourage hired a couple of twin-engined planes to fly Senator Sam Nunn, who, as senior member of the US Senate inquiry them out to Banjawarn. They later utilised the planes for low-level into the Aum sect and Weapons of Mass Destruction (Oct-Nov aerial recce around the entire station area as well as examination of 1995), had argued that there was evidence the Aum had attempted to areas outside the station to the east, south and north. acquire nuclear weapons from their Russian contacts, and had also The Australian Federal Police alleges that the Aum sect tested attempted to develop their own nuclear weapons in Aum factories. sarin nerve gas on sheep at Banjawarn station during its September On the available evidence, Nunn was worried that the Aum may 993 occupation. The evidence for this is slim and would probably have succeeded in either endeavour and had therefore acquired fall down if ever tested in court. Moreover, there is copious evidence nuclear weapons. His worry was justified, given media information that sarin was not the gas used in the Tokyo subway gas attack. suggesting that Aum leader Asahara was not only predicting a future Gas attacks on the Japanese railway system, and strange (possibly major nuclear war between Japan and the USA, but was also plotting terrorist-initiated) "accidents" in Japanese nuclear power plants, have to initiate such a war by detonating a clandestine nuclear weapon continued well after Asahara's incarceration. There is some evidence within continental USA. that points to North Korean terrorist activi- The ore available to the Aum at ties being the source of all of these inci- Banjawarn was very low grade, dents—including the original Tokyo sub- and, in common with all uranium way gas attack. ore, consisted of 99.999% ?*U with Today, Asahara is generally being vili- The eyewitness observations of the only very minuscule amounts of fied in the Japanese/world media and is : . **U—the highly reactive, fission- kept in a cold cell; but Hayakawa is hardly Banjawarn explosion of 28 May able bomb-making uranium iso- heard of whil der house arrest AA tope. Until the recent devel t (where his warders callhim’Sir"), | 1998 resemble a description Of Af fiaser extraction technology. it It appears likely that the Aum was simply night-time nuclear blast. would take years to acquire useful nominated as the source of the gas attack to amounts of this isotope—using shut down a compromised intelligence asset large centrifuge and gas extraction and hide the true state of affairs regarding industrial plants operating on huge North Korea. amounts of ore with massive elec- trical power requirements. It still NUCLEAR BOMB SCENARIO takes large amounts of ore but can now be achieved in months rather The eyewitness observations of the Banjawarn explosion of 28 than years. May 1993 resemble a description of a night-time nuclear blast. It was obviously impossible for the Aum to effect recovery of suf- Calculations utilising the seismic signals received around WA sug- ficient *°U for a standard uranium nuclear bomb in their field labora- gested that the energies involved in the explosion were at least 1-2 tory and with their limited mining actions at Banjawarn. But a kilotonnes of TNT equivalent, i.e., similar to a small nuclear bomb. "dirty" bomb (?*U-cased tactical or micro-nuke, as acquired from Following mid-1995 press reports that linked the Aum to attempts to Russia?) could possibly have been achieved by the Aum's actions. rocure nuclear weapons, I decided that this possibility was serious However, Hayakawa had expended a great deal of effort in his enough to alert the US Senate inquiry and the Australian authorities. geophysical all-night-long number-crunching surveys and in his geo- However, a lack of radioactive dust particles in Australian collectors chemical sampling of the local uranium shows. What was his pur- for that month, as well as intelligence information and other consid- _ pose, and was there a link with the events of 28 May 1993? erations, soon led me to discount the nuclear bomb theory. However, The possible links between the Aum sect and the Banjawarn events the US Senate is still researching this possibility. can be summarised as: During their brief one-month occupation of Banjawarn station in (1) The Aum's interest in the same piece of Planet Earth as the 993, the Aum entourage established a field chemical laboratory in strange "fireball" and its associated events, and at approximately the one of the Banjawarn station houses. They also built a new graded same time; track down to the edge of the large salt lake south of the station (2) Hayakawa's earlier "Landscape Engineering", i.e., EM weapons uildings, presumably to allow better access for uranium sampling. studies at Osaka University, and Murai's EM work at Kobe Steel; There is solid evidence from Australian Federal Police sources that (3) The US Senate inquiry chief lawyer's comments re the Aum's the Aum re-sampled many uranium mineral shows in the district and interest in Tesla's earthquake-inducing EM weapons systems; air-freighted a trunkload of local uranium ore back to Japan. (4) The strange nature of the "fireball" events, as reported by eye- Samples of this ore left in the Banjawarn laboratory and found by the witnesses, apparently not fitting a normal, natural meteorite scenario. NUCLEAR BOMB SCENARIO The eyewitness observations of the Banjawarn explosion of 28 May 1993 resemble a description of a night-time nuclear blast. Calculations utilising the seismic signals received around WA sug- gested that the energies involved in the explosion were at least 1-2 kilotonnes of TNT equivalent, i.e., similar to a small nuclear bomb. Following mid-1995 press reports that linked the Aum to attempts to rocure nuclear weapons, I decided that this possibility was serious enough to alert the US Senate inquiry and the Australian authorities. However, a lack of radioactive dust particles in Australian collectors for that month, as well as intelligence information and other consid- erations, soon led me to discount the nuclear bomb theory. However, the US Senate is still researching this possibility. During their brief one-month occupation of Banjawarn station in 993, the Aum entourage established a field chemical laboratory in one of the Banjawarn station houses. They also built a new graded track down to the edge of the large salt lake south of the station uildings, presumably to allow better access for uranium sampling. There is solid evidence from Australian Federal Police sources that the Aum re-sampled many uranium mineral shows in the district and air-freighted a trunkload of local uranium ore back to Japan. Samples of this ore left in the Banjawarn laboratory and found by the 48 = NEXUS AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1997