If ever proof were needed that the fraudsters should stay away from trying to show their devices work when they don't control the test, VOLLMAR and TRIER, again show why they all stay well away from independent testing. I have already published the Youtube when they tried to fool the Thais but were completely exposed. Now read another classic failure below, I have added some comments:
Translation from Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) article on Unival and the HEDD1.
Date of publication: March 19th 2010.
New bomb detector “Wünschel Dir was”.
A little black apparatus with a tuning antenna on top(
Sound familiar?) could make the body-scanner controversy in Germany come to an end: The HEDD1 is supposed to(
Emphasis on supposed) locate explosives from as far as 100 meters away, even through walls(
I'll ask again, does this claim sound familiar?). If only there weren´t so many doubters(
Thank you for the acknowledgement). Serge Debrebant (author), Bonn, Nora Schlüter (assistance)
It is an unpleasant winter's day, cold and damp, and the underground car park in Bonn where I find myself is not exactly welcoming. But I am accepting the circumstances because I am about to become witness of a security-technology revolution(
LOL): The Unival company is demonstrating its bomb detector to me(
No they are not, they are trying to fool you), a hand held device with the somewhat impersonal name "HEDD1"(
Formerly known as SNIFFEX). Upon closer inspection, the 276 gr machinery looks like a black bicycle grip with some sort of antenna attached to it, which in turn will rotate towards the direction where the bomb is(
Just like all the other frauds claim).
If you believe the manufacturer(
NO), this device is more effective than any comparable bomb detectors on the market(
There are NO comparable bomb detectors only comparable frauds). As a genuine(
?) all-rounder, it may(
There again it may not!) detect TNT, dynamite, liquid, plastic, and many other explosives from a distance of up to 100m. Even concrete walls are no obstacle(
Off course it can, it just can't be proven or shown to do so). "There is no
other technology that is able to discover explosives from such a distance” says David Vollmar(
Well if Vollmar claims it, it must be true!Just don't ask him to prove it). He is the founder and owner(
And Chief Fraudster) of Unival Group, a small, young company for security technology in Bonn. "The detection rate of HEDD1 is over 80 percent."(
We made this number up, we can't prove it, and as you will see it will completely fail this test also)
Unival coach (Head of Training) Frank (
'Rambo') Trier demonstrates the application of HEDD1 (
Nothing like introducing a comedy element to lighten any serious demonstration)
But you have to know that Vollmar does not refer to scientific tests(
Because he doesn't have any), but rather to more than 100
presentations (
set ups) that were
organized set up by Unival. If the 80 percent detection rate were really true(
If only), the HEDD1 could solve many security problems in one swoop(
Exactly, so why is it not in use the world over-Answer, because it is a scam). Self-made roadside bombs in Afghanistan? No problem. De-mining? Ditto. With HEDD1 the Detroit aeroplane bomber would never have slipped through the checks(
yes he would). If it was up to Vollmar, the world would not discuss the use of body scanners at airports, but the HEDD1(
The world is discussing the HEDD1 but as the fraud it is).
Why does it not?(
Because it is a scam) Because many experts doubt that bomb detectors like HEDD1 are anything more but a self-deception of the user. In recent years, a whole group of models appearing very like dowsing/divining rods came on the market(
You can never keep a good scam to yourself anymore), to detect explosives through the antenna swinging(
Dowsing). The best(
Worst) example is ATSC, a British company that has delivered a device called the ADE651 to Iraq. Among other things - the government in Baghdad bought more than 1,500 pieces at a price of up to 45,000 pounds.(
See article about General Jabiri)
In January(
2010), the company owner was arrested on suspicion of fraud(
Still on bail). Inside the detector only simple RFID tags were found, as used, for example, in shops to prevent theft(
Should stop the ADE651 from being stolen) . According to scientists from the University of Cambridge it is impossible for these tags to discover anything at all. Nobody knows how many people lost their lives at checkpoints(
Certainly over 300), because the security forces relied on the ADE651.
Unival do not want to be associated with such charlatanism(
Of course not). Now I want to convince myself of how the HEDD1 functions properly(
Trust me you wont be able too). For this reason I hide two small explosive charges in the underground car park(
Sneaky): a rifle cartridge and a pack with New Year's Eve firecrackers. Vollmar and Frank Trier, who is responsible for customer
training (
Fooling) at Unival, wait outside. They are convinced of the potential of their product(
LOL): "In the next one to two years, we will have sold up to 3,000 units," says Vollmar(
Even though they don't work as proven here). The cost of around 8000 € for an apparatus is almost a bargain(
If it worked I would agree, but it is a scam): A body scanner is at least $ 150,000.
The predecessor(
The Sniffex fraud, well documented) of HEDD1 was sold some 2000 times to 40 countries around the world, including to the Turkish army, the Iraq interior and defence ministries and the Italian border patrol - but also to the German Wisag, a service provider with approximately 20,000 employees. For a discussion of the detector there was no one available (at WISAG) on request(
Embarrassment does that to people).
Behind the invention(
?) of HEDD1 is a tinkerer named Yuri Markov(
Wanted by the Police), a Bulgarian. For more than 15 years, the former telecommunications engineer has worked on the development of the system that was first marketed in the U.S. under the name "Sniffex" - and that the German company Unival now exclusively distributes as HEDD1. Markov will not reveal what technology exactly is behind it(
Because there isn't any), For example, he does not say what is inside that metal container that is at the heart of the detector. Trade secret(
LOL).
What he reveals is: The HEDD1 creates a "modulated magnetic field" if the magnets above and below the metal container set the substance in vibration(
Bullshit warning). Additionally, a magnetic field is created around the explosive substance. In the event of magnetic fields overlapping, the antenna turns towards the direction of the bomb. The human body thereby acts as some sort of amplifier(
So if all this is correct, the question has to be, Why does it NOT work?).
One(
Of many) of Markov's harshest critics is the professional skeptic James Randi, a former magician and escape artist, who has made it his mission to expose charlatans and pseudo-scientists. Sniffex he calls "a fake, a fraud, a hoax." Unconscious self-deception of the user, are responsible for the movements of the device is a similar way to a seance glass moving. The U.S. Navy has proved him right. They tested the Sniffex after the bombings in London, the report appeared in 2008 on the research portal ProPublica. In one test scenario, two trucks laden with 500 kilos of explosives directly drove past the Sniffex. Reaction? None.(
What else would you expect?) The result of the investigation: "The Sniffex hand held detector is not able to detect explosives.(
Worlds greatest understatement)"
For Vollmar, however, the test does not speak against Sniffex(
Of course not) but rather against the Navy(
See list of excuses, excuse number 2, always blaim the operator) "The previous (Sniffex) devices were difficult to handle. The Navy has operated the equipment incorrectly(
Unlike Vollmar and Trier as we will see). Under these conditions, the test does not succeed(
Strange it never does under controlled tests, is this a design fault?)." In one photograph, published with the report, a man holds a
bomb detector scam device in front of him like a revolver. Completely wrong, to do it that way. How to do it right?(
How you hold the device is not important, it still wont work) Trier shows me during the search of the car park: Pull out the antenna, smoothly and direct it downwards(
Quietly pray). Then he presses the device against the side of the chest and positions it forward(
Sounds more like a rain dance). Like this, Trier walks in circles several times(
IT IS a rain dance, no mention of having to face east?), to explore the terrain(
To see if he can identify the hidden objects prior to the test).
What does the scientific community say about this? "I'm not an expert on magic wands or April Fools', grumbles a researcher who does not want to be named, but who himself has once worked on developing a bomb detector. Even for Franz Fujara, professor of Physics at the TU (Technical University) Darmstadt the whole thing appears "a bit obscure". "Scientific terms are indeed being used, but together they make no sense,(
They are not meant to, they are to add to the scam)" says the physicist. The patent application of HEDD1 was "either very foolish or an insolence." The other four scientists with whom I speak are also more than skeptical. "We do not believe that one can detect such small magnetic fields at such distances," emailed me Hannes Toepfer, a professor of physics at the TU (Technical University) of Ilmenau(
Strangely absent the names of the Scientific Professors who support Vollmar's claims). But Mr. Trier and Mr. Vollmar have now got the opportunity to convince me of the opposite.(
dream on)
The antenna reacts for the first time and points very clearly towards a Mercedes
(Bet it's wrong). "Before we now crawl on the floor – will you not want to clarify this,"(
Translation-Have we got the right place?) asks Vollmar. But they can crawl endlessly: There is nothing hidden in the Mercedes(
No, what could have gone wrong). Unless the driver maybe has firecrackers in the trunk. Now Vollmar also grabs himself a HEDD1 and joins the search(
Frank not had enough training, enter the expert). This time, the antenna points at a car that is covered with a blue tarp. It's a bit like Hit the Pot (children´s game):(
Only in this game people die) warm but not hot. The package with the firecrackers is under the car next to it. The next indication again is a blank(
Why, it worked before). Vollmar picks up a traffic cone and looks behind a fire extinguisher(
All free goes which wont count!!!).
Perhaps it is smarter to rely on conventional detectors(
Or even coin flipping would give better results, as has been proven) instead of modulated magnetic fields(
Absolutely), even if they do not guarantee complete security(
Some security is better than none as with the HEDD1). At airports, for example, metal detectors and X-ray machines are being used. So-called egis devices analyze traces of compound gases that are often used with explosives. All these techniques have drawbacks, however: they are too slow, too prone to error, difficult to operate or they can only detect specific explosives. That is why intensive research on new technologies is done.
In the parking garage Vollmar is screwing up his last chance(
Whatever could have gone wrong, this time?). Although the antenna is pointing in the right direction(
Pure accident) - the last remaining corner of the parking garage(
They have now exhausted every other possibility) - but when Trier walks down the line of cars, the antenna, again, does not point at the right car(
Damn!). "That surprises me," mutters Trier(
Only you Frank, nobody else). Vollmar explains(
?): "We do not exactly know where to find the material(
Honesty at last) we can only roughly
tell guess and if you find something(
Luck is on your side), you have to lock down the premises and call the bomb squad...(
And pray)"
So far, hardly any Western agency acquired a HEDD1 or its predecessor. But Vollmar hopes that this will soon change(
I bet he does). A German security agency is supposedly considering a purchase(
I bet that consideration does not last long). Which one it is, he does not want to reveal(
because they don't exist). The press offices of BKA (Federal Criminal Department) and BND (Federal Intelligence Agency) refuse to comment, and the Federal Office for Defense Technology procurement denies any interest.
Vollmar and Markov intend to further invest into the technology(
There is no technology) in the coming years. A prototype for antibiotics has already been developed(
LOL), says Markov. Detectors for chemical, biological and nuclear warfare agents are being planned(
In their dreams). A silver bullet that is. Only the U.S. Department of Justice again makes everything look bad. Ten years ago it issued a warning: "Be wary of devices that use a pivoting rod, which is held almost horizontally, and which points at the sought material."(
Spoilsports!)
No scientific test has ever confirmed the functioning of such devices(
Correct). The description perfectly fits the HEDD1 – even though, at the time, it did not exist.
In the two reported tests that Vollmar and Trier have completed they have failed completely on both occasions, that is 100% failure as opposed to the 80% success rate claimed by Vollmar.
