bxr307@csc.anu.edu.au (01/27/91)
From: bxr307@csc.anu.edu.au In article <1991Jan24.042247.24259@cbnews.att.com>, mhr@cs.aber.ac.uk writes: > > > From: mhr@cs.aber.ac.uk > Before we start, I'm new to all this so spare the > flames! Lets hope this doesn't bounce. > > If this has already been discussed recently, please > reply via email (address below). > > The question is, does South Africa have nuclear > weapons? If I remember there was a mysterious flash seen by > an American satellite over the Indian Ocean in the early 1980s > was this infact a meteor, or a test. > > Any details etc would be appreciated. OK, you asked for it! :-) South Africa is believed to have exploded a nuclear weapon in the South Atlantic in 1978. When first observed by US satellite (the DSP series of IR detectors) it was believed to have been a metorite crashing to earth. However after with better analyses of the data it was decided that it could be have been a nuclear weapon blast. Now comes the difficult bit. It was considered that the only culbrit could have either been South Africa or Brazil (both were known to have nuclear weapon's programs, although it was believed both were a long way from complition). However in face of the increasing co-operation which was occuring between the Israelis and the South Africans it was decided that it might have been actually either a South African or Israeli device that was tested. Israel is now known to have been working on its own nuclear weapons programme and is considered to be one of the two "borderline states" (the other is India) which while strictly according to the letter of the non-proliferation treaty don't possess nuclear weapons, can create them by simply assembling the components. It is believed by some Intelligence sources I've seen quoted over the years that in return for allowing Israel to use South African facilities to conduct their tests in the South Atlantic there was a technology transfer. There is already evidence of both of these "Pariah" states of the international set trading weapons (the South African R-3 Rifle is in fact the Galil and there have been rumours that the South Africans have purchased Jericho 1 IRBM's from Isreal) and personel (South African police and army personel have been seen advising the Israelis in crowd control tactics in the Occuppied Territories). As a consequence it is believed that either South Africa has them, or is very close to having nuclear weapons. A further twist to the tale is that the French have long had an interest in the extreme South Atlantic and Indian Oceans near Antartica. In fact they have rather large bases situated on Kerguelen Island and also on Crozet Island in the Southern Ocean. In the early 1980's their were reports in the defence press here of South African airforce officers being sighted on these islands by visiting fishing boats. There was some speculation that perhaps the French and South Africans might be co-operating on the building of an airstrip on Crozet island (which didn't have one). However it became even more complicated when an Australian fishing boat was attacked by the French Navy and taken on charges of "trespassing" near Crozet island. After a minor diplomatic furor about Australians having been fired upon the skipper reported on his release of seeing several South African navy ships tied up at the island's wharf. There has been some speculation that the French might be thinking about moving their nuclear testing from Muroeau (?sp) Atoll in the South Pacific to these islands in the Southern Ocean. In addition some have also speculated that the South African involvement was more than just helping in building a airstrip on an out of the way island. If there was, then perhaps the South Africans are closer than originally believed to having nuclear weapons. Brian Ross
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (01/27/91)
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >From: mhr@cs.aber.ac.uk > The question is, does South Africa have nuclear >weapons? If I remember there was a mysterious flash seen by >an American satellite over the Indian Ocean in the early 1980s > was this infact a meteor, or a test. Nobody (who will talk) is quite sure. The flash had some odd characteristics. If it was a surface event, it was way off in the middle of nowhere, a good place for a quiet little nuclear test. Speculation was that it was a joint SA/Israeli venture. The alternate theory is that it was a micrometeorite hit on the satellite that happened to do just the right things. -- If the Space Shuttle was the answer, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology what was the question? | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
grayt@uunet.UU.NET (Tom Gray) (02/04/91)
From: mitel!Software!grayt@uunet.UU.NET (Tom Gray) > > >From: bxr307@csc.anu.edu.au >In article <1991Jan24.042247.24259@cbnews.att.com>, mhr@cs.aber.ac.uk writes: >> >> >> >> The question is, does South Africa have nuclear >> weapons? If I remember there was a mysterious flash seen by >> an American satellite over the Indian Ocean in the early 1980s >> was this infact a meteor, or a test. >> >> Any details etc would be appreciated. > This may be a different occurance but I can remember President Carter announcing a SA nuclear test. This test was detected by a gamma ray detector aboard a satellite. This detector had a 180 degree ambiguity. The gamma rays may have come from a point in the South Atlantic or from a point in the constellation Vela. An article in the Scientific American used the gamma ray occurance as evidence of a Gamma Ray Burster in Vela. It cast doubt on the nuclear test model of the incident. The theory given in the Scintific American article is that a Gamma Ray Burster is a neutron star surrounded by a ring of accreting matter. Occasionaly a blob of this matter will be perturbed from the accretion ring and fall onto the star. The energy released by the impact of this material will be emitted as a burst of gamma rays. , ,