NEWS: Mushroom Cloud Seen After N.Korea Explosion 9/9/04

i just herd itwas on chinas border and thay have a nuke base ther for program test

Any Pics of this anywhere? I saw this on TV a couple of hours ago but my friggin aerial went crazy and wouldnt show a good picture!! And im pretty sure they had satellite images showing on TV but i cldnt quite make out!

Are there any pics on the net?

Originally posted by goldenboy
I think North Korea must be dealt with. Instead of Saddam, USA shouldve removed Kim Il Jong. For the sake of korean people, and american people, this regime must be taken down.

He should have been dealt with before he even got a Nuclear program off the ground for the benefit of ALL people.Imo NK was always a more real threat to World security than Iraq, but then there aint much oil in NK. Not taking on NK may prove to be the worst error in judgement ....... i just hope its one we get to live to regret.

UPDATE TO ORIGINAL STORY: Conflicting Reports of Atomic Activity

CNN reports US Officials claim it could be a cloud from a forrest fire... LMAO!! Sounds like a lie to me!

www.cnn.com...

The U.S. official said the cloud could be the result of a forest fire.

Thank you all for posting this information; the hurricane is taking top priority on the news, not the NK mushroom cloud!

Questions:

are there any photos of this mushroom cloud?
do we know for sure a crater exists?
why would NK do this test so close to China??

[edit on 12-9-2004 by bushblows]

Did a search for images but found nothing, but im not supprised really, its not the sort of stuff that would be in the public domain.
No images of the crater either prob for the same reasons.
As for it being near the China border, i really dont know but NK is a small Country so i dont think there are many places were they could conduct this sort of test. I think its unlikly that they exploded a Nuke near Chinas border without first informing the Chinese first, they are close allies after all.

I hope this is not a nuclear test. I have always been worried more about North Korea than either Iraq or Iran, and Kim Jong Ill has been in a state of paranoia since President Bush Named his nation in the "Axis of Evil".

What I find even more concerning is the stories that North Korea is about to build a 3rd stage to its rocket known as the Taepo-dong 2.. if this is done it will make it a 3 stage to orbit ICBM that could hit any city in the U.S.A.

I posted my thoughts about this in this ATS thread some time ago:

Invasion of North Korea in the Works?

A post of mine taken from that thread:

Taepo-dong 2

Country: North Korea

Alternate Name: Moksong 2 or Pekdosan 2

Class: ICBM

Payload: Single warhead

Warhead: 750 kg nuclear, biological, chemical, or HE

Length: 35.00 m

Diameter: 2.10 m

Launch Weight: 64,000kg

Propulsion: Two stage liquid;
possible three

Range: 6,000 km

Status: Development

In Service: Exp. 2004

Details

The Taepo-dong 2 is an intercontinental-range, road mobile, liquid propellant ballistic missile. It is currently North Korea's only true ICBM. Today, this missile represents the single greatest nuclear threat to the United States. While the missile has very limited accuracy, it is thought to be target at major US population centers in both Alaska and Hawaii, and perhaps even as far as California.

The Taepo-dong 2's major use is as a weapon of international blackmail. Easily equipped with a nuclear weapon, it is the first direct threat to the United States from North Korea. It will likely be used as a threat of nuclear escalation in response to any American intervention during a second Korean war. Just as the People's Republic of China (PRC) Lt. Gen. Xiong Guang Kai stated that Americans care more about Los Angeles than they do Tai Pei,? North Korea will likely rely on American unwillingness to lose cities rather than withdraw from Korea. In addition, it will likely be used to blackmail wealthier countries for energy and food, similar to how the North Korean nuclear program was used. It is also a major income generator as an item for export.

The missile is thought to have two liquid propellant stages. The PRC?s DF-3 (described separately) is the basis for the first stage of North Korea?s ICBM. Thus, the North Koreans owe much of their missiles technology to their communist allies. The second stage is thought to be similar to the older Korean No-dong missiles.

The missile is 35.0 m in length, has a diameter of 2.1 m/1.32 m (first/second stage), a launch weight of 64,000 kg and its payload equipped with a single warhead. Its range is thought to be at least 6,000 km and Russian sources put it closer to 9,000 km. The accuracy is unknown, but probably extremely poor.

The development of the Taepo-dong 2 is estimated to have begun at the same time as the Taepo-dong 1, in 1990. Pakistan and Iran have been receiving technical assistance on their missile projects that are derivatives of the Taepo-dong 2 project. Iran's Shahab-5/6 owes much to this North Korean design. It was reported that in 2004, North Korea put the missile up for sale to a number of Middle Eastern countries, Iran being one of them.

Reports also suggest that North Korea may be developing a third stage for the Taep?o-dong 2, to develop either an increased range or a space launch capability. If true, this would increase the ability of North Korea to hit US targets, perhaps to a distance as far as Chicago.

Find more here:

www.fas.org...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This speaks for itself.. Now this information is available for anyone who wants to find it.
North Korea is just days or weeks away from having the above missile operational... The obvious threat the above missile poses speaks for itself.. but recent intel shows that the 3 stage version of this missile is near complete as well.. can you see what I am talking about now?

Of course there will be those who say North Korea is no real threat to the U.S.A. because Kim Jong Ill would never launch these missiles... But then again you are putting your trust in an insane man with nuclear weapons, a man who has shown his growing paranoia more and more with each passing day. Again do you think the world is just going to stand by and do nothing here??

We can only hope that Kim Jong Ill finds sanity or death whichever comes first.. Or I am afraid at some point there is going to be military conflict to "remove the threats to the U.S.A" .. and I think we all know that when IF that happens Kim Jong Ill will launch anything and everything he has.

How good is our missile defence system these days?

Maybe the government planted the bomb to get justification for war or to get an increase in polls.

Just seen the first reference to it on Sky News, the report lasted all of 15 seconds. All they said was that it had picked up on Satalite and that they didnt know for sure what caused it. They also mentioned the South Koreans saying it wasnt a Nuke. So much for the News then.

I find it strange that after watching the News for over 4 hours this 15 second News clip is all they have.

[edit on 12-9-2004 by Janus]

Janus - thank you for the answers. Incredible Sky news isn't making this story top priority. Even if it's not nuclear you'd think
a destructive event of this size would warrent worldwide attention.


[edit on 12-9-2004 by bushblows]

english.chosun.com... sorry if its already been posted.

Maybe a UFO crashed like the one in Siberia. Oops I mean "Comet".
Does anyone know how big and fast and dense a space object would have to be to make that kind of explosion.

Google North Korea

[edit on 12-9-2004 by Vegemite]

Originally posted by bushblows
Janus - thank you for the answers. Incredible Sky news isn't making this story top priority. Even if it's not nuclear (which I think it is) you'd think
a destructive event of this size would warrent worldwide attention.

No probs m8, im as much in the dark as anyone else but i agree with you. If it is a natural disaster it should be all over the News. but part of the problem with reporting anything about NK is the the Iron Curtain is locked that bloody tight its nigh on impossible to get any info out of the Counrty.

Originally posted by Vegemite
english.chosun.com... sorry if its already been posted.

Maybe a UFO crashed like the one in Siberia. Oops I mean "Comet".
Does anyone know how big and fast and dense a space object would have to be to make that kind of explosion.

Google North Korea

[edit on 12-9-2004 by Vegemite]

Meteor strike now there's an interesting idea. Never thought of that. Nice one.

Since the blast is near Missile base according to CNN, I believe this is preemptive tactical nuke strike against North Korea with symbolism of 9/11.

If it were nuke test of NK, would not anyone test it in a remote region? At least not so close to Chinese border?

It is US nuke strike against NK. I will wait and see how NK respond.

important you guys - here's the latest news item off Google...
Ace Of Base noted the sept 9, 11 AM symbolism in an earlier post -
the 11 AM time is mentioned here again....

(09-12) 06:01 PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) --

A large explosion occurred in the northern part of North Korea, sending a plume of smoke more than two miles wide into the air on an important anniversary of the communist regime, a South Korean news agency reported Sunday.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said the explosion Thursday was not a nuclear test but that it was not known yet what caused it.

"There was no indication that was a nuclear event of any kind. Exactly what it was, we're not sure," Powell said, speaking on ABC's "This Week."

Powell said there were "some activities taking place and some sites that we're watching carefully, but it is not conclusive that they are moving toward a test."

The explosion happened at 11 a.m. Thursday in Yanggang province near the border with China, according to the Yonhap news agency.



[edit on 12-9-2004 by bushblows]

A strike like that from the US would be very reckless. and to use a Nuke to destroy a facility like that would be akin to using a Sledge Hammer to break a wallnut. Conventional weapons would be able to do the same thing Cruise would be good choice.

Janus - the current US admin *is* very reckless, though I'm not saying
our govt is responsible. If the news items are accurate, and this explosion occurred on Sept 9, 11 AM (9/11) we can assume SOMEONE did this on purpose, no?

The 9 11 thing can't be a coincidence.

Sorry if this is already posted,

North Korea blast not likely to be nuclear, US officials

Mr Powell said there was "nothing conclusive" in the current reports on the blast, and said if North Korea were to conduct a nuclear test, "I think their neighbours perhaps would be more upset than the United States would be".

"People are pretty sure it's not a mushroom cloud and not a test of any kind," a State Department official who declined to be identified said earlier.

Another US official, who also declined to be identified, said the United States had seen some activities on Thursday that might have been preparations for a nuclear test, or an actual test, but there was no definitive conclusion.

This tallied with a New York Times report on Sunday that the Bush administration had received recent intelligence reports that some experts believed could indicate North Korea was preparing to conduct its first nuclear weapons test explosion.

Citing senior officials with access to the intelligence, the newspaper quoted a senior scientist who assesses nuclear intelligence as saying the evidence was not conclusive, but potentially worrisome.

www.abc.net.au...

Sanc'.

[edit on 12-9-2004 by sanctum]

Originally posted by bushblows
Janus - the current US admin *is* very reckless, though I'm not saying
our govt is responsible. If the news items are accurate, and this explosion occurred on Sept 9, 11 AM (9/11) we can assume SOMEONE did this on purpose, no?

The 9 11 thing can't be a coincidence.

Sorry, BushBlows my post was directed at zcheng, but you are right the timing is very strange indeed.If its a test maybe they chose the timing as some kind of massage to the US government? Its frustrating because all we seem to be getting conflicting info.