Free Republic

The United States is vulnerable to a devastating electromagnetic pulse event caused by a high-altitude nuclear blast or solar superstorm, according to a recently published book. Peter Pry, a former CIA analyst and author of the book EMP Manhattan Project, is urging the government to rapidly harden the U.S. electric power system against EMP similar to the three-year crash program to build the first atomic bomb in 1942. "Today the United States and the world faces another existential threat—from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) catastrophe that can be caused by nature or man, and topple the technological pillars of modern electronic...

The House Homeland Security Committee heard expert testimony yesterday on the effects of a high-altitude nuclear detonation that could knock out the U.S. electrical grid for up to a year, resulting in the deaths of 90% of Americans. A nuclear attack from space would generate an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, that would "inflict devastating damage" on the U.S. Washington Examiner: In calling on the Pentagon and President Trump to move quickly to protect the grid, the experts testified that an explosion of a high-altitude nuclear bomb delivered by a missile or satellite "could be to shut down the U.S. electric...

If a giant solar flare hit the Earth, it could knock out the entire power grid, meaning no more new Taylor Swift singles, no more televised presidential debates, and no more Facebook photos of babies. But it wouldn't be all good news. The Washington Postreports the elecromagnetic pulse—or EMP—created by such an event could wipe out electricity for months on end, creating a global catastrophe. That's why the White House released its National Space Weather Strategy on Thursday. According to the Houston Chronicle, the multiagency plan details how the US will prepare for—and deal with—a massive EMP from space. The six-step plan requires government...