SUPPOSE magicians could be stationed at strategic points along the
borders or coast of a country at war. Then when enemy battleships,
submarines or bombers came within five miles, the magicians could
mumble a few magic words, and presto!— the invaders would be blown to
bits by their own explosives!
An instrument has really been devised that will perform just such a
feat, not by hocus pocus, but by utilizing natural physical laws to
ignite explosives at a distance without the use of wires or any other
direct contact. Otto H. Mohr, inventor of the submarine detector, is
the originator of the Solar Mohr Detonator, and has successfully
demonstrated it to Army officials.
Recently a group of United States Army experts gathered in the hills
near Oakland, California, to witness a test of the Detonator. Several
times in previous months they had watched demonstrations of the
instrument, and they came prepared to put it to tests of their own
devising.
Canvas bags containing charges of powder used to fire a one pound shell
were placed in the middle of a field. Twenty feet, away Mr. Mohr stood
by his model Detonator, a cubical measuring about two feet. He adjusted
a cone-shaped antenna on top until a metal tube in its core pointed to
the sun. A gentle buzz from within indicated that it was in exact
position, then a dim light appeared in a tube extending from the front
of the instrument. The inventor focused this tube in the direction of
the bags of powder. Nine minutes later the powder exploded. Other tests
devised by the officers convinced them that the Detonator is a
remarkable and practical defense weapon, and they recommended favorable
consideration by the United States Army.
Mr. Mohr stumbled onto the Detonator Ray by accident. While working on
another instrument which utilized solar energy, a small amount of
powder nearby exploded. It took five years to discover the secret of
this accident and to construct an instrument to command and control the
principle of remote detonation.
Did you ever focus the sun’s rays to pin-point intensity with a lens
and set fire to paper or straw? That, very roughly, is the underlying
principle of the Detonator. The cone-shaped antenna on top gathers the
sun’s magnetic force which has transformed inside the instrument to
motivated vibratory currents. These vibrations are synchronized or
“tuned” to the atomic vibrations of the explosive substance and sent on
a beam from the focusing tube in the direction of the target.
Four secret essentials control the Detonator, and to safeguard the
invention, Mr. Mohr dismantles it after every demonstration.
A bright, sunny day is not essential to the use of the Detonator, but
the brighter days make, it possible to gather more solar energy in less
time, thus shortening the time it takes to explode the target. But any
amount of sunlight is effective. It is possible, too, that a mercury
arc may some day be substituted at night for solar energy.
The explosive principle is similar to that causing combustion when two
sticks are rubbed together rapidly; the energy vibrations from the
sun’s magnetic force which is transferred along the beam, set up a
friction with the explosive elements. They become hot, and hotter, then
explode.
Explosive substances used in ammunition are always compounds of several
elements — gun powder is a combination of potassium nitrate, sulphur
and charcoal — but any explosive with a hydrocarbon base is subject to
the Detonator Ray. However, there is one requirement: the atomic
vibration of the constituents must be known so that the Detonator may
be “tuned” to effective action. Otherwise the solar vibrations would
slide past the explosive’s atoms without the friction essential to
explosion.
Mr. Mohr has determined the atomic vibrations of some elements, but
many types of explosives have not yet been analyzed, and the atomic
vibrations of many elements are not yet known. Gun powder, gasoline
vapor, and some other explosive substances have been successfully fired
by the Detonator. All others will be calculated as soon, as time and
money will permit, and as fast as further atomic vibrations are
formulated, they will be turned over to the Army.
Another improvement that is being worked on is the extension of the
distance at which the Detonator will be effective. It is like the
projecting of shot from a cannon; the greater the power behind the
shot, the farther and harder it will be sent. The inventor believes
that the beam of the Detonator may be extended to the reach of light
rays; approximately forty miles on a level with the horizon, when
sufficient solar energy can be accumulated.
When larger, more powerful models of the Detonator are built, invading
machines will have small chance of coming within shooting or bombing
distance of the United States. Battleships or tanks would be
spontaneously blown up by their own ammunition, and bombers would be
destroyed by the very missiles they planned to drop on others.
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