Saturday, April 18, 2009 The Riddle of Red Mercury

"Take a bogus material, give it an enigmatic name, exaggerate its physical properties and intended uses, mix in some human greed and intrigue, and voila: one half-baked scam."
Red Mercury: Caveat Emptor, a 1992 report from the US Department of Energy

Imagine some of the world's most notorious terrorists and despots on a hunt for the ultimate weapon. Imagine a worldwide smuggling operation dedicated to buying and selling a product that most likely doesn't exist. Imagine the Nigerian Bank Scam, only with nukes. That's the story of red mercury in a nutshell.

The intertubes are awash with the tale of the Singer sewing machine craze in Saudi Arabia. Rumor has it that older models contain red mercury, a mythical substance that can be used to make nuclear weapons, command spirits, and increase the size of your manhood. People are paying insane amounts of money for fifty-year-old sewing machines in the hopes of obtaining this modern philosopher's stone.

This isn't the first stir red mercury created, only the biggest and goofiest. Rumors of red mercury first surfaced in the international black market during the late 1970's. It was named for its supposed origins in Soviet Russia, where scientists developed it as a means of triggering a fusion reaction with high explosives. However, it wasn't long before the substance itself took on a red hue; some claimed that the color was due to it being a special form of cinnabar, the ore form of mercury that is the source of vermilion and is also significant in alchemy.

The big red mercury boom came in the early 1990's. The fall of the Soviet Union led to a flood of Russian weapons and technology into the black market, including genuine nuclear material. Red mercury was one of the most sought after goods, with such notables as Sadam Hussein and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic among those eager to lay their hands on the stuff. Smugglers throughout Europe and the former Soviet Bloc rushed to meet the demand, but samples procured through arrests in Bulgaria, Poland, Ukraine, and other countries have turned out to be such (relatively) mundane materials as depleted nuclear reactor fuel and mercury tinged with brick dust. One enterprising Russian con artist managed to secure a contract to supply red mercury to a US company and an export license from then-President Boris Yeltsin, but nothing was delivered except promises.

The abundance of fakes for sale didn't stop anyone from believing that red mercury was real. Terrorists contianued to line up to purchase the stuff, with deals reported as far away as Macau. A string of slightly shady deaths of chemical engineers and arms merchants in South Africa was rumored to be the work of Mossad agents working to prevent the sale of red mercury to Middle Eastern clients. Even high-ranking members of the Russian government seemed unsure as to the legitmacy of the substance.

Stories about the properties of red mercury grew over time. At first "merely" an alternative to the radioactive isotopes used in the production of nuclear weapons, soon the substance was said to be capable of producing bombs that were smaller and far more potent than normal. And its uses quickly expanded far beyond arms manufacturing. It is the prime ingredient in a paint that renders aircraft radar invisible. It can help create perfect counterfeit currency. It can break up clots in oil wells and thus greatly increase oil production. It has many miraculous medicinal uses, such as curing impotency and extending one's natural lifespan. It sought after by practitioners of witchcraft and voodoo.

And now we learn it can be used as genie chow, a reward treat for good little jinn who bring their masters treasure. From the on-line edition of the Saudi Gazette for Sunday, April 19th:

Paying the price for red mercury mania

By Abdullah Al-Maqati
Sunday, 19 April 2009

DHULUM/JEDDAH/NAJRAN/BAHA – Saudis in search of a quick buck have begun paying the price for investing in rumors that the Singer make of sewing machine contains the so-called “red mercury” substance.

As the rumors started sweeping the Kingdom a few days ago the prices of Singer sewing machines rocketed from SR200 to hundreds of thousands, with one reported case of a machine being sold for half a million riyals.

After various authorities around the Kingdom denounced the rumors and clarified the existential status of “red mercury” – that its very existence is entirely unproven – some Saudis who saw the opportunity for a quick buck were subsequently left with painful losses.

“I heard the rumors and went straight out and bought a sewing machine for SR11,000, hoping to sell it on for maybe 50,000, as I’d read about such prices on the Internet,” said one Saudi in Taif who wished to remain unnamed.

“I’ve been trying to get rid of it now for two days, but without success.”

The young man said he had been saving the money he spent on the Singer to buy a car.

Financial losses have not been the only upshot of the rumors. Friendships have also fallen by the wayside, and fights over sewing machines have sparked family disputes.

“Some of the women in the villages around where I live have ended up in fights,” said a man in Dhulm. “They’d been going to each others’ houses asking to borrow machines so they could do some sewing, and then instead took them to the market.”

“Other people,” he continued, “have been going to friends’ houses to demand back the sewing machines they gave away as presents years ago, and I’ve also heard of guys getting into fights with their brothers over sewing machines belonging to their mothers and grandmothers.”

In Jeddah, the head of forensic evidence said he knew who was behind the rumors. “The rumors about red mercury were started by African conmen,” Saleh Zuweid said. “Laboratory tests have shown that the sewing machines do not contain the so-called red mercury.”

“These conmen claim that the substance can be used as food for the Jinn who will then bring you lost or buried treasure from deep in the ground,” Zuweid continued. “They also claim it can be used to multiply your money ten times over.”

Abla Hasnain, a social criminologist from King Abdulaziz University said the whole issue was due to a lack of awareness.

“We used to think that people susceptible to this sort of thing were ignorant illiterates, but what we’re seeing now is educated people and academic people falling victim to this nonsense,” she said.

In Baha events even reached the courts, when a Saudi man accused another of stealing a sewing machine in order to sell it on.

The claimant, however, refused to swear the oath before the court, and Judge Waheed Abdullah Aal Abdul Qadir dismissed the case.

So what is red mercury really? It might be a codeword for some unknown nuclear material. It could be a weaponized nuclear isomer, capable of creating chain reactions that would give a bullet the force of heavy artillery. It might be a case of mistaken identity involving such common substances as mercury iodide, used by the Soviets in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, or mercury fulminate, an explosives used in blasting caps. It could be leftovers from a failed attempt to cool breeder reactors with a mixture of mercury and antimony, packaged and sold off by enterprising black marketeers. But it's most likely just a myth, an urban legend sustained by greed and the desire for power.

Whatever the reality, red mercury continues to be the highly larcenous, possibly dangerous stuff dreams are made of.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

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"Deadly Alchemy" by Paul Sieveking, Fortean Times #69 (July, 1993)

"Red for Danger" by Joyanta Acharjee, Fortean Times #127 (November, 1999)

"A Blast from the Past" by David Hambling, Fortean Times #178 (January, 2004)
I gots me a lot of FT, I do.

WEB

BBC News article on the trial of three London men accused of trying to buy red mercury

One of many news reports on the Saudi red mercury furor

I created the image at the top of this post. It'd be kinda cool if it became widely used as the symbol for Red Mercury.