Dowsing rods for bomb detection

[Nostradamus]

[ciscop]

hahahahahahaha
no working parts and what they are going to do is add them flashing lights!

incredible

[ProfWag]

Sometimes all I can do is shake my head...

[The Warrigal]

I have seen a few professional opal prospectors use dowsing rods.

Most of these men swear by dowsing and only make money if they get results.

However, when I was at Lightning Ridge years back and planning on doing some gold fossicking out West, one of these very same miners, - (a very successful one mind you), - told me that if he was searching for gold, there was no way he would use anything as primitive as divining rods if he was looking for gold, but advised me to buy the best metal detector I could afford.

Within limits I can understand why prospectors might use divining rods to look for very rare jem stones like opal as I know of few, if any, hi-tech devices for finding opal.

(When certainly none that work any better than divining rods but are a helluva lot more expensive)!

BUT.

DIVINING FOR EXPLOSIVE DEVICES!

I don't know wether to laugh or cry.

If the developers of this device are so sure that it works, then they should be out in a minefield demonstrating that it works as they claim.

If they find the mines without blowing themselves sky high, then maybe military forces would be impressed enough to develop this idea further and find out why it works.

Evidently P.T. Barnum's estimate on the birthrate of suckers was overly conservative.

I

[Nostradamus]

[Craig Browning]

I saw this posted on a Magician's forum in the UK some months ago, and while I can understand and have experienced actual Water Witching styled dowsing I start questioning things when it comes to something of this sort... again, to a degree.

There are several members of my family past & present, who are genuine Dowsers that have a considerable reputation as such. I guess you could say that my learning about it young in life was merely a part of family tradition -- a rite of passage. But, unlike most that get drawn into said field, I'm a bit of a realist and must look at things through more logic-based lenses, which is why I say that "treasure hunting" type bits such as you're doing with land mines, isn't something I'd want to entrust a novice on... someone that's only just learned how to work an overly complicated "state of the art" dowsing system vs. someone with years of "legit" practice and a very high rate of success. My experiences suggesting that locating something static is far more difficult than the whole flowing water idea, and even at that I still believe it's the subconscious mind that "sees" whatever the subtle differences are in the lay of the land, etc. that allows the ideomotor element to take over in some way.

Dowsing is a very ancient "science" that was seen as legitimate well into the mid-19th century. The practice of it has been qualified as both, a gift as well as a bane of god's (depending on which church you belonged to, if any) e.g. it could get you dead or canonized For much of human history Dowsing was a part of the Surveyor's education & skills, such as we've seen depicted in the life of George Washington (and a few other founding fathers).

It's certainly something to contemplate

[Nostradamus]

The issue here is that no one is teaching dowsing or providing the devices to anyone with dowsing abilities. These are devices that show no ability to detect bombs and the cost runs between $10K and $50K. It's a scam. The Brits have finally arrested the owner and charged him with fraud.

[Craig Browning]

[Nostradamus]

So how many people died from buying an overpriced toilet seat?

[Nostradamus]

[Nostradamus]

[Craig Browning]

I just picked up a copy of Richard Webster's THE ART OF DOWSING that I'd really recommend to one and all given how he's documented the use of Dowsing by the military over the past 200 or so years... some very interesting insights about locating unexploded ordnance at the end of WWI and the dowser even identified which nation each round belonged to. He also points out how Military Engineers during Vietnam used Dowsing Rods & Pendulums to locate booby traps, tunnel systems, water (drinkable), and of course mines and their unusual success rate... of which, Richard goes into several interesting accounts in which legit SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE points to the probability that there is far more involved with dowsing as a whole, than mere ideomotor reaction.

The book is quite easy to read and packed full of some great insights as well as challenges for those suffering from Lost Belief Syndrome.

[Nostradamus]

Regardless of whether or not I believe in dowsing I am interested in learning about dowsing.

Is this something only a few can do or do well, or is this something most people can do?
Can it learned or is it an innate ability?

[Nostradamus]

I just checked out our local library. It seems that there are 2 books on dowsing, but in the part of the county famous for its ex-hippie communes. It's an hour away. I think I'll ask for the Webster book to sent over here.

[Craig Browning]