Electronic Armageddon
“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.” [Psalm 50:3]
In July 1962, the United States performed a secret test 250 miles above the earth. In this unique experiment, called the Starfish Prime, a 1.44-megaton thermonuclear warhead was detonated in space above the mid-Pacific Ocean. The results demonstrated to scientists that the magnitude and effects of a high-altitude nuclear blast were much larger than previously thought. The results of the Starfish Prime experiment became known publicly because it caused electrical damage in Hawaii 900 miles away. Hundreds of streetlights were knocked out, numerous burglar alarms were triggered, and the telephone company’s microwave link was damaged.
When a nuclear device is exploded just above the earth it sends out massive gamma rays. As they pass through our atmosphere these gamma rays are converted to microwaves, causing an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. In less than a billionth of a second this EMP will make circuits fry, power lines overload, and the electric grids collapse. Everything with a microchip stops working – including your car, cell phone, and computer. People are basically unharmed, except perhaps those depending on pacemakers. And I would not want to be flying in a jet airliner at that moment.
Major military forces of the world now have the technology to make an EMP device. Picture an instantaneous deathblow to the vital engines that power our society, delivered by a nuclear weapon designed not to kill humans, but to attack electronics. EMPs caused by solar flares have probably struck the earth many times throughout history, but that was before the world was run by microchips. If an electromagnetic pulse surged to Earth now it would paralyze every aspect of modern society’s infrastructure and cause an electronic Armageddon! In a few moments the technology of mankind could be transported back to the days of horse and buggies.
It makes you wonder, will the second coming of Jesus cause an EMP? The Bible says it will be a powerful display in the elements. “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?” (2.Peter 3:11,12).
