As a followup to the conviction of James McCormick, the con man who made tens of millions selling bogus bomb detectors to Iraq, I invited Lt. Colonel Hal Bidlack on to my America Weekend show. Hal is a retired Air Force officer and national security aide who, in the fall of 2009 (at the request of James Randi, who first unveiled these do-nothing devices), gave a speech to the departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security regarding the dangers of fake “technology,” especially in national security matters. As Hal explained today, even though McCormick has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, his devices are still being used in Iraq as well as other nations, where instead of saving lives, they are endangering them.
Listen to our conversation here.
As I mentioned at the top of this interview, I first met Hal when he was the emcee of James Randi’s Amazing Meeting, the largest skeptical gathering in the United States, which has continued to grow over the last decade. This year’s Amazing Meeting will be in Las Vegas from July 11th to 14th. I’ll be there. If you’re interested in attending, get details here — and visit the James Randi Educational Foundation site, too.