03/03/2014 Inside Out West

Hello from Stonehenge in Wiltshire. Here is a look at night's programme.

We head to Romania on the trail of a new bomb detector with links to a

Somerset fraudster. You are crazy people. What do you want? What is

the BBC? What is the big deal? Stonehenge, one of the world's

earliest musical instruments. We know that Stonehenge is special for

all sorts of reasons, I am positive it has a critical qualities. Bases

Inside Out West. `` this is. Now, it was a ruthless scam run by a

Somerset businessmen. Jim McCormick made millions from a device that he

claimed detect with bombs. Last year, he was convicted of fraud and

sentenced to ten years in prison. We have uncovered new evidence that a

European telecommunications company is developing a similar device. The

twisted wreckage of a suicide bomb in Iraq. An almost daily event that

destroys lives and shatters hopes of innocent people here. This man lost

his three sons as they unloaded watermelons at this market stall. I

will always remember them. They used to sit with me, laugh, have a good

time, they were good boys. It has been months since someone has called

me dad. His boys are among thousands of Iraq who have perished in similar

ways. `` Iraqis. Jim McCormick claimed he had the answer, a device

that could detect explosives. It can penetrate walls. Once it finds the

same frequency, the antenna says... That is where the frequency is

coming from. The government of Iraq spent $85 million on them, but they

were useless. Car bombs continued to destroy lives while Jim McCormick

grew rich. It was an international scam, but after an extensive police

investigation, he was finally brought to justice and sentenced to

ten years in prison. Guilty, the British businessman who sold fake

bomb detectors to war`ravaged countries. Jim McCormick, who has

been convicted of fraud, enjoyed a lavish life. The detectors were

based on a novelty golf ball finder and knew they did not work. You may

have thought that that would be the end of it, but we have discovered a

new device has been patented in Romania, a device that looks

suspiciously like Jim McCormick s. The company behind it says it has

received European Union funding to research bomb detecting equipment.

So, we are going to Romania to confront the scientist involved in

its development. What do you want? What is this BBC? What is the big

deal? I am on my way to Somerset to see a man who knows more than most

about the bomb detectors. He helped to make the thing. Ian, nice to see

you. This is your factory? Yes. Ian had no reason to suspect he was

doing anything wrong. He had orders to make all sorts of components for

all sorts of industries, and Jim McCormick was another customer, but

in 2010 he got a surprise. The pleas came along and started their

investigation into what looked like possible fraudulent activity. We did

not make any more at that point A while later, we were asked by the

customer, ATSC, to ship the tools to Romania. This was a copy of the

customs invoice that were sent to us by ATSC. It was to be sent to Mira

Telecom in Romania. That is your contact. There was a phone number as

well. What happened then? You sent it to Romania? The ATSC arranged for

a transport company to pick them up. That is everything? The whole kit?

Yes. So, why words Jim McCormick sends the tools to Mira Telecom I

have come to meet the police officer who was in charge of the

investigation. Your investigation to queue around the world. Did you come

across a Romanian connection? Yes, we did. We uncovered a number of

invoices and paperwork that linked ATSC, Jim McCormick's company, to a

Romanian company called Mira Telecom. There were invoices for

devices and part. `` parts. What was Mira Telecom doing with ATSC? Where

they agents? There was the business of cables being supplied to ATSC.

There was a person there that worked for Mira Telecom and there were

clear is this associations. It turns out that the president of Mira

Telecom and Jim McCormick go back a long way. We know that a new device

has been patented. It is one that looks remarkably like Jim

McCormick's. The promotional video for the device was sensational to

say the least. So were the claims made for the product itself. When I

interviewed him for Points West in 2009, he claimed that the cards that

went into the card reader where the key to how the device worked. He

said different cards could even detect dollar bills. This is tuned

to a channel. When the card is inserted, it looks for that

frequency. The BBC had the cards tested and found they were nothing

more than shoplifting tags. There is nothing to programme in these cards.

. How similar is the new device that has been patented in Romania? I have

come to Cambridge University to find out. Doctor Michael Sutherland was

an expert witness at the trial of Jim McCormick. He proved that it did

not work. How would you compare with what you see here too that of the

device? I had a look at this, and as far as I could tell, it is the same

device. It has a battery and a flashing light, and actually, a

little bit of circuitry. Can I be clear? They are one and the same

thing? The working principle of both devices is the same, it is

identical. Even with the battery and the flashing light, it cannot

possibly work? I have had a look at some of the scientific explanations,

and I do not buy it and neither do some of the other experts. Based on

the physics behind it, I cannot see any way that this device could work.

There is not enough strength in these electromagnetic signals. It

cannot happen. If this new device has no chance of working, how have

they managed to patent it. We have come to Bucharest to find out. It is

where the headquarters of Mira Telecom is. Its clients include the

Romanian government. Bucharest is also where the Romanian patent

office is, and its director has agreed to talk me through the new

device's patent. This is the device or the device, yes? The patent is

the title of propriety. It is your own invention, protected by this

propriety title. It means you can sell it, licensing, and market it.

Do they test it? No. Presumably I do not need to prove to you that my

invention actually works? No. But it is in your interest to have it

working because this is the purpose of the patent. It is an effective

tool to get rich. A valuable document for him to have, then? Yes.

Whether or not it works! It should work. To get this patent room, they

only needed to prove that it worked in theory. `` to get this through.

One of the names on this patent is a name... Dr Marian Apostol. He works

at the Institute of Atomic Physics. Three weeks ago, when we contacted

him, he invited us here and said he would demonstrate the device for us.

He said he would only speak to us if we were prepared to broadcast a

public apology for our previous coverage of the Jim McCormick

device. He wanted us to say... Plainly, we told him that we were

not prepared to do that. You told us that he was not prepared to talk to

us. So, we try him one more time and tell him that we are outside his

institute. To our surprise, he agreed to see us. Dr Marian Apostol.

You are crazy people. You are really crazy. What you want? What is this,

the BBC? What is the big deal? I do not care. I do not care. Dr Marian

Apostol, can I ask you? Very quickly, can I ask you, the new

device, why do you think your new device is any better than... Because

I am an expert in this field, and I know what I am talking about! But Dr

Marian Apostol... Please... I do not take money for lying! For my wife or

for anyone! It is fraudulent. I am convinced about what I am talking

about! Maybe I am wrong, but the scientific people are saying that

they should disprove me. Not the BBC! Not you! Not the fake experts!

Sorry! Let's have a copy! Your new device is going to work and you are

making it, you are manufacturing it is Jamaat are you manufacturing a

new device? Would you like a copy? He took us to this cafe and demanded

that the BBC apologise for its previous coverage. He told us he was

paid 900 euros a month by Mira Telecom. That was a quite bizarre

conversation with Dr Apostol during which he elaborated at length about

his scientific theories about this new device. He admits he was

involved in the development of it and he remains convinced that it

works and that the ADE`651 worked and that the British court of law

was wrong. Dr Apostol was actually a defence witness at the Jim McCormick

trial, telling the court that he had tested the ADE`651 many times and it

performed well. He gave that testimony via a video link to the

boardroom of Mira Telecom. Mira Telecom ayes`mac website says it has

received a non`refundable grant of 750,000 euros from the European

Union to research detection equipment for explosives and drugs.

The president of the company is based in that building. We have been

trying to contact him for three weeks by e`mail, telephone, but we

have had no response. I think it is time to go there and see if he will

talk to us. We have come to see Mr Stelion. Is he not here? Can I go

and ask? OK. No problem. Can we see if he is in? Thank you. He was not

in and we were forced to turn off our camera and told to leave. But

not before leaving a message for him to contact us. We waited for him to

get back to us but we heard nothing. In the morning, we tried again to

contact him. Hello. Should I speak to Stelion? Again, we were told he

was not available. So, another bomb detector practically the same as the

ADE`651 may soon be on the market but the legacy of the old one is

still being felt around the globe. We asked our international news

teams to investigate what has happened to the ADE`651 since

McCormick's conviction. It is still at use at checkpoints in Iraq

including outside the BBC's own building in Baghdad. It is also used

in Lebanon, Kenyon and Egypt. It has come to my attention that one of my

constituents has been selling bomb detectors that don't work. David

Heath was one of the first politicians to lobby the covenant to

back the ADE`651. We know the legacy of the ADE`651 and now there is a

new product almost the same. What do you think of that? The UK Government

must take a very strong line. Through the EU, I hope we can at

least make a noise about this Romanian device and make sure the

authorities there know what is going on. Would it surprise you that the

company we are talking about has received a grant from Europe to

develop bomb detecting equipment? Yes. First of all, presumably, if

they are receiving that money, somebody has checked if their work

is legitimate or not and certainly this is an aspect of their work

which isn't. Secondly, you would expect them to be able to show that

they are legitimate and if they are selling this device or thinking of

it or even developing it as a bomb detector then that is not legitimate

and should be investigated. Legitimate it certainly was not But

they're still being used at checkpoints around the world. Now a

new incarnation has been developed by a company that says it has

received European Union money. Our findings will be raised in

Parliament this week amid dismay and incredulity that the legacy of

McCormick's bogus detectors continues.

These world`famous stones have baffled generations but now a new

theory suggests that how Stonehenge sounds could be more important than

how it looks. Stonehenge is the ultimate

archaeological riddle. To solve that I must take a road trip. I'm going

to Wales, almost as far west as you can go because that is where the

bluestones of Stonehenge came from. More than 4000 years ago. They must

have been something really special to Stone Age man. They were four

tonnes each the same as a fully loaded Transit van. Why take those

stones all that distance? I am meeting Paul Devereux, an

archaeologist who has made a discovery. Hello. We meet 183 miles

from Stonehenge. He is leading a project sponsored by the Royal

College of Art looking for evidence of a prehistoric landscape. How

might it have looked and sounded to Stone Age man? Why are we in this

desolate spot? Because it is desolate. We wanted a pristine

landscape that would be the same as the Stone Age and we wanted to try

to record what Stone Age eyes and ears would have seen and heard. Most

people think of landscape in visual terms but we also wanted to think of

it in acoustic terms and this turned out to be an acoustic landscape But

it is not just about keeping quiet and listening, it is about the

noises that Stone Age man would have made. Normally if you hit a rock

then it will sound like that. A percentage of the rocks here are

ringing rocks. RINGING. That is incredible. It is like a

bell. You could play a tune. We have had percussionists here who have

played proper percussion pieces with the rocks. It is rock music! But how

do we know that Stone Age man was aware that these bluestones made a

noise? You can see these broken rocks and it was probably a

Neolithic quarry. This rock here may have been intended to be a blue

stone and go to Stonehenge. Like a Stonehenge offcuts. We did a test

that and it is resonant. The team have tested thousands of rocks at

these hills and have to scuppered hotspots like this quarry were over

40% of them `` up to 40% of them ring. Why would you take them from

here all the way to Stonehenge? The one thing that hasn't been

considered is the idea that sound might have been an important factor.

So do you think we have concentrated for too long on how it looks? I

think that most of archaeology has been a silent movie but now we are

looking at sound. I am bringing this sounds back to Stonehenge. There are

two definite notes here. I'm need one more card and I can be Status

Quo. This really is quite exciting. It is

7:30am and we are in Stonehenge and English Heritage has given us

permission to try to sound the bluestones. Chances like this don't

happen every day and the team have jumped at the opportunity to test

these stones. If the theory is right then Stonehenge should sound similar

to the rocks in the mountain. Some of them are set in concrete sort

their resonance will be dampened down. Can we just the hating world

Heritage sites? `` hitting. I have some plastic membranes so we don't

directly hit the rock. This is stones and number 62. I

would think if that was freestanding or supported with space all around

then it would probably ring. There is something else interesting here.

Pieces have been knocked out here. They must have been detached by

hammering at some point in the past. Do you think it crumbled because

people could have been sounding it? It is possible. And it is in that

part where there is more resonance. I never thought I would say this but

let's go and hit more of Stonehenge. So how might we ringing rocks early

strike a chord with what we already know of Stonehenge? We know it is

special for many reasons so it is likely that the stones themselves

had other properties so it is quite likely they had acoustic properties.

This site is a Theatre of performance where symbolism,

astronomy, other parts of a symbolic life are going on here and sound and

colour play a vital role in how that building functions. The weak link in

the story is the fact that they could have just brought ones that

make noises by mistake. How do we know that the specifically to

please? We don't. But we can say that prehistoric attitudes must have

been different to the ones we have today. We think of stones is being

very inept but we still talk about the living rock as if it has a life

and presence in the landscape `` in,

I am going to get my recording from Wales and we can compare them. We

can play the sounds from Wales and if the theory is right then it

should sound fairly similar. TAPPING AND RINGING.

We know these have been reset and moved so they will not ring. These

also rested on the ground and could resonate freely but the cannot now.

We have the bluestones in Wales and the bluestones of... Wales. And they

both ring. That's about all we have time for

the night and indeed for this series. Before we go there is just

time to tell you about a special flooding debate happening in which

we will be joined by those who have lived through the floods and by

those in power whose job it is to stop it happening again. That is

tomorrow night at 10:35pm on BBC One. Don't forget to keep in touch

with us via Twitter or e`mail. Thanks for watching.

Hello. The 92nd update. The Oscar Pistorius trial has begun in South

Africa. He pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend at his home

last year. A neighbour said she had terrible screams on the night.

Russia sends more soldiers into Ukraine and will stay there until

the crisis comes down. A corporal killed herself and her Wiltshire

barracks, today a coroner said bullying and an alleged rape were

two factors. A good night for