The Magic Machine

Dallas Police Department Detective George A. Ashmore, 44, of the Explosive Ordnance Unit says he’s an ordinary guy who took existing electronic techniques and combined them for a simple solution to the horrendous problem of airline bombings.

Ashmore says his invention, which resembles a washer-dryer combination with a computer on top, is capable of detecting all types of hidden explosive devices. It can detect all manner of electrical timers and all types of electrical fusing in any type of container.

Not surprisingly. Ashmore is reluctant to divulge specifics on how the device operates, though he has complete confidence in its powers. Had it been in place in Frankfurt, he says, it would have detected the bomb that brought down Pan-Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

“It’s impossible, ” he was told by experts at the FAA and the FBI. “It’s too simple,” they said. “They said I was an idiot.”

Undaunted, Ashmore invited those same experts over for a back yard barbecue and, when he had them as a captive audience, showed them his prototype and demonstrated how it works.

Not only have they slopped laughing, Ashmore says, but “a lot of people who did are wanting stock options now.” The FBI and the Navy have sent teams down to meet him, and he’s been talking business with American Airlines. The device has been thoroughly tested by the FBI and by the Australian Bomb Data Center in Canberra.

“The next step is finding the right corporation to mass-produce it and put it at every gate in every airport in the world, ” he says. “In combination with other stuff already in place, Mr. Bomber will have a heck of a time getting past it.”