ARZAMAS-16

The map above is interactive, you can click on the markers to view information about each marked location. You can also zoom in and out as required. In fact you can zoom right in to Adelaide and to the site where the Somerton Man was found as well as view the proximity of Kangaroo Island, where Paul Lawson has said, the Somerton Man was effectively in hiding prior to making the short trip across to Adelaide.

The expanded map shows the possible locations where the Somerton Man could have been exposed to Strontium 90 as per the earlier discussions with Paul Lawson. The alternatives being a Russian test site and a US test site.

Following the information provided by Paul Lawson regarding the analysis of a hair sample from the Somerton Man and the subsequent finding of the presence of Strontium 90. I have done some, albeit brief, research to ascertain just where and when that substance could have existed and therefore just where he would have been.

To clarify, as I understand it, Strontium 90 is a by-product of either a nuclear chain reaction as in a reactor or in a nuclear explosion. In this case, we are looking at a hair sample that could tell us approximately when the substance was created and just where he was when he was exposed to it. We can be guided a little by the rate of growth of human hair. We need to differentiate between radioactive particles that adhere to the outer surface of the hair and similar particles that had been absorbed into the system and then grow out via the hair.

The Americans ran a series of 3 test explosions in the Marshall Islands (Operation Sandstone) in April and May 1948.  The Marshall Islands are represented by the Green marker.

The Russians, whilst not testing a bomb in 1948, at Chelyabinsk-65 (now known as Ozersk in the Ural Mountains), experimented with nuclear fission from the early 40s but the work was interrupted during the peak of hostilities, as a result, they only succeeded with a small reactor on June 19th, 1948. There is a mention of more success in November 1948 at a place known as ARZAMAS-16. (Sarov) This latter location later became the manufacturing point for Soviet nuclear weapons.

What we don't know is whether any kind of experimentation was taking place either at Woomera in the State's North or closer to Adelaide. There have been rumours over the years that atom experiments were taking place at Salisbury just North of Adelaide and home of the Long Range Weapons Establishment.

As you will see on the map if this is true then the man could have made his way to Australia via Iran and then by sea to the West Coast (Perth?) and then to Adelaide/ Kangaroo Island.

Please understand that we do not as yet have the documentation needed to substantiate the analysis and the traces found. I understand that it may be a week or more before Paul will be fit enough to return home. I certainly wouldn't want him to feel any pressure from this end, what matters is that he gets well.