Banjawarn Station

Banjawarn Station
Company type	Pastoral lease
Industry	Agriculture
Founded	1903
Headquarters	Leonora district, Australia
Area served	Western Australia
Products	Cattle (Droughtmaster, shorthorn, Brahman breeds), formerly sheep

Banjawarn Station is an isolated cattle station situated in Western Australia, previously operating as a sheep station. During the 1990s, the lease was held by the Japanese apocalyptic sect Aum Shinrikyo, which led to an inquiry by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) after the Tokyo subway sarin attack. Banjawarn is counted among the 70 largest stations in Australia.

Description

Positioned approximately 350 km north of Kalgoorlie and 800 km northeast of Perth, Banjawarn lies at the boundary of the Great Victoria Desert within the jurisdiction of the Leonora district. The property covers an area of .

The terrain consists of a combination of Wanderrie, mulga, saltbush, and grassland environments that sustain both annual and perennial grass species. Four principal creeks and several other watercourses are bordered by gum trees and mulga, accompanied by multiple waterholes and lake systems.

History

Founded in 1903, Banjawarn has changed hands several times. By 1928, ownership belonged to the Warren brothers, who maintained a flock numbering around 1,000 sheep.

In 1993, the lease was held for a year by the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo. By 2010, Colvin and Adele Day had taken over the lease, managing a cattle herd comprising roughly 2,500 Droughtmaster, shorthorn, and Brahman cattle breeds.

Aum Shinrikyo

Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese apocalyptic cult known for engaging in criminal and terrorist activities. In April 1993, deputy leader Kiyohide Hayakawa arrived in Western Australia where Aum acquired Banjawarn Station and constructed facilities. Hayakawa expressed interest in uranium mining prospects, noting the superior quality of uranium ore found in South Australia.

The purchase was made through a front company headed by Yasuko Shimada, an Australian citizen of Japanese heritage and former member of Mahikari.

Phyllis Thomas, chairwoman of a neighboring Aboriginal community, observed approximately five individuals clad in full protective suits near a twin-engine aircraft at this remote location in August 1993.

In September 1993, Aum personnel brought mislabeled chemicals including hydrochloric acid. They paid over $20,000 in excess baggage fees for items such as mining machinery (a mechanical ditch digger), picks, generators, gas masks, respirators, and shovels. Australian Customs confiscated four liters of concentrated hydrochloric acid—some concealed inside hand soap containers—along with chemicals like ammonium chloride, sodium sulphate, and perchloric acid.

Additional chemicals were procured locally while an undisclosed research facility was established on site. A raid conducted in 1995 uncovered computers and laboratory apparatus.

Following reports about faulty water wells, Australian authorities mandated Aum to employ a manager responsible for sheep husbandry. By early 1994, scientific equipment was removed and replaced with sheep farming activities. Aum demanded exclusive rights to shear sheep; around 2,000 animals were sheared and sold. The appointed manager did not witness any experiments or mineral prospecting during this period.

The property was sold in October 1994. After the March 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack, which resulted in 12 deaths and over 1,000 injuries, investigations revealed Aum’s prior ownership of Banjawarn. Officials discovered sheep carcasses exhibiting signs consistent with sarin exposure alongside soil contaminated with methylphosphonic acid, confirming Banjawarn’s use as a chemical weapons testing site.

Seismic event

On the evening of 28 May 1993, a seismic disturbance was recorded in Western Australia, with its origin located south of Banjawarn.

This phenomenon generated shock waves that propagated across vast stretches of desert, observed by a small number of long-haul truck drivers and gold prospectors who reported witnessing a fireball and hearing an extended low-frequency rumble. Around the same time, Ed Paull, a geophysicist at Mundaring Observatory, received accounts of a bright meteor moving eastward over the Leonora-Laverton Highway.

An asteroid collision would typically produce a substantial crater, none of which was identified in this case. Another plausible explanation is an atmospheric bolide or an airburst caused by a stony asteroid, which could create shock waves without forming an impact crater—this interpretation aligns with both the data and eyewitness testimonies and resembles the 2013 meteor event in Russia.

A mining detonation was deemed improbable since the energy released was estimated to be 170 times greater than Australia's largest known mining explosion. The Urban Geoscience Division of the Australian Geological Survey Organisation determined that the seismic signatures resembled normal seismic activity for Western Australia and were most likely indicative of an earthquake.

Following the disclosure that Aum Shinrikyo owned the Banjawarn site, speculation emerged in 1997 suggesting the event might have been a nuclear test conducted by the cult. The explosion's force was estimated to be equivalent to up to 2,000 tons of high explosives. Aum Shinrikyo had demonstrated interest in nuclear and chemical weapons development, having recruited two nuclear engineers from the former Soviet Union and engaged in uranium mining at Banjawarn.

IRIS investigation

In early 1995, Australian geologist Harry Mason initiated an inquiry into the event prompted by damage sustained at Alicia Mine, a gold mining operation near Leonora-Laverton. Initial media attention to the fireball and seismic occurrence was minimal, limited primarily to a Kalgoorlie Miner article published on 1 June 1993. Mason produced a report based on witness interviews and is credited with bringing this incident to the awareness of U.S. Senate investigators.

The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations commissioned IRIS to analyze the event. Their report concluded that the seismic evidence was more consistent with an earthquake than with an explosion, although some discrepancies existed and data constraints were acknowledged. Regarding the meteor theory, IRIS noted that stony and carbonaceous meteorites generally disintegrate in airbursts at altitudes exceeding 10 kilometers, whereas iron meteorites tend to strike the surface. They suggested that only an iron meteorite impact could produce detectable seismic activity, rendering this possibility plausible despite no crater being found.

Mason maintained his belief that certain phenomena were linked to a covert test conducted by the Laverton Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) installation; however, his assertions were met with skepticism.

U.S. Senate investigation

During its examination of the seismic event and Aum Shinrikyo’s operations, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Senate Governmental Affairs Committee) uncovered new information concerning the cult’s activities in Western Australia.

Although Hayakawa was present at Banjawarn in May 1993, subcommittee legal counsel later indicated that the group was probably outside Australia when the blast occurred. The report confirms that in September 1993, members of Aum Shinrikyo—including leader Shoko Asahara—arrived in Western Australia equipped with mining machinery and chemicals. The delegation included five girls under fifteen traveling unaccompanied by parents as well as prominent figures such as Hideo Murai, who held a doctorate in astrophysics and served as third-in-command within the organization; Hayakawa (second-in-command) had arrived earlier that same month.

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