Red mercury is a discredited substance, most likely a hoax perpetrated by con artists who sought to
take advantage of gullible buyers on the black market for arms.
These con artists described it as a substance used in the creation of nuclear weapons; because of the secrecy surrounding nuclear weapons development, it is difficult to disprove their claims completely. However, all samples of alleged “red mercury” analyzed in the public literature have proven to be well-known, common substances of no interest to weapons makers

When red mercury rst appeared on the international black market 15
years ago, the supposedly top secret nuclear material was ‘red’ because it
came from Russia. When it resurfaced last year in the formerly
communist states of Eastern Europe it had unaccountably acquired a red
colour. But then, as a report from the US Department of Energy reveals,
mysterious transformations are red mercury’s stock in trade. The report, compiled by researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, shows that in the hands of hoaxers and conmen, red mercury can do almost
anything the aspiring Third World demagogue wants it to. You want a short cut to making an atom bomb? You want the key to Soviet ballistic missile guidance systems? Or perhaps you want the Russian alternative to
the anti-radar paint on the stealth bomber? What you need is red mercury.