Coastal Radioactive Hot Spots NOT Related to Fukushima Disaster, Say Experts

So what's causing Geiger Counters to post ratings off the scale on parts of the California Coast?

Experts say they are "befuddled" by some incredibly radioactive readings that have been made on the California coast near San Francisco.

A video that has gone viral on the internet shows a man taking such readings near Pillar Point Harbor not far from San Francisco.  The readings who a 500% spike over what is considered normal backround radiation.     This element occurs naturally and extremely now, non-harmful levels are often found in nature.

But  after the video was posted, a 14-year engineering veteran, Steven Weiss of El Granada CA, took his own Geiger Counter to the area and came back with levels that were 14 times the normal levels.

Many initially thought it could have been from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.   After the tidal wave demolished the Japanese coast and the plant suffered it's disaster,  Japanese officials confirmed a radioactive plume had been released into the Pacific Ocean, and currents would eventually bring it to the West Coast of the U.S. sometime in 2014, much like the debris found washed up on beaches last year.

But the radioactive elements found near San Francisco didn't reportedly contain any cesium-137, the material used at Fukushima.   However, some critics say the behavior of both Japanese and U.S. officials about the amounts and dangers of radiation released by the crippled nuclear plant raise suspicions.    Japan recently passed a law threatening journalists with a ten-year prison sentence for trying to obtain sensitive information about the Fukushima disaster.  These critics say there's no way to prove the radium and thorium elements found in the CA beach soil didn't come from there.

Some radiation experts say there used to be a large oil pipeline at that beach location, and they are known for collecting heavy radioactive materials.

For now, experts and officials have no idea where the radiation came from or how it got there.   The sensitive areas have been closed off to the public for now.