VIP observers are lit up by the light of an atomic bomb, Operation Greenhouse, Enewetak Atoll, 1951.
- How To Photograph an Atomic Bomb
- VCE, 142 pp.
Castle Bravo detonation, March 1, 1954. 15 megatons. Largest nuclear test conducted by the United States.
Troop maneuvers during Operation Tumbler-Snapper were covered extensively by the media including a color featurette entitled “Operation A-Bomb” produced by RKO-Pathe. Twenty-one hundred marines participated in the test. May 1, 1952.
Dominic Truckee, 210 kilotons, Christmas Island Area, June 6, 1962. Speed Graphic camera. Film, Ektacolor.
Five volunteers sent to witness the Genie air strike at ground zero
“One afternoon I was at Lookout Mountain right here in Hollywood, and I got a call from a Woody Mark. He said ‘George, I need you out here tomorrow for a special test.’ I got there that night and he said, ‘Tomorrow morning you’re going to go out with five other guys and you’re going to be standing at ground zero.’ I said, ‘Ground zero?’ He said. ‘Yeah, but the bomb’s gonna go off 10,000 feet above you.’ I said, ‘Well, what kind of protective gear am I going to have?’ He said ‘None.’ I remember I had a baseball hat, so I wore that just in case. He gave me a still camera, and two motion picture cameras. These were 35mm Eyemos. I set up the two Eyemos, and had little trip wires that I could trip with my foot starting about 5 seconds before the blast. And the still camera, I also had a trip wire so that I could trip it. I could get one exposure only. The five other guys were scientists and they volunteered to be there. I wasn’t a volunteer. I didn’t find out until I got there.”
-George Yoshitake
Crossroads Baker, 21 kilotons Bikini Atoll, July 24, 1946.
Plumbbob Hood, 74 kilotons, Nevada Test Site, July 5, 1957.
Cameramen photograph shot of Grable at the Nevada Test Site, May 25, 1953.
Nuclear Testing Timeline
Between 1945 and 1962, the United States conducted over 300 atmospheric nuclear tests above the ground, in the ocean or in outer space.
On August 5, 1963, the United States and the former Soviet Union signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, effectively banning the testing of all nuclear weapons except those tested underground. Atmospheric nuclear test blast photography came to an end.
Nuclear testing milestones:
07/16/45 Trinity test in Alamogordo, New Mexico
06/30/46 Crossroads Able at Bikini Atoll, first atomic test after World War II
07/24/46 Crossroads Baker at Bikini Atoll, first underwater test
01/27/51 Ranger Able, first atomic test within the US, at the Nevada Test Site
05/08/51 Greenhouse George, first thermonuclear test
10/31/52 Ivy Mike, first experimental thermonuclear device
05/25/53 Upshot-Knothole Grable, first and only test of an atomic cannon
05/20/56 Redwing Cherokee, first airdrop by US of a thermonuclear weapon
07/19/57 Plumbbob John, first and only air-to-air missile test of an atomic weapon
09/19/57 Plumbbob Ranier, first detonation contained underground
09/01/58 Hardtack Teak, first detonation in space at 77 kilometers, on a Redstone rocket
11/04/62 Dominic Tightrope, last atmospheric test conducted by the US
09/23/92 Julian Divider, last nuclear test conducted by the US
July 27th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
great pics loved em
July 31st, 2008 at 9:55 pm
i think war is poo, we should be nice not mean!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Your compilation is presented in a dispassionate (apparently objective) way, but leaves me feeling deeply saddened witnessing a prime example of the foolishness of our species, particularly considering the date (1992) of the last nuclear test. I have some problems with the title of your piece because (a) the article contains nothing about the equipment or techniques or problems encountered, (b) the title seems to make light of a truly disturbing chapter of our history. I think you have started an important work here, but you need to more carefully consider your subject and then consider the viewpoint from where you wish to stand. I hope this is helpful.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
@andrew reed: i think you’re getting a bit hysterical about - and missing the point of - this series of photographs.
“the article contains nothing about the equipment or techniques or problems encountered”
i’m sure five minutes with google would find you more information than you’d ever need on that subject…
“the title seems to make light of a truly disturbing chapter of our history.”
Yeah, I didn’t like that U2 album, either…
Yes, we all know of the horror of nuclear weapons. But surely we can just appreciate the unique and strangely beautiful sight of a nuclear test without having to go on with yet another diatribe on the evils of atomic weapons.
October 8th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Yeah, there definitely is a strange beauty to nuclear test photos. Obviously every one is aware of them and what they are capable of. Thanks for the post.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I believe the photos are absolutely stunning! Perhaps it would be wise to not introduce politics into a photgraphy site?
October 10th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Amazing pics! Does anyone have an idea when another test is being done. Hopefully never.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I think war is poo. They should be nice to us. But since they aren’t about to start being nice to us, we are, sadly, forced to be meaner than they are going to be to us, and just psychotic enough for them to think we might actually use them.