Digitization Unearths New Data From Cold War-Era Nuclear Test Films
The U.S. conducted hundreds of atmospheric nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962 — and filmed them. A project to digitize those films has changed the analysis of the nuclear explosions themselves.
The film is silent, but it starts with a bang. The screen blows out white, then a tropical beach comes into view, before an explosion tears across the horizon. A two-tiered mushroom cloud flows skyward, revealing a dark, intense plume of smoke that smolders in the distance.
Another film, showing the charmingly titled "Operation Teapot," is a black-and-white nightmare: A ball of fire comes into the frame over a mound
