Five Men Agree To Stand Directly Under An Exploding Nuclear Bomb (1957)

[struggle4progress]

By ROBERT KRULWICH
Originally published on Wed July 18, 2012 2:23 pm

... They wait. There is a countdown; 18,500 feet above them, the missile is detonated and blows up. Which means, these men intentionally stood directly underneath an exploding 2-kiloton nuclear bomb ...

This footage comes from our government's archives. It was shot by the U.S. Air Force (at the behest of Col. Arthur B. "Barney" Oldfield, public information officer for the Continental Air Defense Command in Colorado Springs) to demonstrate the relative safety of a low-grade nuclear exchange in the atmosphere. Two colonels, two majors and a fifth officer agreed to stand right below the blast. Only the cameraman, George Yoshitake, didn't volunteer.

The country was just beginning to worry about nuclear fallout, and the Air Force wanted to reassure people that it was OK to use atomic weapons to counter similar weapons being developed in Russia. (They didn't win this argument.) ...

http://www.nhpr.org/post/five-men-agree-stand-directly-under-exploding-nuclear-bomb

[lpbk2713]

1. I've heard about LSD experimentation on human military guinea pigs.

I wonder if this is related?



(Not seriously)

[Scuba]

5. If I get to choose....

[BlueJazz]

2. Megaton !!!!....I thought they said Kiloton....oh shi.....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. One thing I learned in the marines. Never, ever, volunteer.

Idiots.

[Gold Metal Flake]

4. "It was just beautiful"