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Nuclear weapons are the most lethal creations humanity has ever made, which makes it all the more mind-boggling to realize how carelessly they've been used. Even a five-year-old would likely make smarter choices about their snacks than the leaders have with nuclear weapons.
10. Starfish Prime
Twenty years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, detonating nukes in the Nevada desert had started to lose its appeal. That's when someone had the brilliant idea to launch one into space. Why? Just to see what would happen.
The United States worried that the Soviets might destroy American missiles by setting off nuclear bombs in space, so it launched its own to see what would happen. No one had ever detonated such a large nuke in space before—and no one has since. This is because Starfish Prime released an EMP burst much larger than expected.
The pulse from the detonation knocked out hundreds of streetlights and disrupted phone lines in Hawaii, which was 1,000 kilometers (600 mi) away from the blast. Starfish Prime exploded 385 kilometers (240 mi) above the Earth's surface, and as a result, the pulse also damaged six satellites.
9. Trinitite Jewelry
Trinitite is a type of glass created during the 1945 Trinity nuclear test, the first successful nuclear explosion. The explosion's intense fireball hurled the glass into the air, where it solidified into droplets and rained down like molten lava. This glass quickly became a popular keepsake for visitors to the New Mexico desert site.
The glass didn’t initially appear radioactive, so there seemed to be no risk in turning it into jewelry. However, it was later discovered that the glass was, in fact, radioactive, and prolonged contact with the skin could cause radiation burns.
Tests showed that you’d need to consume over a kilogram of the glass for the radiation to cause significant harm. So go ahead and enjoy a large bowl of Trinitite O’s for breakfast.
8. The Nuke Cannon
Nuclear weapons come with various delivery methods, including bomber planes, fixed ballistic launchers, and submarines. In the early 1950s, the United States developed a method to fire a nuclear weapon from a modified railroad cannon. It had a limited range of only 20 miles and was fired just once.
The Atomic Cannon (or 'Atomic Annie') became obsolete the moment it arrived in Europe. The military wasted valuable time and resources transporting it (it was too heavy to be airlifted) just to keep the Soviets from figuring out its location. While the atomic cannon was highly impractical, it certainly made a flashy statement, and the Cold War was all about showcasing just how impressive our weapons could be.
7. Flying A Plane Through A Mushroom Cloud
When the British were testing their first hydrogen bombs, they aimed to collect the radioactive material released by the explosion. To do so, they coated a plane in wax to capture the particles and flew pilots through the mushroom cloud right after the detonation.
Joe Pasquini was one of the pilots involved, and he wasn't thrilled about the mission. He knew they were being used as test subjects, but he had little choice. As his plane flew through the mushroom cloud, Pasquini saw radioactive rain falling on the wings—an unusual phenomenon at altitudes of 14,000 meters (46,000 ft). As if that weren't bad enough, Pasquini was later sent to fly through another cloud after a subsequent explosion.
Not surprisingly, Pasquini developed cancer seven times throughout his life, and his children also suffered from various illnesses. However, the British government insists that there's no way to definitively link the radiation exposure to their conditions.
6. Davy Crockett
The Davy Crockett was a massive, portable bazooka designed to fire miniature nuclear warheads. Long before the idea of suitcase bombs, there was a desire for a small-yield nuclear device that could be easily transported. The Davy Crockett's warhead was small enough to fit in a backpack, and the firing rig could be quickly disassembled and easily wheeled around.
The Davy Crockett was never actually used in combat. The smaller the weapon, the shorter its range, and this launcher had such a limited range that even a light breeze could expose the operator to its fallout.
5. Standing Under A Nuke
After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and with the Cold War unfolding, Americans were gripped by fear of a nuclear attack. To calm the public's anxiety, the government sought to demonstrate that even if a nuclear explosion occurred in the sky, there was no need to fear. With this goal in mind, they selected five volunteers (and one unwilling cameraman) to stand directly at ground zero—beneath an exploding nuclear bomb—and filmed the whole event.
The bomb used in the test had just one-eighth the explosive power of the one dropped on Hiroshima, and it detonated 5,600 meters (18,500 ft) above the Earth. The men had absolutely no protection. The cameraman, who had been forced into his role, asked for protection but was denied.
At the time, the men were awed by the dazzling explosion. Today, only two of them are still alive, and each of them developed cancer at some point in their lives.
4. The Baker Shot
The concept behind the Baker Shot was quite logical. America wanted to understand the impact a nuclear attack could have on its ships, so the military gathered a fleet at its test site at Bikini Atoll and set off an underwater nuclear explosion. If you watch the video closely, to the right of the spray column, you'll spot a battleship being lifted on its nose before it gets completely submerged.
The explosion caused millions of gallons of highly radioactive water to pour down on the ships that managed to stay afloat. The military had chained live animals to these ships' decks, and most of the animals perished either instantly or within a few days due to radiation poisoning. Most of the ships were irradiated beyond repair.
After multiple attempts to clean the ships by scrubbing and sandblasting (with no protective gear), the military ultimately decided the best course of action was to scuttle them all.
3. The Nuke That Almost Exploded Over North Carolina
All of these stories pale in comparison to the time we nearly lost North Carolina.
In 1961, a B-52 bomber went into a tailspin and crashed over North Carolina while carrying two nuclear bombs, each 260 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. The pilots ejected them, likely preferring to avoid carrying nukes in their plane when it plummeted into the countryside. One of the bombs was armed.
When the bomb hit the ground, its core received the firing signal. What prevented it from detonating and obliterating a large part of North Carolina was one tiny fail-safe switch. This switch could have easily malfunctioned due to the intense impact—the bomb had four such switches, and three of them failed.
It wasn't until later that the military realized the bombs did not have 'adequate safety' measures to be aboard the B-52.
2. Lake Chagan
In 1965, the Soviets came up with the brilliant idea to create a lake by detonating a nuclear bomb at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in what is now Kazakhstan. Having already drained much of the Aral Sea due to a disastrous irrigation error, the idea of suddenly making lakes seemed like a tempting prospect.
The plan was to create a lake-sized crater near the Chagan River by detonating a nuclear bomb. The intense heat from the explosion solidified the ground enough to hold water. Once that was done, the Soviets dug a channel between the river and the crater, letting gravity fill the 'lake' to the top.
However, the Soviets overlooked one crucial factor: radiation. In fact, if you bring a Geiger counter to Lake Chagan, you'll discover that it's still radioactive today.
1. Sedan
At least most of these incidents took place in the Pacific or other distant regions, meaning no one in America was exposed to radioactive fallout, right? Enter the Sedan project. This one explosion is responsible for 7 percent of all nuclear fallout ever to reach the U.S.
At the time, the U.S. was considering using nuclear weapons to dig a harbor in Alaska, so they decided to test how large of a hole a nuclear explosion could create. Unlike most tests, the Sedan detonation resulted in a massive crater in the Nevada desert, launching an immense amount of irradiated dust into the air. The fallout reached as far as 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) away.
The fallout from this detonation spread across Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, and South Dakota, exposing more Americans to radiation than any other nuclear test in history.
