Buzz
Between the 1940s and 1960s, nuclear tests and bombings demonstrated the immense destructive power of these weapons. While the Hiroshima bombing during World War II is well-known, many are unaware of the impact it had on the Enola Gay pilots, or that Australia was struck by a bomb twice as powerful. On the strange side, meet the man who survived two nuclear blasts and the scientists who bombed beer and later drank it.
10. The First Nuclear Test Created Something That Shouldn't Have Existed
The first-ever nuclear test took place in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. The explosion resulted in the creation of a unique mineral known as trinitite, resembling green glass. The glass formed when the blast fused desert sand, asphalt, the test tower, and its copper wiring together.
However, decades later, an astonishing discovery was made within the glass that stunned the scientific community. Scientists found a quasicrystal, a substance once thought to be impossible. Unlike traditional crystals, whose atoms are arranged in a regular or chaotic order, quasicrystals possess a unique arrangement that was only theorized until their discovery in 1984.
Quasicrystals were eventually found in meteorites and even synthesized in laboratories. Though they hadn't been discovered naturally on Earth before, researchers soon realized that quasicrystals formed under extreme conditions of temperature, shock, and pressure—exactly what atomic explosions provided.
When the quasicrystal was discovered inside the glass, it came with an added enigma. The grain possessed 20 sides and an intricate internal structure that couldn't be replicated by other crystals, and its complexity left scientists baffled as to how it had formed.
9. Operation Teapot
The Nevada desert hosted nuclear testing for many years. One of these projects, Operation Teapot, sought to answer an unusual question—could beer survive a nuclear blast? In 1955, bottles of soda and beer were placed at a test site, some close to ground zero, just 322 meters (1,056 feet) away, and others placed several miles further.
Operation Teapot involved detonating 14 nuclear bombs. Only 2 were used for the drink test, with explosive yields equivalent to 20 and 30 kilotons of TNT. After the blasts, researchers collected the beverages. The most daring individuals sampled the beer, reporting it tasted fine—except for the bottles closest to the explosion. Fortunately, follow-up tests revealed the drinks were only slightly radioactive and safe to consume.
8. American Honey Contains Radioactive Traces
In 2017, a teacher tasked his students with an assignment to demonstrate that fallout from nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s had persisted in the environment. The challenge was for each student to bring a food sample from a local garden or market. As expected, various samples contained small amounts of caesium-137, a radioactive isotope from the fallout.
However, one jar of honey stood out as being 100 times more radioactive than the others. Intrigued by this unusually high level of caesium-137, a team collected 122 raw, unfiltered honey samples from beekeepers and markets across the eastern US. Around 68 of these samples tested positive for the radioactive isotope.
But why was the honey so radioactive? The plants from which bees gather nectar absorb the isotope from the earth. As the bees process the nectar into honey, the caesium-137 becomes more concentrated. Researchers assure that honey enthusiasts need not be alarmed, as the levels of radioactivity are considered safe for consumption.
7. The Glass Beaches of Hiroshima
In 2015, geologist Mario Wannier was examining sand samples collected from Hiroshima Port to assess the health of the marine ecosystems on the Moto Ujina Peninsula.
However, Wannier stumbled upon something unusual—tiny glass spheres. Some appeared to be melted or fused together, while others had tails. The strangest ones were rubber-like in composition. In total, up to 2.5 percent of the material in the samples, even those taken from beaches as far as 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) away, consisted of glass.
This high concentration indicated that the glass was likely fallout from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. A university then analyzed the glass and discovered that it contained metals, crystals, carbon, and even oxygen. Astonishingly, the composition suggested the glass had originated from Hiroshima’s vaporized buildings.
When the atomic bomb detonated, the materials of Hiroshima were lifted into the air by the fireball. The debris melted and formed glass within the atomic cloud, where the spheres cooled and eventually rained back down on Earth.
6. The Enigmatic Vela Incident
In 1979, the Vela-5B satellite was orbiting Earth as part of a series of satellites designed to detect unauthorized nuclear detonations worldwide. On September 22nd, Vela-5B recorded a significant explosion.
The blast occurred in the air near the Prince Edward Islands, situated in the southern Indian Ocean. Experts concluded that the event exhibited all the characteristics of a nuclear explosion, including a double flash and an atmospheric shockwave. If this was indeed a nuclear detonation, it would have been a 3 kiloton explosion (for comparison, the Hiroshima bomb was 15 kilotons).
However, no signs of radioactive fallout were detected, and surveillance aircraft found no trace of a bomb. Some suggest the satellite might have been struck by something, leading to a false reading. Still, highly skilled professionals, including researchers from Los Alamos, remain confident that it was a nuclear test.
So who might have conducted this covert test? The most widely accepted theory is that South Africa and Israel carried out a joint test. Other potential suspects include France, India, and Pakistan. But, as of now, no one is claiming responsibility.
5. The Maralinga Nuclear Tests
Between 1956 and 1963, seven atomic bombs were detonated at Maralinga in Australia. This remote area was selected by the British, who conducted the tests as part of a Cold War initiative. One of the bombs was twice the size of the one that destroyed Hiroshima, but that wasn’t the only unsettling aspect of these tests.
Australia’s Prime Minister at the time, Robert Menzies, allowed the tests to go ahead without consulting the cabinet first. There were also bizarre smaller experiments in which plutonium was either set on fire or detonated with TNT. The radioactive fallout reached towns like Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide. Servicemen who were involved in the tests were exposed to radiation, and 30 percent of them would eventually die from cancer. Many believe this was not a mistake, but that the scientists were studying the human impact of nuclear explosions.
4. The Dreadful Tsar Bomba
When nuclear weapons became a reality, the Soviets wanted to demonstrate their continued technological might to the world. This led to the creation of the Tsar Bomba (meaning the Tsar’s Bomb). This monstrous device measured 8 meters (26 feet) in length and weighed 27 tonnes (29 tons).
In 1961, the decision was made to test the bomb in a remote area called Novaya Zemlya. The Tsar Bomba was so powerful that the crew of the plane had a 50 percent chance of perishing in the blast. Despite the risk, they flew to the test site and dropped the bomb. What followed was nothing short of terrifying.
The aircraft narrowly survived. Despite the crew being 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, the explosion nearly obliterated the plane. The mushroom cloud shot upwards, expanding into a 100-kilometer (63-mile) wide cap. A nearby village, situated 55 kilometers (34 miles) from the blast, was completely leveled, and for hundreds of miles beyond, homes suffered severe damage.
The Tsar Bomba unleashed unimaginable power. Its blast was 1,500 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb, sending shockwaves around the globe three times. Even more chilling? The bomb's original design was even more devastating, but the creators reduced its power to prevent fallout from reaching the USSR.
3. This Guy Got Nuked Twice
On August 6, 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was eager to return home. At 29, he lived in Nagasaki but was wrapping up a business trip in Hiroshima. As he walked near a shipyard, he witnessed the Enola Gay release the bomb. He dove into a ditch for cover, but the blast's shockwave dragged him into the air and scorched his skin.
Severely burned, Yamaguchi struggled to reach his family in Nagasaki. On his way to the train station, he had to wade through a river filled with corpses. Upon arriving in Nagasaki, his mother failed to recognize him due to the extent of his injuries.
On August 9, Yamaguchi was at work, trying to convince his boss that a single bomb had leveled Hiroshima. His superior dismissed him as delusional. Ironically, it was around this time that Nagasaki was struck. The explosion devastated the office, tore off his bandages, and left Yamaguchi severely radiated.
Despite enduring severe radiation sickness, Yamaguchi managed to recover and lived to 93. While approximately 165 individuals were affected by both attacks, Yamaguchi was the only one officially recognized by the Japanese government. He was given the special title of 'nijyuu hibakusha,' meaning 'twice-bombed person.'
2. The Other Pilot Turned To Crime
While Captain Robert Lewis served as the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, Major Claude Eatherly had a more direct role in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He piloted another aircraft, a weather plane, tasked with evaluating the visibility of the city. The fate of the bombings rested entirely on Eatherly's judgment. He reported that visibility was clear and gave the green light.
Shocked by the devastation he had contributed to, Eatherly was haunted by nightmares of the bombings. He spent years cycling through psychiatric hospitals and was repeatedly arrested for petty crimes. Eatherly even attempted to rob grocery stores at gunpoint, though he was inept at it. After his capture, a jury, convinced that the bombings had driven him mad, decided to release him.
Eatherly's trauma ran deep. He eventually tried to rebuild his life and became well-known as an anti-nuclear advocate. Eatherly passed away at the age of 59 from cancer, but not before telling the people of Hiroshima that he was the one who authorized the bomb that day, and he regretted it. In a response similar to Koko's reaction to Captain Lewis, 30 survivors of the bombing wrote to Eatherly saying, 'You are also a victim of war like us.'
1. Enola Gay Pilot Meets Japanese Victim
Koko Kondo was only eight months old when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The house she was in collapsed, but her mother, also trapped, managed to fight through the rubble and rescue them both.
As Koko grew older, she witnessed the horrific aftermath—burned victims and ruined buildings. Upon learning that a single B-29 bomber from the US was responsible, she vowed to seek revenge on the crew of the aircraft.
In 1955, when Koko was 10, she and her family traveled to America to share their story on a TV show. To their shock, the show had a surprise in store. The host introduced them to the pilot of the Enola Gay—Captain Robert Lewis, who had famously written in the plane's logbook after the bombing, 'My God, what have we done?'
Koko initially felt a desire to strike Lewis. However, as she looked into his eyes and saw his tears, something extraordinary occurred. Rather than lash out, the young girl walked up to Lewis and took his hand. After Lewis passed away in 1983, Koko regretted not thanking him. Their meeting had replaced her anger with forgiveness and made her realize that war inflicts pain on both sides.
