During the 1950s, the United States conducted numerous nuclear tests in the Mojave Desert near the city of Los Angeles. These tests were part of the Cold War arms and technology race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Through these tests, the United States sought to develop and improve its nuclear arsenal, which would give it a strategic advantage over its adversary.
From the Herald-Examiner, dated March 7, 1955. “Atomic bomb explosion in Nevada observed from the roof of the Statler Hotel. Note the sharpness of City Hall (right background), the Richfield Building (right foreground) and other buildings. The crest of the mountains is also clearly delineated.”
Nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Area, including tests at the Yucca Flat site and the Mojave test site, could be seen from several nearby cities. These cities include Las Vegas, Henderson, Mesquite and Reno. The explosions could also be seen from cities located farther away, such as Los Angeles, which is about 100 miles southwest of the Nevada Test Area.
The nuclear tests in the Mojave Desert were conducted as part of Operation Teapot, a series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1955.
Los Angeles had two sunrises yesterday.
wrote the Times after a pre-dawn test in the 1950s.
An atomic bomb lights up the night sky over the city of Los Angeles, March 7, 1955. The brightness lasted 20 seconds from 5:20.
Civic center buildings in Los Angeles from an atomic bomb explosion in Nevada, 1955, an incredible statement in any context, stranger than science fiction.
The United States conducted 928 atomic tests at the Nevada Test Site, located approximately 105 km northwest of the city of Las Vegas. Exactly one hundred of these tests were atmospheric, whose mushroom clouds could be seen nearly 100 miles away, attracting fascinated tourists to the desert city of Las Vegas.
In retrospect, however, the event has an eerie naiveté, like a photo of school children playing with mercury or a home movie of a father renovating a baby’s room with lead-based paint.
Nuclear testing in the Mojave Desert was extremely dangerous to both people and the environment. The explosions caused a great deal of damage to the fauna and flora in the area, as well as to the local communities. Many people living near the test site suffered radiation-related illnesses, including cancer.
From the Herald-Examiner, May 7, 1952. “Atomic blast gives Los Angeles an early ‘sunrise’. It was still dark in Los Angeles at 5:15 a.m. today when the “early dawn” momentarily shone on the northeast horizon. The flash came from the latest atomic explosion in Nevada. The photo above was taken from the top of the hill at Sixth and St. Paul Streets. City Hall and its beacon show it clearly.”
Although a propaganda campaign was carried out to convince the population that nuclear testing was safe, the harmful effects of radiation became evident over time. Activist groups began demonstrating against nuclear testing and demanding an end to it.
An atomic bomb from the Nevada tests lights up the sky in this photograph taken on March 1, 1955 from the Mirror Building of the Los Angeles Times.
Eventually, nuclear testing in the Mojave Desert was halted in the 1960s, allowing the area to gradually recover from the damage caused by the explosions.
Atomic explosion as seen from the San Fernando Valley, March 7, 1955. “Atomic fire lights up Valley skies before dawn. The glowing light from the largest atomic explosion at Yucca Flats, Nevada, tests illuminate the Valley skies, 275 air miles away.” at 5:20 a.m. today, 20 minutes after the explosion. The photo was taken from Mulholland Drive. The group of lights on the left is the Lockheed air terminal. To the right, Burbank’s commercial and residential district.” Photo credit: Bob Steele.
In short, nuclear testing in the Mojave Desert was an important part of the arms and technology race that developed during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Although these tests were crucial to the development of nuclear technology, they also had a negative impact on the environment and local communities near the test site.
On June 4, 1953, the Herald-Examiner reported that “evidence that the atomic bomb detonated today at Yucca Flat, Nevada, was the most powerful of all in the series, is revealed in this photograph taken here. The sky is as bright as day, but what is most remarkable is that the buildings in the center are not only cut out, as in previous atomic explosions, but are illuminated on this side, the side farthest from the source of the blast.”
Fortunately, nuclear testing in Mojave stopped in the 1960s, allowing the area to gradually recover from the damage caused by the explosions.
On May 5, 1955, the Herald-Examiner reported that “early risers were a little disappointed this morning when they climbed onto the roof of a downtown Los Angeles building to see the flash of the big atomic explosion in Nevada. Because of a thick layer of clouds between here and there, they saw only a faint flash. The explosion was at 5:10 a.m.”.
On May 7, 1952, the Herald-Examiner reported that “today’s atomic explosion at the Yucca Flat test range in Nevada was clearly visible to early risers at 5:15 a.m. in Los Angeles. The photo taken from the roof of the Herald-Express building shows the explosion illuminating the northeast horizon.”
unknownThe best views were from Las Vegas, and the city took full advantage of the atomic spectacle. Detonation times were announced in advance, as well as the best places to observe. Casinos, hotels and inns boasted of their northward views, offering atomic cocktail specials and “Sunrise Bomb Parties.” In this image, a mushroom cloud is seen from the city of Las Vegas. Photo credit: Citylab / Las Vegas News Bureau.
The flash of detonation. Photo credit: Citylab/Las Vegas News BureauTourists observe the mushroom cloud from the pool. Photo credit: Citylab/Las Vegas News BureauPhoto credit: Citylab/Las Vegas News BureauPhoto credit: Citylab/Las Vegas News Bureau
Español
