Five men at atomic ground zero

On July 19, 1957, five men stood at Ground Zero of an atomic test that was being conducted at the Nevada Test Site. This was the test of a 2KT (kiloton) MB-1 nuclear air-to-air rocket launched from an F-89 Scorpion interceptor. The nuclear missile detonated 10,000 ft above their heads.

A reel-to-reel tape recorder was present to record their experience. You can see and hear the men react to the shock wave moments after the detonation.

The placard reading "Ground Zero; Population Five" was made by Colonel Arthur B. "Barney" Oldfield, the Public Information Officer for the Continental Air Defense Command in Colorado Spring who arranged for the volunteers to participate.

The five volunteers were:
Colonel Sidney Bruce
Lt. Colonel Frank P. Ball (technical advisor to the Steve Canyon tv show)
Major Norman "Bodie" Bodinger
Major John Hughes
Don Lutrel

and George Yoshitake, the cameraman (who wasn't a volunteer)

see George discuss his work photographing atomic and nuclear explosions in "Atomic Filmmakers."

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Justin H]

Every one of the men in that video lived past the age of 60...

As of 2011, the cameraman (who filmed many of these tests) was also still living.

S. Bruce. Died 2005 age 86

F. Ball. Died 2003 age 83

N. Bodinger, Still Alive

J. Hughes, Died 1990 age 71

D. Lutrel. Died 1987 age 63

You don't trust the "gubberment", fine. But don't post ignorance just for the shock-value. Leave that to the new casters.

[l8tbraker]

I can get AIDS from a tree?

[intrptr]

Your point being? I missed what you were trying to say. Pleas restate it. =)

[l8tbraker]

Hospital - 1.5 km from ground zero; men in Nevada - 4.7 km below point of detonation. And the "John" shot was 1/10 the yield of Little Boy. Low energy Soft x-rays emitted by nuclear blast (and the Sun's corona) are easily absorbed by the atmosphere. Gamma rays have much higher energy. However, when measuring the intensity of any radiation over distance, Newton's Inverse Square Law applies. Finally, x-ray film is much more sensitive than photographic film.

[intrptr]

"Not an ordinary bomb", lol. Yah it was a fission. device, not hi explosive. Big difference from any other type of "explosion". My point was that even in an underground bunker in a vault the bomb at Hiroshima still exposed X-ray film. These guys are not just being heat and visible light pulsed, but bombarded with Gamma rays, X-rays at the same time. One heavy dose of that passed straight thru their bodies. Whoooppee!!! Thats unordinary alright.

[mttalleman]

I spent ten seconds trying to squish the spider on my screen before I realized it was just part of your picture.

[l8tbraker]

Historical side note: "X-ray films that were instrumental in proving that the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing of Hiroshima was atomic have been found after 60 years. One of the films, turned black from radiation following the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, proved to military officials that the damage was not from an ordinary bomb. "There were military officials at the time claiming, 'What dropped was not a nuclear bomb,' the evidence have historical value," Nakane said." (UPI, 4 August 2005).

[intrptr]

Some time after the Bomb exploded over Hiroshima, a hospital that had been heavily damaged by the blast effects was reopened. When the basement vault was opened to recover the stock of x-ray film all the film was found to be exposed where_it_lay.

[Karlaum Mendes]

Ground Zero with us ? no thanks ! kkkkk

[l8tbraker]

Poor civilian cameraman doesn't count, it seems.

[lucksku]

I love that sign

"Ground zero. Population: 5"