Evening star., 1955-03-07

SC1 C1ldA 1fC1 deC A-"CdPO41
Picture on Pose AS
startled observers on a noun
tain peak SIS miles away and lit
up skies briefly like an early
sunrise over Southern California,
$50 miles away.
The detonation from a 500
foot tower, highest ever used in
Nevada test, packed a wallop
considerably greater than the
standard A-bomb. but its shock
apparently bounced on unin-
habited areas. Las Vegas, rs
miles from the Yucca Flat test
site, did not feel the blast.
2O-Second FirebalI.
The 20-second freball attested
to the size of the device. The
previous three explosions in this
series failed to produce fireballs
of more than six or seven seconds
duration.
The flash was reported seen as
far as Klamath Falls, Ore,
nearly $50 airline miles away. It
also was seen in San Francisco,
Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Ariz.,
and south of the border in
Mexico.
Clear weather conditions gave
Los Angeles its best view OF any
atomic test. This was the 35th
shot at the Atomic Energy Com
missions Nevada site.
More than 100 planes - Air
Force, Navy and Marine-took
part in the test, with 66 of them
co-ordinating in a simulated at
tack mission on the target area.
The Acc said II planes were
airborne at the time of the blast.
accounting for vapor trails high
in the sky above and to the side
OF the freball.
Troops Move Forward.
A contingent Of $50 soldiers
and IS Marines huddled in
trenches $500 yards from ground
zero and then moved forward in
another maneuver Of exercise
Desert Rock vi. Their COM
manding officer. Brig. Gen. Fred
w. Sladen, said there were no
casualties.
Thus the Acc and the De-
fense Department finally got
Operation Jinx," as it was being
called, off the planning board.
The high-tower blast originally
was scheduled to open the pres
ent series on February is, but
had been postponed repeatedly
because of adverse weather.
The test was the product of
both Los Alamos. N. Mex, and
Livermore, Calf, laboratories
and the Acc. but constituted a
major effort for Livermore. Be-
cause of Livermore's emphasis
on hydrogen weapons, there was
some speculation that this device
might be an atomic trigger for
the H-bomb. Hydrogen bombs
themselves are not tested in
Nevada.
40 Experiments Conducted.
The Acc said 40 experiments
were conducted in the test. These
included military, civilian de-
fense and diagnostic, that is,
purely scientific, studies.
The Air Force brought planes
from bases from Limestone, Me-,
to California. They included
B-36s, Bats and F-48s in the
attack group. as well as the usual
group of cloud-sampling and
radiation tracking aircraft.
There was no immediate re-
port of radiation fallout on any
populated area.
The mushroom of the cloud
rose to 10000 feet, highest of
this series, and glowed cream
and crimson in the rising SUM-
rays 1t moved almost due east,
while winds at lower elevation
sheared off the stem and blew
it southwest toward Death VAL
ley Junction.
Observers Are Awed.
A group of SO observers was
awed by the blast from a vantage
point of Angels Peak in the
Charleston Range. southwest of
the test site.
The binding flash forced them
to avert their gaze. When it
snuffed out like the filament of
a light bulb, a perfect fireball
rose, but held firm for about 20
seconds before fading into the
cloud.
This was not the largest fire.
ball or explosion at Yucca Flat.
The final test of the 1858 series
here displayed a device which
exploded with a 30-second fire.
ball and contained the power of
about so kilotons, or 2l2 times
normal A-bomb strength.
Today's shot probably packed
a 30-kiloton punch, however.
The standard A-bomb has a
l0-Second f1reball and a power
OF 20 kilotons, or the equivalent
Of 10000 tons of TINT.