page_title: Lookout Mountain Air Force Station
section_title: 1947–1960
hierarchical_section_title: Lookout Mountain Air Force Station / 1947–1960
caption_attribution_description: English: A-bomb-test Operation Sandstone, Event X-Ray detonation, April 15, 1948, Engebi, Eniwetok-Atoll Deutsch: Operation Sandstone - X-Ray (Explosionshöhe: 61 Meter; 37 kt) Das Luftbild wurde aus etwa 500 Metern Höhe aufgenommen, der gekrümmte Rand der Lagune ist vor der Insel Engebi zu erkennen
context_page_description: Lookout Mountain Air Force Station is a former defense site which today is a private residence in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The USAF military installation produced motion pictures and still photographs for the United States Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission from 1947–1969.
  The 100,000 sq ft facility was built on 2.5 acres in 1941 as a World War II air defense center to coordinate Los Angeles area radar installations. When the studio was established in 1947, its purpose was kept secret. The studio consisted of one large sound stage, a film laboratory, two screening rooms, four editing rooms, an animation and still photo department, sound mixing studio, and numerous climate controlled film vaults. Using the latest equipment, the studio could process both 35mm and 16mm color motion picture film as well as black and white and color still photographs. It was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument number 1098 in 2015.
context_section_description: Beginning with Trinity, the very first nuclear test in 1945, there was an obvious need to document nuclear testing with still and moving pictures photography. The film was needed for the study and understanding of the behavior of nuclear weapons. In 1946, in support of Operation Crossroads, the first atomic bomb test in the Pacific, the joint task force conducting the test had pulled together a provisional photographic unit of still and motion picture photographers to document the test. Most of these photographers were part of a small detachment of the 1st Motion Picture Unit from Long Island, New York.
  At the conclusion of Operation Crossroads, it was determined that a permanent photographic unit, providing specialized photography and sound recording, should be established, trained, equipped and organized to obtain scientific, technical and documentary photography of recurring atomic bomb tests. Brigadier General P.T. Cullen, who had commanded the Air Photo Unit on Operation Crossroads, was directed to find a site in the Los Angeles area suitable for the accomplishment of motion picture documentation of Joint Task Force 7 (JTF-7), Operation Sandstone. 
  After an extensive survey of the Los Angeles area, the General chose the Air Force facility at 8935 Wonderland Avenue. The facility had been constructed on two acres of land in 1943 at a cost of $132,000 to house the Los Angeles Flight Control Center. After World War II, the Los Angeles Flight Control Center was closed and the grounds and building declared surplus to the needs of the Air Force. In the fall of 1947 the 1352d Motion Picture Squadron was activated at Lookout Mountain.
  In January, 1948, the building was acquired from the War Assets Administration by the Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission for the Lookout Mountain Laboratory for use in support of JTF-7. Extensive remodeling commenced by the Los Angeles Office of the Army Corps of Engineers and was paid for by the AEC. One major modification was to install five individual fireproof vaults with a storage capacity of 3,500,000 feet of 35mm film. Office equipment came from Air Force supply at San Bernardino, CA and technical equipment, in excess of $500,000, was obtained from the First Motion Picture Unit in New York and various Air Force photographic units.
  During the period when Lookout Mountain Laboratory was used in support of JTF-7, it was under the command of the Second Air Division, which was commanded by General Cullen of the Strategic Air Command. Personnel consisted of 8 officers from the Air Force, USA, Navy and Marine Corps. Civilian photographers with Top Secret clearances were supplied by the Air Materiel Command and the Strategic Air Command on a Temporary duty assignment (TDY) basis, their salaries paid jointly by the AEC and the Air Force.
  In the fall of 1949, Lt. General Curtis LeMay decided that the production of motion pictures was not a proper function of the Strategic Air Command. Lookout Mountain Laboratory and all its staff were transferred to the Air Proving Ground under the command of Lt. General William E. Kepner.
  In December, 1949, Lookout Mountain Laboratory and the 4881st Motion Picture Squadron were assigned the responsibility for accomplishing all documentary photography for Joint Task Force 3, Operation Greenhouse. This was the first time that a photographic unit, specifically staffed and equipped for documentation of an atomic weapons test, existed during the planning stages of such test. As a result, it was possible to pre-plan the photography.
  In June, 1950, the Atomic Energy Commission, later the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), made funds available for further construction at Lookout Mountain Laboratory. Between June, 1950 and January 1, 1953 a new 100,000 square foot building was constructed, new motion picture processing equipment installed, more humidity controlled film vaults built, editing and screening rooms updated, a new still processing lab build and a sound stage added to the multistory building, much of which was underground having been built down into the mo
caption: Operation Sandstone nuclear detonation
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