As you drive northwest of Las Vegas on U.S. 95, you’ll pass the Nevada National Security Site, formerly called the Nevada Test Site, where nuclear weapons were tested from 1951 to 1992. In the 1950s, the mushroom clouds of nuclear blasts could be seen from downtown Las Vegas’ hotels, and became tourist attractions. In this photo from the era, a showgirl wears a mushroom cloud headpiece to promote the tests.
Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Historical Society.
It would be interesting for someone that owns a Geiger Counter to walk around Las Vegas sometime. The local & federal governments would probably frown on that since there has got to be some leftover fallout around the city and outskirts of town.
ReplyDeleteRaised in California's Fremont Valley during the fifties, and remember waking up to see the glow of the bomb bursts from the proving grounds. Do not remember if we could hear or feel the explosions. Every new and experimental aircraft from Edwards flew overhead. Of them all, the B36 at low attitude was the most memorable. You felt those things, and the sound was unmistakable. Learned later that the crews called them a magnesium overcast.
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