The US military once detonated a nuclear bomb directly above the heads of 5 officers

Wed, 07/26/2023 - 17:01

US military Private First Class Jack Wilson (left, fore) and Sergeant Glenn Poth (right, fore) look at the smoke plume of a nuclear detonation as part of Operation Tumbler-Snapper at the Nevada Proving Grounds, Nevada, early to mid 1952. — The five men weren't required — — to stand under the explosion, which, unlike the one pictured here, would have been in the air, about three miles up.
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In 1957, the US military conducted an test of an unguided nuclear rocket.
Five Air Force officers reportedly volunteered to stand directly underneath the test.
All five men are said to have later developed cancer.

The history of US nuclear testing is full of bad ideas, and among them is undoubtedly five US military men standing at ground zero during an atmospheric test in the late 1950s.