These are the creepy fake towns used for 1950s nuclear tests

Tim Kirkpatrick
Jan 28, 2019 6:40 PM PST
1 minute read
Wars photo

SUMMARY

Deep in the Nevada desert — approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas — sits a small town where the human population on a non-work day is zero. But this town wasn’t made for real people to inhabit. Rather, it was specially built just to…

Deep in the Nevada desert — approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas — sits a small town where the human population on a non-work day is zero. But this town wasn't made for real people to inhabit. Rather, it was specially built just to test atomic blasts that would consume the area with its crushing power and unbelievable heat.


In the 1950s, nuclear testing began at the Nevada National Security Site as technicians mounted the Apple-2 bomb on top of a detonation tower.

The tower stood 1,500 feet above ground level so that when the colossal explosion occurred, the fireball blast wouldn't effect or damage the monitoring equipment.

Related: This failed nuclear engine might be able to power your city

One of many of the detonation towers used during the nuclear testing. (Source: Smithsonian Channel / Screenshot)

The testing facilities' employees manufactured and assembled shops, gas stations, and homes made of brick and wood —  dubbing these areas "Doom Towns."

Inside these buildings, the workers staged the interiors with full-size mannequin families wearing various types clothing to witness how the different fabrics would hold up during the energy bursts and extreme heat. After denotation, the homes that were within 6,000 feet from ground zero lost rooftops, suffered broken windows and the several coats of paint blistered and scraped off in a matter of a few moments.

A single-story home before the nuclear test located near ground zero before the blast. (Source: Smithsonian Channel / Screenshot)

By contrast, the homes that were located near the initial blast zone were completely incinerated and their ashes sailed into the wind.

The same single-story home during the nuclear blast. (Source: Smithsonian Channel / Screenshot)

The test site contained 28 clusters and stretched 1,360 square miles and now supports the Stockpile Stewardship Program. This video from the Smithsonian Channel shows us what it was like to live through doomsday.

Also Read: EOD airmen can build and defuse anything from a pipe bomb to a nuclear weapon

 

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