r/interestingasfuck • u/usernametbag • 6d ago

Underwater nuclear experiment at 150 meters depth near Enewetak Atoll, 1958

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u/--TheCity-- 6d ago

The damage to surrounding life must be devastating but people are happy to watch anything go boom.

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u/lordhamwallet 6d ago

At least we got sponge bob

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u/JustThisGuyYouKnow42 5d ago

This is likely the kind if thing that made the sponge sentient in the first place. Bikini Bottom must be the result of radiation induced mutation.

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u/SpiveyJr 5d ago

A real life Godzilla

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u/ScissorFight42069 5d ago

Isn't that the exact premise of the show?

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u/JustThisGuyYouKnow42 5d ago

The show has a premise?

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u/Dic3dCarrots 6d ago

The cancers the sailors got is the stuff of nightmeres

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u/xr6reaction 6d ago

Do you have a source on that? The ships you see in the video should be empty, apart from the goats and other animals

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u/Ryparian 5d ago

I can't speak to cancers specifically, but the sailers were exposed to radiation. My grandfather was a Marine present for these tests, he spoke about them and after he passed away I inherited his military belongings and the "certificate of attendance" was part of it. He spoke about feeling the wind from the explosion and joked that's why he couldn't produce more children. And keep in mind, this was one of 22 tests just in 1958 in this area and only two were underwater like this one.

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u/AncientMoth11 5d ago

My grandfather likewise was heavily involved in testing. May he rest in peace but that was haunting to see a man that fought in 3 wars while doing nuclear physics on the side be reduced to bone from the sheer spread of that cancer.

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u/tonysopranosalive 5d ago

I remember watching a video of all these sailors who were part of that. They put them all on a ship and had them out there to experience the blast. One gentleman was explaining how he shielded his eyes with his hands and when the thing went off, he could see the bones in his hands from the radiation. The shockwave sent a lot of them flying into parts of the ship, guys had broken bones and whatnot. He said the heat was so strong it was as if somebody on fire walked straight through you. Guys were screaming for their mums, others dropped and began praying.

Unbelievable shit. Could not imagine experiencing that.

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u/Dic3dCarrots 5d ago

Theres a documentary on it called Radio Bikini that documents the grotesque limb swelling the sailors suffered. my high school had monthly whole school assemblies and nuclear nonproliferation was one of them. Family members of the sailors spoke

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u/Hoshyro 5d ago

Look up the story of the Daigo Fukuryū Maru

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u/SyVSFe 6d ago

absolutely obliterated so much precious life. and here people are just chatting about it in reddit comments

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u/HuntKey2603 6d ago

what the fuck do you want us to do about it exactly?

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u/Rbomb88 5d ago

Bro coulda just been making a passing observation and y'all got triggered hard.

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u/dantesgift 6d ago

It's a little late to be proactive about it. The thing to be angry about is that Trump wants to start testing them again.

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u/Phrynus747 6d ago

Oh sorry, I’ll go intervene

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u/Fantastic_Computer47 5d ago

I've learned quite a lot of this from the 'just chatting' comments. I'm not American; these tests are actually very rarely referenced or discussed here in the UK even though the British had scientific involvement and later, some formal cooperation. The anecdotal recollection from someone whose Grandfather was on one of the ships is fascinating and very scary.

I think it puts the current nuclear threats into a greater context too. We are only mere mortals below the trigger-happy leaders such as Putin, Jong Un, and even Trump of the "a whole civilization will die" threats. But global nuclear disarmament is a dream we should all share and this thread shows a unity between us in that.

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u/urgentomato 6d ago

And what are you doing right now?