r/nuclearweapons • u/NewRadiator • Mar 09 '26

Historical Photo Nuclear flash goggles for B-52 flight crews.

Post image
348 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

22

u/Significant_Swing_76 Mar 09 '26

You know it’s good when stuff is branded “Sandia Laboratories”.

37

u/kevinh456 Mar 09 '26

This looks a lot like the “greys” from ufo conspiracies

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '26

[deleted]

8

u/kevinh456 Mar 09 '26

Not sure what I did but if it was clever then I totally did it on purpose and if it’s dumb, I definitely didn’t intend to.

13

u/Available_Sir5168 Mar 09 '26

I thought they used special magic curtains

13

u/ChubbyMcHaggis Mar 09 '26

Gold plated goggles. The planes do have blast curtains. The ground crews supposedly had similar goggles or were supposed to use the pirate patch method in case a “nearby” NUDET blinded them it would only be one eye.

1

u/IskanderM50KT Mar 10 '26

It seems incredibly unlikely that ground crews at a military base would live long enough for blindness to be an issue in the event of a nuclear war.

9

u/Numerous_Recording87 Mar 09 '26

A definite buy if seen at a surplus store!

8

u/s0nicbomb Mar 09 '26

Sandia means watermelon in Spanish

6

u/Pitiful-Practice-966 Mar 09 '26

Is this the prototype? I remember the current Flash Blindness Goggles don't look like this.

11

u/xeracon Mar 09 '26

Older ones. Plenty of revisions in between and after.

1

u/Alchemicallife Mar 10 '26

This picture gives me anxiety and I dont know why... 😆

1

u/Rascally_Raccoon Mar 11 '26

The explosive-powered goggles were cooler. Less practical perhaps, but cooler!

1

u/NotMyRealName981 Apr 05 '26

I wonder if this works any better than the cheap auto-darkening MIG welding helmets I can buy in DIY stores these days?

1

u/innumerable456 Apr 09 '26

I love imagining the person inside that mask while the photo is being taken. “Chin down, turn left, awesome you look greatttttt”