BOMBS AT BIKINI 



l)U8irs expert photographers hoped to produce the 

 world's finest portraits of mammoth shock waves. 



Supplementing these cameras were other ingenious 

 devices. Various kinds of shockwave detectors were 

 placed at varying distances from the center of the 

 target area. Some of the detectors were located on the 

 target vessels; others floated on the water. Each de- 

 tector was capable of sensing the passage of the shoe]-: 

 w^ave and instantly dispatching a pre-arranged signal 

 to monitoring apparatus located a few miles away. 

 By such systems, shock-wave velocity could be deter- 

 mined much as the British air-raid wardens were able 

 to clock the rate of approach of a German airplane 

 heading for London. In the Bikini tests, however, th(^ 

 velocities would be many times greater, and the signal- 

 ing had to be done without benefit of human hand. 



OPTICAL RADIATION 



The most spectacular result of Test A was to be the 

 terrific output of optical radiation, including visible, 

 ultraviolet, and infrared light. The intensity was ex- 

 pected to be greater than ever before produced on 

 earth — except, of course, b}^ the previously detonated 

 atomic bombs. 



The character of the light was not expected to ])e 

 unusual. It has been known for many years that 

 any very hot body tends to emit visible, ultraviolet, 

 and infrared light. The atomic bomb, being extremely 



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