Consumes 

 Pacific Isle 



AEC SILENT ON ENIWETOK EYE- WITNESS REPORTS 



LIMA, 0., NOV. 11 (JP) — 



A mile-wide island actually dis- 

 appeared in a recent atomic or 

 hydrogen bomb explosion at 

 Eniwetok in the Pacific, an eye- 

 witness wrote Lima relatives. 



The unidentified eye-witness 

 didn't say he watched the first 

 explosion of a hydrogen bomb 

 but the Lima News, which pub- 

 lished the letter in a copyrighted 

 story, said "it is apparent that 

 the explosion he felt and saw 

 was America's first experiment 

 with a hydrogen bomb." 



The man wrote that he watch- 

 ed the explosion from 30.4 miles 

 away but that heat from the 

 bomb was 180 degrees when it 

 reached him. He said flame two 

 miles wide shot five miles into 



the air. 



A 20-mile-wide mushroom 

 drew thousands of tons of eartn 

 into the sky. It looked like a 

 giant cauliflower, the man said. 



"About 15 minutes after shot 

 time," the man wrote, "the is- 

 land on which the bomb had 

 been set off started to burn and 

 it turned a brilliant red. It burn- 

 ed for over six hours, gradual- 

 ly becoming smaller. 



"Within six hours, an island 

 that once had palm trees and 

 coconuts was now nothing. A 

 mile-wide island had actually 

 disappeared. 



"I was watching through bin- 

 oculars. At first I didn't notice 

 but when I saw a huge chunk 

 just seem to melt away, after 



that I watched closely." 



The writer drew a picture rf 

 the shape of the cloud and sent 

 it with the letter. 



The account published in 

 Lima closely followed the details 

 first given in a story in the Los 

 Angeles Examiner last Satur- 

 day. 



As it has before in similar 

 cases, the Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission in Washington declined 

 any comment at all on the ac- 

 count publised by the News. 



"It was even close to being 

 beautiful," wrote the man in his 

 letter to Lima. 



"Well, boomday is all over," 

 the man began. "And, believe 

 me, I wouldn't have missed it 

 for one million dollars. It was 



really a very wonderful thing 

 and I will try to put it in 

 words. 



"I'll give you a run-down in 

 diary form. 



"1 October 1952 06:00 ail 

 hands muster. 06:30 all person- 

 nel topside. Must wear protec- 

 tive clothing. 07:00 shot time is 

 nou/15 minutes away. 07:05 we 

 were told where the explosion 

 was to be, and to turn away 

 from this point and cover our 

 eyes with our arms. Ten sec- 

 onds after the shot we would be 

 able to look with no damage to 

 our eyes. 07:15 shot time." 



"We didn't know the explosion 

 had taken place but within five 

 seconds we felt the heat waves 

 in our back. It was hot, about 



180 degrees when it hit us and 

 were 30.4 miles away from 

 dead center. Thirteen seconds 

 after shot time I looked up. I 

 could hardly believe my eyes. A 

 flame .about two miles wide was 

 shooting five miles into the air. 



"This lasted for about seven 

 to 10 seconds. Then we saw 

 thousands of tons of earth be- 

 ing drawn straight into the sky. 

 Then the cloud began to form 

 about 20 seconds after the shot. 

 Then we heard the sound of 

 the explosion and even at 30.4 

 miles it made my ears ring. 



"By now the mushroom cloud 

 had taken place and shape. It 

 was about a mile wide at the 

 bottom and at least 20 miles 



(Continued on Page 2) 



