The Reckless History Of U.S. Nuclear Testing, In 55 Unbelievable Photos

The U.S. has detonated more than 1,000 bombs, killing more than 2 million of its own people — and for what?

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Just after a nuclear bomb was detonated, two soldiers use their hands to frame the mushroom cloud for the camera.

Nye County, Nevada. May 1, 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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A pig is placed into an aluminum barrel before a nuclear test.

This pig, and others like it, were placed in barrels in various places around ground zero for various nuclear tests so that researchers could study the effects of radiation on living things.

San Antonio, Texas. 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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Five air force officers stand directly below ground zero for an atmospheric nuclear test. 18,500 feet above their heads, a two-kiloton atomic bomb is about to go off.

Their goal is to prove that these nuclear tests are safe. When an NPR reporter tried to look into these men's fate, the photographer told them, "Quite a few have died from cancer. No doubt it was related to the testing."

Las Vegas, Nevada, July 18, 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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An "atomic pin-up girl" at a Las Vegas party dances for the camera while a nuclear bomb explodes behind her.

Nevada. April 6, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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A tower is blown to pieces by an atomic bomb during the "Operation Teapot" atomic test.

Nye County, Nevada. April 15, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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A dummy house near a nuclear test site catches fire from the sheer heat of the blast.

Nye County, Nevada. March 17, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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Mere fractions of a second later, the house explodes.

Nye County, Nevada. March 17, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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Farther from ground zero, another house lies in ruins.

Nye County, Nevada. March 17, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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Inside of a house far enough from ground zero to stay standing, mannequins set up by the researchers to test the effects of nuclear weapons on populated areas are splayed out in a chaotic mess.

Nye County, Nevada. March 17, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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More than a mile from the blast, a house is burnt and damaged enough that no one inside it would have survived.

Nye County, Nevada. May 5, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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Nearly a mile and a half from a nuclear blast site, a line of mannequins set up to test the effects of the nuclear bomb have been knocked off their feet.

Nye County, Nevada. March 5, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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Military men watch as the mushroom cloud from a nuclear blast drifts up overhead.

Nye County, Nevada. April 22, 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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The U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division sit and watch the mushroom cloud rise.

Yucca Flats, Nevada. November 1, 1951.Wikimedia Commons

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From a parking lot in Nevada, miles away from the test site, a mushroom cloud is still visible. Radioactive particles can be seen drifting through the air, toward the neighboring towns.

Frenchman Flat, Nevada. June 24, 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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A group of cattle at a ranch near the Trinity nuclear test site, where the very first atomic bomb was detonated.

These cattle were purchased by the army after the test so that they could study the effects of radiation. The cows became discolored and many suffered radioactive burns and deformities.

Alamogordo, New Mexico. July 16, 1945.Wikimedia Commons

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After the first nuclear test in Bikini Atoll, a man is put through a medical examination to see how being exposed to radiation has affected him.

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. 1954.Wikimedia Commons

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A mushroom cloud erupts over Bikini Atoll during a nuclear test. July 25, 1946.Wikimedia Commons

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The people of Bikini Atoll are relocated to the nearby island of Rognerik Atoll so that the U.S. Government can continue nuclear testing.

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. March 7, 1946.Wikimedia Commons

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A mushroom cloud rises up in the distance behind Las Vegas.

Circa 1951-1962.National Nuclear Security Administrastion

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Navy Admiral William H.P. Blandy and his wife cut into a mushroom cloud cake to celebrate their ongoing nuclear tests.

November 7, 1946.Wikimedia Commons

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Las Vegas starts to embrace nuclear testing. Here, a showgirl named Lee Merlin poses dressed up as "Miss Atomic Bomb."

Las Vegas, Nevada. 1957.Las Vegas Sun

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A crowd, mostly news correspondents, lines up to hop on the bus so they can watch an "Open Shot" nuclear test.

"Open Shot" tests were open to the public. Reporters and dignitaries were invited to come out to the Nevada desert and watch a nuclear bomb explode.

Las Vegas, Nevada. March 16, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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Members of Congress line up to sign in to watch a nuclear test.

Nevada. February 20, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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"Explosives," reads a warning sign, one of the only lines of defense keeping civilians from wandering onto the site of an underground nuclear test.

Lamar County, Mississippi. September 1964.Wikimedia Commons

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Photographers set up their camera to film the first ever nuclear test to appear on national television.

Nye County, Nevada. April 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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An audience at an "Open Shot" nuclear test gaze up in excitement to watch a nuclear bomb explode.

Nye County, Nevada. April 6, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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Photographers snap a photo of the bright, radioactive light of a nuclear bomb.

March 29, 1955Wikimedia Commons

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The silhouettes of five men watch as the sky is enveloped in radioactive clouds.

Marshall Islands. 1958.Wikimedia Commons

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A one-story shed is literally disintegrated by the impact of a nuclear blast.

Nye County, Nevada. May 5, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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A crowd of reporters and military personnel at an "Open Shot" testing watch a nuclear bomb explode from the bleachers.

Nye County, Nevada. April 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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Lead nuclear weapons developer J. Robert Oppenheimer and Army General Leslie Groves check out the devastation at the first ever nuclear test.

Trinity Site, New Mexico. September 9, 1945.Wikimedia Commons

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Two scientists check the radiation levels after an "Open Shot" nuclear test.

Nye County, Nevada. May 5, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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A crew inspects a rocket engine after a failed nuclear test.

Johnston Island. February 1, 1962.Wikimedia Commons

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An army officer uses a Geiger counter to measure the radiation on a photographer's camera.

Nye County, Nevada. 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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A group of men in plain clothes watch in awe as a mushroom cloud rises up into the sky.

Nevada. April 15, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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European representatives who have been invited out to watch a display of American military power take off their glasses to get a better look at the devastation of the nuclear bomb.

Yucca Flat, Nevada. July 24, 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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A troop of girl scouts take a trip to visit the X-10 nuclear reactor facility.

Oak Ridge, Tennessee. June 9, 1951.Wikimedia Commons

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Two scientists place mice into special steel tubes at various places at a blast site. They are running a test to see how the nuclear blast affects the mice.

Nye County, Nevada. May 31, 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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Marines participating in a nuclear test run their morning exercises around the Nevada Proving Grounds.

Nye County, Nevada. June 22, 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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Soldiers climb into fox holes. They are to hide in this ditch while a nuclear bomb goes off so that scientists can test how the radiation affects them.

Nye County, Nevada. April 22, 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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The soldiers crouch down in their ditch and wait for the atomic blast.

Nye County, Nevada. May 8, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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Soldiers avert their eyes from the blinding light of a nuclear blast.

After this photo was taken, these men were sent to go into ground zero to check on the equipment there.

Frenchman Flat, Nevada. April 15, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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The soldiers stay crouched in their fox hole as the shock wave from the nuclear blast echoes across the Nevada desert.

Nye County, Nevada. April 22, 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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The dust of the shock wave billows over top of the soldiers hidden in the fox holes.

Nye County, Nevada. April 25, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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The limp remains of a tower destroyed in a nuclear test.

Nye County, Nevada. March 22, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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The devastated remains of a bank vault after being blasted in a nuclear test.

Nye County, Nevada. 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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A destroyed house lies in ruins, completely shattered by the nuclear blast.

Nye County, Nevada. March 17, 1953.Wikimedia Commons

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Leo R. Lanz of the First Radiological Safety Unit walks into the center of the testing site to test the levels of gamma radiation.

Nye County, Nevada. 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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Researchers come to check out the broken remains of a destroyed army jeep.

Nye County, Nevada. 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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Soldiers watch a mushroom cloud rise up during a nuclear test.

Camp Desert Rock, Nevada. 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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Four soldiers, 15 miles away from ground zero, watch a mushroom cloud rise up.

These soldiers are among the few who were unwilling to get any closer to the nuclear explosion. 150 of their brothers in arms moved in closer to the explosion to watch it up close.

Camp Desert Rock, Nevada. April 15, 1955.Wikimedia Commons

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A group of 21 marines, some off camera, follow orders to charge a nuclear blast.

Nye County, Nevada. May 1, 1952.Wikimedia Commons

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A group of people watch the "Small Boy" nuclear test, one of the smaller nuclear explosions set off by the U.S. government.

Nye County, Nevada. July 14, 1962.Wikimedia Commons

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The USS Independence after being stationed too close to a nuclear test.

Navy officers are on the ship, trying to study its remains and salvage what's left of it.

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. July 23, 1946.Wikimedia Commons

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A Goodyear Blimp, flying five miles away from ground zero, crashes into the ground, torn down by the heat of the blast.

Nye County, Nevada. August 7, 1957.Wikimedia Commons

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The Reckless History Of U.S. Nuclear Testing, In 55 Unbelievable Photos

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The United States has been hit by more nuclear weapons than any other nation in the world. It’s a fact we try our best not to acknowledge – but thanks to nuclear testing, we’ve "attacked" ourselves more than anyone else.

The numbers are staggering. Over the course of fewer than 50 years, the U.S. conducted at least 1,054 nuclear weapons tests. The U.S. Army alone detonated at least 1,149 atomic devices, nearly every one of them on American soil, and nine out of 10 of them specifically in the deserts of Nevada.

The effects of nuclear testing have been staggering. Through atmospheric tests alone, the United States has endured more nuclear force and been covered in more radiation than Hiroshima would have gone through if it had been hit an extra 29,000 times.

From the beginning, the very first nuclear bomb ever detonated exploded in America, in a New Mexico desert a mere 30 miles away from the nearest town. It was, in a sense, a total success – but the light of the blast was so bright that it was hard to keep this top-secret test a secret.

One witness said, “The whole sky was suddenly full of white light like the end of the world.” And, 150 miles away, a legally blind woman looked up and asked, “What’s that brilliant light?”

Worse, though, was the white, radioactive mist that drifted out from the blast and landed on a nearby ranch. The farmers nearby saw the white dust descend onto their crops and their homes. One rancher living only 12 miles away from ground zero saw his cattle, who’d been covered in the dust, become discolored and suffer radioactive burns and deformities.

Nobody was evacuated. The explosion was so vicious that it fused the sand together into a radioactive green glass. The people nearby were doused with 10,000 times the normal recommend levels of radiation, and an estimated 30,000 of them are believed to have contracted cancer because of the test.

But this was just the beginning. From 1945 to 1992, nuclear testing ramped up with the Cold War. The U.S. and the Soviet Union built up their arsenals, shouting empty threats at one another — but only ever detonating nuclear weapons on their own land and irradiating their own people.

In time, the military started inviting the public to come out and watch. Just to prove a point, they placed five men in the desert and made them stand under ground zero of one atmospheric nuclear test in 1957. They let Las Vegas became a hotspot to party and watch nuclear bombs explode in the desert.

However, so far, atmospheric nuclear testing alone is believed to have caused 2.4 million deaths through cancer. This is the legacy of the Nuclear Age. The U.S. has blasted itself more than 1,000 times and killed more than a million of its own people — and only ever launched two nuclear bombs at its enemies.

Next, learn more about the five men who voluntarily stood directly under a nuclear blast. Then, see creepy photos from Operation Doorstep, during which the U.S. built a fake town and nuked it to test the results.