Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Trinity nuclear test, the world’s first nuclear explosion, shown here 16 milliseconds after detonation. The possibility of a fizzle led the team to construct a containment vessel dubbed “Jumbo,” a steel vessel measuring 25 by 10 feet, with steel walls 14 inches thick, capable of handling pressures of 50,000 PSI. Brought from Ohio, it was the largest object ever transported by rail.
The blast was seen and felt in an area extending from El Paso, Silver City, Gallup, Socorro, and Albeuquerque. One news article quoted a blind woman 150 miles away who asked, “what’s that brilliant light?”
The army issued a press release that a “remotely located ammunition magazine containing a considerable amount of high explosives and pyrotechnics exploded. There was no loss of life or injury to anyone, and the property damage outside of the explosives magazine was negligible. Weather conditions affecting the content of gas shells exploded by the blast may make it desirable for the Army to evacuate temporarily a few civilians from their homes.”
Other versions of the press release had been prepared noting fatalities. The author of the press release realized that he might have been writing his obituary.
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