HOLLYWOOD, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Call it the blasts
from the past.
The U.S. Department of Energy next month plans to
release films of U.S. nuclear weapons tests taken by
a secret team of filmmakers that have never publicly
been shown before. . . .
A first set of film was released earlier this year but the
new set will show atmospheric tests and big bomb
explosions publicly for the first time. . . .
``I was so amazed at the beautiful colors -- the pinks,
the oranges, the reds -- that I totally forgot that the
shock wave was coming. It almost knocked me on
my rear,'' said cameraman Pat Bradley, 74, of the first
of dozens of blasts he filmed. . . .
An estimated 6,500 films and clips, most of them
produced by the squadron, were locked away after
physicists learned to calculate the yield and
composition of the bombs from the size of the
mushroom cloud and intensity of the fireball. . . .
``Somebody called up from one of the other agencies
and said 'Where did you get that film from. We
thought we destroyed them all,''' Energy Department
declassification director Bryon Siebert said of
SURVIVING FOOTAGE OF TESTS OF PROTOTYPE NUCLEAR
WEAPONS DESIGNED TO BE CARRIED INTO BATTLE BY
SOLDIERS. [Emphasis added]
[Heavily edited]
Respectfully submitted,
Ike Jeanes