• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Footage shows largest artificial explosion in US history after government makes massive mistake with experiment

Home> News

Published 19:50 1 Mar 2023 GMT

Footage shows largest artificial explosion in US history after government makes massive mistake with experiment

The nuclear bomb they detonated was three times more powerful than expected.

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

On this day in 1954 the largest man-made explosion in US history occurred, and it was all because of a huge mistake with the nuclear bomb they set off.

At 6:45am local time on 1 March a nuclear bomb was tested at Bikini Atoll which was a thousand times more powerful than either of the weapons dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki at the end of World War Two.

Watch footage of the huge explosion here:

Within a second of detonation there was a fireball 4.5 miles wide, which ended up being visible over 250 miles away and left behind a massive 6,500ft wide crater.

A minute after detonation the mushroom cloud was 47,000ft high and around seven miles wide, less than 10 minutes after the explosion that cloud was 62 miles wide.

Advert

This was the Castle Bravo nuclear test and it ended up being the largest man-made explosion in US history, though the people who designed the weapon hadn't intended the blast to be anywhere near as powerful as it was.

Within one second the fireball from the Castle Bravo explosion was 4.5 miles wide.
Zip Lexing / Alamy Stock Photo

They thought the bomb they'd be detonating would be about five or six megatons, but because of a huge mistake the actual blast resulted in a 15 megaton explosion.

Around 60 percent of the lithium inside the bomb was lithium-7, which they thought would be inert but it instead contributed a whole load of extra fuel for the reaction and resulted in a far bigger blast than expected.

Advert

The results of the blast were catastrophic for the surrounding area as radioactive fallout was spread across a wide area in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the populations of inhabited islands having to be evacuated.

When they were told they could return to their homes people found that their food sources on the islands were contaminated, and there was a rise in the rate of birth defects and thyroid tumours.

A Japanese fishing boat named Daigo Fukuryū Maru was directly hit by the fallout, resulting in many crew members suffering from radiation sickness.

Traces of fallout from the blast resulted in radioactive material being detected as far away as Europe, while the military personnel conducting the test had to shelter for hours in bunkers before it was safe to be outside again.

Advert

Bikini Atoll, where the US conducted a series of nuclear tests, the part in the upper left where it looks like a chunk is missing is where this 15 megaton bomb was detonated.
B.A.E. Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

The Castle Bravo explosion has only been outdone by the largest and most dangerous nuclear weapons developed by the Soviet Union.

Of all the nuclear bombs tested the most devastating in the world was the Tsar Bomba, a 50 megaton bomb tested in 1961 which ended up being more than 10 times as powerful as all of the weapons used in the entire Second World War.

The Tsar Bomba's blast could be seen more than 620 miles away and was strong enough to shatter windows 480 miles away.

Advert

In theory, this terrifying bomb could have been twice as powerful, with scientists believing they could make a 100 megaton bomb but deciding to limit it to half power to reduce radioactive fallout.

Featured Image Credit: Youtube / Castle Bravo

Topics: US News, News, Military, Science

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

7 mins ago
21 mins ago
an hour ago
  • Mario Tama/Getty Images/Win McNamee/Getty Images
    7 mins ago

    Kamala Harris reveals X-rated question she was set to ask Trump in their debate

    As the Democratic Party's presidential candidate prepared to take on Trump in a debate, she was urged to prepare for 'personal attacks'

    News
  • Tatsiana Volkava/Getty Images
    21 mins ago

    Ozempic users claim ‘pretty privilege’ is real after noticing one major difference

    People who'd lost weight took to Reddit to share their experiences

    News
  • Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance via Getty
    an hour ago

    Horrifying moment acrobat falls 16ft to her death during circus act in front of children

    Marina Barcelo was declared dead at the scene after the tragic fall

    News
  • FOX
    an hour ago

    Everything we know about The Simpsons Movie 2 as release date is announced

    America's favourite immortal and un-aging family are set to return in another feature length movie

    Film & TV
  • ICE officer sparks outrage after harrowing footage shows him shoving mom to the floor
  • US Navy submarine makes first-ever stop in country that expert claims sends a chilling message to enemies
  • Classified CIA experiment claims life did exist on Mars and they built pyramids
  • Serious warning issued for drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl after one of the largest busts in US history