Long after midnight, bathers on Honolulu's Waikiki Beach were startled by a brilliant, soundless flash above the horizon to the southwest. The flash faded to reddish clouds that hung luminously in the night sky. Thousands of other Hawaiian residents saw it, and telephone switchboards were swamped with excited calls.
The flash was the explosion of a nuclear weapon over Johnston Island, 700 miles from Honolulu. Unquestionably, it was the highest ever exploded by the U.S. To be seen direct in Honolulu, it must have occurred many miles above the earth, and estimates put it as high as 100 miles. The AEC announced...
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