The most vital piece of intelligence since World War II was the report laid on President Truman's desk on Sept. 23, 1949, stating that the Russians had exploded their first atomic bomb. The report was the handiwork of no secret agent but a highly secret, highly effective U.S. detection system sensitive enough to pick up traces of important Soviet land or air bursts. For the first time the name of the hero of the system slipped into public print last week, when President Eisenhower presented a Distinguished Federal Civilian Service Award to Atomic Detective Doyle L. (for Langdon) Northrup.*
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