Still a nuclear mystery
On Sept. 22, 1979, a U.S. intelligence satellite, passing over a remote expanse of ocean between South Africa and Antarctica, detected an intense double burst of light in the atmosphere lasting less than a second. After a month of preliminary study, the U.S. announced that it had "an indication" that a "low-yield nuclear explosion" had taken place. The big question: Who had set off whatever went off?
The most plausible culprit was initially thought to be South Africa. Pretoria denied the charge, as well as a subsequent rumor that the South Africans had been testing a tactical...
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