ARMED FORCES: Pop!

At the AEC’s atomic proving grounds in Nevada, a giant electronic counting machine with an amplified beat ticked off the seconds. The first atomic military combat maneuvers in the U.S. were to start with an atomic blast. Anesthetized dogs, sheep and rats were spotted at proper intervals across Yucca Flat. Specially briefed troop detachments, including one unit of the Sixth Army band, stood by to take their part in the demonstration.

Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . zero. The final seconds were counted and the switch was thrown. Nothing happened. Somewhere in the miles of electrical wiring of the test setup, something had gone wrong.

This week, weather conditions perfect once again, the animals back in their places, the first test bomb of the maneuvers was finally fired. Barred from the site, newsmen at distant observation points thought they heard a slight rumbling. The expected blinding flash of light was not visible. The AEC would not discuss the explosion.

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In Washington, as the atomic maneuvers got under way, White House press secretary Joe Short announced that a third atomic explosion had occurred within the Soviet Union. Recent Russian blasts, said Short, were “apparently part of a test series.”