The Snapshots in Time Collection

Nuclear Test Mushroom Cloud in Early Formation, Viewed from Bikini Atoll Beach

Nuclear Test Mushroom Cloud in Early Formation, Viewed from Bikini Atoll Beach

Captured from a beach on Bikini Atoll, this photograph shows an early stage of a nuclear test cloud's formation, with a dense dark cloud head and a surge of debris spreading along the water's surface. Photographs like this documented the U.S. Pacific Proving Grounds nuclear testing program of the late 1940s and 1950s. Project: 218417