The Genesis of Terror

Three busloads of anxious scientists were supposed to leave at 5 p.m. and travel south, about 100 miles south of Albuquerque (the largest town in New Mexico). Everything was going as per schedule and Richard (one of the anxious scientists) was really excited about the whole affair. In fact, who wasn’t?
They eventually reached their vantage point-a ridge overlooking a great bowl of desert, in the middle of which was installed the gadget that was supposed to be tested for the first time in the history of humankind. They were stationed about 20 miles from the gadget and were waiting for the clock to strike 4 next morning, for 4 a.m. was the time when the gadget was supposed to be unleashed. Meanwhile, Richard was feasting on roast chicken, lemonade and chocolate, which were arranged by his boss’s wife.
They had two radios-one like a police radio to listen to and talk into a ground station and one was to listen to reports from a plane that was hovering above the entire area, which gave detailed reports about the various measurements, how the terrain looked from top, etc. Richard’s radio (the airplane one) wasn’t working and he tried all possible things with the radio, but it just wouldn’t work. He rechecked the transmitting frequency of the plane with some fellow scientists but he just couldn’t hear anything. All he could hear was a San Francisco station playing some music near the frequency band of the plane. He guessed that probably it was an image frequency problem, but he didn’t know what to do about it. There were a few electronic engineers in their entourage as well and he thought the best thing to do would be to ask for some help from those guys. An electronics whiz readily agreed to this proposal and came to Richard’s rescue, anticipating an interesting, if not difficult problem. He was however, disappointed to find out the cause of the ‘problem’. Richard was not able to hear anything from the radio simply because the guys in the plane weren’t transmitting any messages! As soon as the electronics chap walked by, they got a message “Due to interference by the weather, the experiment has been delayed. The shot will be at 5.30, it is now minus thirty minutes”.
Everyone set their watches and crowded around the radio. “Minus 10 minutes”. “Minus 3 minutes”. The scientists began to scatter across the hill so that they wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. They took their dark glasses out and were getting ready for ‘the’ moment. Some even put on sun tan oil. Such a crazy bunch of optimists, thought Richard. Richard himself did not wear any glasses, for he wanted a ‘full-on, solid experience’. “Would everything go right?” Richard asked himself. And then it happened.
Richard was blinded by a terrific silver white flash-he just had to look away. Wherever he looked, an enormous purple splotch appeared-it was as bright when he closed his eyes. “That”, said his scientific brain to his befuddled one, “is an after-image caused by looking at a bright light-it is not the bomb you are looking at.” So he looked back at the bomb again. The sky looked like a vast yellow umbrella-the earth appeared white. The sky was gradually turning a sinister orange. In the sky, Richard saw white clouds formed just above the gadget caused by the sudden expansion due to the blast. The expansion cools the air and fog-clouds form- Richard had anticipated this. This cloud started to rise, leaving a trail of smoke below. The whole picture resembled a giant mushroom. The great ball of smoke and fire formed extended for more than three miles across.
Soon the orange started to die down and was now replaced by a deep purple, massive envelope. Richard had never witnessed such a grand jamboree of colors before.
The purple envelope was formed due to the ionized air caused by the extreme heat-this was Richard’s educated guess.
Then suddenly there was a sharp, loud clap followed by a resounding thunder which shook the insides of the scientists. “What was that?” cried an obviously nervous scientist. “That is the thing” yelled Richard. How could they forget that sound travels much slower than light, thought Richard. What they had seen so far was just a silent picture- the soundtrack for which was one minute and forty seconds late! At that moment, Richard knew that their experiment was a success. The generally phlegmatic scientists were jumping with joy, for they knew that they were a part of history now.
Later pictures and observations showed that an area almost one mile in diameter was covered by a green glasslike glaze formed by the melting sand at the surface. It was a visual spectacle-large, bright green elliptic mass surrounded by the vast, brown desert around. The whole affair was witnessed by three states- over two hundred miles in all directions.
However, this was not the only time that the ‘gadget’ was used. About twenty days after the incident, the ‘gadget’ was used for the actual purpose that it had been built -the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki….



Writer’s note: The above article describes the first ever atomic bomb that was detonated in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945. The scientist ‘Richard’ was none other than the great physicist Richard Feynman, one of the key persons involved in the development of the atomic bomb. This article owes itself to a letter written by Richard Feynman to Lucille Feynman (his mother) dated August 9, 1945 wherein he describes his experience while witnessing the first atomic explosion to his mom. It is a pity and a matter of great shame that such dangerous weapon was employed against the Japanese. The people in Japan are still facing the repercussions of such an evil act. The dropping of atom bombs on Japan probably stands out in history as one of the most despicable mass-murders ever committed (the genocide of Jews by Hitler, the Kurds’ massacre by Saddam Hussein , our own Jallianwala baug episode being some of the other such unpardonable acts).