H minus 3 1/2 hours at base of the tower- zero - 0030 16 July (Monday)  Last night we had a rehearsal which went fairly well so only got 5 1/2 hours sleep then up again at 9 AM Sunday, Spent the morning, doing odds and ends to get ready - PM (after a chicken dinner) went by jeep to vicinity of -Mocking Bird gap and saw a lot of old mines., if they could be called that. Found one claim dated 1905 and had an interesting trip - got the jeep thru one low- spot in the dry bed of a wash by idling the motor., putting it in gear, then the Lt. jumped out and we jumped in on the other side. After returning to Base Camp we had a short poker game in which I won about half a dollar. Then after supper I took another dollar and a half. Things were well along and practically everyone was standing around talking about it., Generals and all. We made up a pool half a dollar) the "big wheels" were betting quite low and the average was probably about 1000 Ton. Due to a little heckling my guess was 25,000 Ton. At 9 PM we went to the outdoor movies - second rate show but as usual everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves. After this - I saw the rest of the gang off, they were going to watch from 22 Mi. north then start back. Went to the mess hall and drank several cups of coffee while we all talked it over. There was a lot of talk of the danger and some (none would admit it) were really afraid. There were a lot of cigarettes smoked and everyone was somewhat nervous, if not about themselves then as to the success of the Gadget. At l1:20 I left for the field and picked up the 5# charge on the way arriving at zero about 0015. Those of us here have been waiting, talking and doing a few last minute jobs. It is now 0100.

It is now 0730 - --IT WORKED! AND HOW -----) The weather was closing in about 0200 and I helped the weatherman while he sent up balloons to determine the wind direction and velocity, took down the readings as he made them, we both got quite wet since it was raining during the run. After this I sat in Bainbridge's sedan for an hour or so but didn't get much sleep due to talking and constant searching for a break in the clouds. About 0400 the rain had stopped but still no sign of good weather so I helped with another balloon run which looked much better than the first. After about 20 minutes of this run they told me to start setting up the 5# charge since they might fire. By the time this was done it was decided and we were all very busy. As soon as the switches were thrown at zero about 0440 I started for South Ten and Bainbridge for West 800 where he had to throw some more switches. About the time I arrived at South Ten H hour was set for 0530. Went outside and waited. By then everyone was too sleepy to be nervous, we hardly even talked unless spoken to. The time was almost there when the gong started sounding the seconds so we got ready outside. I looked at the light on the tower then stepped back so that the earth of the shelter cut off my direct view. There was a blinding flash of long duration, even with most of my field of view covered by a cardboard box or welding glass I had to close my eyes for about two seconds as did everyone. Even inside the shelter it was brighter than direct daylight. A very sharp air blast followed by about a half minute. About this same time daylight was on the way and the sky was getting light. When I could see there was still a very bright light from which a bright purple column went up to many thousand feet and was inexpressively impressive. Everything was silent for a few moments then we all cheered.  Kiskie said that it was more than they ever expected. After a short time we came into camp and had breakfast and a lot of talk. After this everyone gathered in groups and discussed it all very happily, in the mean time I wrote this section. The cloud was still visible, although it did not have its original color and splendor, it is drifting away now. The early estimates as to the equivalent tonnage of TNT are running from 2500 to "better than 5000t Tn Tue. PM--- Later than the above report it was decided that it was well over 5000 Tn - most of the instruments were set for a high reading of 5000 and went off scale, they generally agreed with Houghton when he said that his galvanometers were probably still unwinding. The only casualty I heard of was a cook who was sleeping and woke up Just before the shot; he was temporarily blinded and suffered nervous shock.

We left about 0930 and had an uneventful trip., I drove from Albuquerque up to the hill and had a hard job keeping awake. Arrived about 1800, on the way we picked up the Santa Fe paper and found a condensation of Groves statement. Everyone is talking of it, they saw a tremendous light from here and there seems to be no one who doesn't know what actually happened. The radio had a rather long discussion of the "Magazine Explosion", but the best one I have heard is from one of the fellows who has his wife living in Albuquerque - She was awake when the "Sun" came up, she pulled down the shade and went back to bed; the sun set and came up again a few minutes later. I got to bed about 2200, the first sleep in more than 36 hours after a long discussion in the office. Today, Tuesday, I got settled down again and started hearing some of the results. For one thing the expected 300' dia. crater is about 1100' but quite shallow. Henderson said that one person out with him (22 Mi.) had a calibrated glass and that the rough measurements of the ball of fire were 3Mi. diameter and going up at 100 MPH at one time. Also that two blast gages show about 7500 and 15,000 Tn...

This web site contains over 3,300 pages and 2,400 photos.  More are being added each month.  This web site is made possible though donations from our members and friends.  We would be honored if you could make a small contribution to help us keep this project going.  Please "click" on the Amazon.com button below..it's fast, it's painless and it's tax deductible!

Veterans Memorial  |  Directory of Photos  |  Gallery of Photos  |  Scientific Hall of Fame

Contact Us  |  Feedback  |  Foreign Visitors  |  Board of Advisors

Los Alamos  |  Oak Ridge  |  Hanford  |  509th CG  |  Met Lab

Unless explicitly specified otherwise, this page and all other pages at this site are Copyright © 2000-2004 by The Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association. Use of text, images, layout, format, look, or feel of these pages, without the written permission of the copyright holder, except as specified in the Copyright Notice, is strictly prohibited. All Rights Reserved.