I've always thought the the "Wild Wild West" was something that occurred during the 1800's. The pictures below make me think........ maybe the 1950's were even wilder.
Head to Vegas, have some drinks, play the slots or some blackjack, then stroll outside and watch a nuclear test. Mind boggling. The image above was obviously doctored up , here's the unmodified photo.
These tests occurred on a regular basis. Here's another. This is shot "Priscilla" (of the Plumbbob test series) set off on June 24, 1957.
Doesn't look like much from 65-75 miles away after it's dissipated a bit. (Though even at that distance the shock from these blasts would sometimes shatter windows in Downtown Vegas) Here's a closer look at Priscilla.
A bit more ominous from this distance. Amazingly somewhere in the neighborhood of 1700 US troops, most involved in the "troop observer indoctrination program" witnessed this blast from trenches at close range, the closest being only 3500 meters from ground zero. After the blast the troops were taken to within 500 meters of ground zero to observe the effects of the blast on military equipment, materials, structures, and ordnance.
Even more ominous than the above photo is this map.
This shows areas of the continental United States crossed by more than one nuclear cloud during the atmospheric atomic tests. As you can clearly see, it wasn't just the folks in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah that were the downwinders. We all were.
