The Atomic Cinematographers of The United States Air Force

Here we see a cinematographer as he films an atomic mushroom cloud in a project named “Operation Plumbbob” on July 19, 1957, in Yucca Flat, Colorado. The “Atomic Cinematographers,” members of the United States Air Force’s Lookout Mountain 1352d Photographic Squadron, then located in Hollywood, California, produced thousands of classified films for the Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission beginning in 1947. Interested in seeing what they shot? Well, you’re in luck, as a set of 62 rare videos of nuclear weapons tests have been uploaded to YouTube by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The declassified footage of mushroom clouds was captured on film more than 50 years ago… read more >