iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1h

A reminder as fall approaches (in the northern hemisphere) that leaf blowers (particularly gas-powered ones) are not only extremely noisy and polluting but also harm the habitats of many animal species and remove leaves that help protect plant roots and keep the soil healthy. Leave Leaves Alone!

A color graphic topped with the words "THESE ANIMALS ARE MADE POSSIBLE BY FALLEN LEAVES" and showing at center a color close-up photograph of a person's finger, on which is perched a tiny frog. Additional surrounding photographs show a small Ring Neck snake in someone's hand, an American Bumble Bee on a purple flower, a large green Luna Moth, a small brown and yellow Spotted Salamander, and a Fritillary or Checkerspot butterfly on a cone flower.

Text at the bottom reads, "LEAVE LEAVES ALONE. Don't blow! Leave the leaves in your planting beds and mow-mulch your leaves into the lawn. Use an electric blower if you must. www.healthyyards.org.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2h

For more about the production of “SAC Command Post” (which, although unclassified, was never publicly released; perhaps Strategic Air Command and the Air Force had second thoughts?), see this interesting and detailed 2010 report from the National Security Archive. nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/eb...

A screenshot of the linked 2010 National Security Archive website report, "The Air Force Versus Hollywood."

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2h

Kubrick and George actually sued Burdick and Wheeler, their publisher, and the company that acquired the rights to the book for plagiarism, in order to stop production of “Fail Safe.” The suit was settled out of court, and although Kubrick and George didn’t stop “Fail Safe” from being made, ...

A photograph of the first page of an article in the March 8, 1963, edition of LIFE magazine titled “Everybody Blows Up!" about the making of “Dr. Strangelove” and “Fail Safe,” featuring a large black and white photograph of Sterling Hayden and Peter Sellers as General Jack D. Ripper and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, respectively, in “Dr. Strangelove.”

The continuation of the “Everybody Blows Up!” article in LIFE, with black and white photographs of Stanley Kubrick, Max Youngstein, Eugene Burdick, and Harvey Wheeler.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2h

Before deciding to make a comedy, Kubrick originally tried to adapt the 1958 novel “Red Alert” by Peter George (writing under the pseudonym Peter Bryant and originally titled “Two Minutes to Doom”). “Fail Safe” is an adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler.

A photograph of the cover of the Ace paperback edition of “Red Alert,” featuring the title in large red capital letters (above which is the line, “A novel of the first two hours of World War III”). Below the title is an illustration of two large nuclear bombers as seen from below streaking across a bright blue sky with stylized clouds.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2h

FUN FILM FACT: If Stanley Kubrick had gotten his way, “Fail Safe”—which opened in theaters a little more than eight months after his similarly-themed film “Dr. Strangelove” did—would never have been made, let alone released.

A production color photograph of director Stanley Kubrick looking directly at a photographer while sitting next to a large camera in front of the "Big Board" on the War Room set of "Dr. Strangelove."

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2h

On April 9, 2000, CBS broadcast a live black-and-white remake of “Fail Safe” directed by Stephen Frears starring George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Dennehy, Harvey Keitel, Hank Azaria, Noah Wyle, Don Cheadle, Sam Elliott, and James Cromwell. While impressive, it did not improve on the original.

A black and white publicity photograph of 12 members of the principal cast (all men) of the CBS 2000 live remake of “Fail Safe.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2h

The memorable ending montage powerfully conveys—through distorted sound and smash cuts of zoomed-in freeze frames of life in New York City—the horrifying imminent consequences of the president’s choice for how best to avert World War III without ever showing a thermonuclear explosion.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2h

Today in 1964, “Fail Safe” opened in theaters in New York City. “Don’t you see, sir, this our chance. We never would have made the first move deliberately, but Group 6 has made it for us, by accident. We must take advantage of it—history demands it!” — Prof. Groeteschele (Walter Matthau)

An original one-sheet poster for “Fail Safe,” featuring the tag line, “The screen zeroes in on the most suspenseful adventure drama of our age!” Three quarters of the poster is an illustration with a red background, on top of which are multiple nuclear bombers flying left to right, as well as something that looks like a stylized destroyed skyscraper in the foreground. At the bottom are black and white photographs of many of the actors in the film in various scenes.

A full page advertisement in the October 7, 1964, edition New York Daily News for the film:

“Today Fail Safe Explodes on the Screen!”

The “T” in “Today” forms an arrow that points down to the bottom of the page. It overlaps a copy of the cover of the book on which the film is based, with the cover image shattering as if hit by something very powerful. At the bottom of the page is a listing inside a box of the various theaters where the film was showing, with a prominent note inside a smaller box above the top right corner: “No one seated during the last 10 minutes of feature!"

A black and white screenshot from the film of three men looking at a large display inside Strategic Air Command headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, showing the position of six US nuclear-armed bombers about to penetrate Soviet airspace.

A black and white screenshot from the film showing a windowless conference room in the Pentagon. Multiple men in military uniforms, others in coats and ties, sit around both sides of a V-shaped table (with more men standing behind them) looking toward the camera with great concern at a large off-camera screen.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 10h

The White House Military Office Air Force aide was on “Football” duty Tuesday afternoon for Trump’s brief trip to Baltimore, Maryland. The ~45-pound satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 21h

Where have I heard that before (other than Orwell’s “1984”)? 🤔

Screenshot of my March 21, 2026 post:

SAC's original motto was "War is our Profession—Peace is our Product." It was softened in 1957 by its third commander, General Thomas S. Power, to "Maintaining Peace is our Profession," and shortened in 1958 to "Peace is our Profession" when an artist couldn't fit it on a reenlistment campaign sign.

Below the text is an archival black and white photograph taken from a low angle and showing a Strategic Air Command staff sergeant police officer wearing a beret and a holstered revolver standing at attention in front of a billboard-size sign erected on the grounds of Offutt Air Force Base that reads:

HEADQUARTERS STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND

Peace IS OUR PROFESSION"
(with "Peace" and "Profession" rendered to look three dimensional, the SAC shield at the far left, and a diagonal band of white stars from lower left to upper right).

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 22h

I’ve got some very bad news for you, Mike.

A screenshot of a text purporting to be from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson:

“This is Mike Johnson. I need you to complete your 2026 Voter Verification.

You're the key to our success.

Confirm: actnow26.com/7kmgt8”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Here are two additional video screenshots from yesterday afternoon of Lt. Col. Rockwood carrying the Presidential Emergency Satchel from the White House toward Marine One at the start of Trump’s midterm campaign trip to Nebraska. Walking next to him is a physician from the White House Medical Unit.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Following the IVORY ITEM exercise, the Joint Chiefs of Staff circulated a memorandum reminding all participants that any recordings or transcripts of the drill “must be destroyed,” in part to limit knowledge of President Carter’s participation and anything he said. nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/320...

Copy of the first page of the linked, formerly Top Secret October 14, 1977, memorandum from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to participants in the IVORY ITEM exercise.

Copy of the second page of the linked, formerly Top Secret October 14, 1977, memorandum from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to participants in the IVORY ITEM exercise.

The relevant sentences:

"Furthermore, any tapes or transcripts of the 6 October 1977 IVORY ITEM ALFA exercise must be destroyed. All personnel having access to the discussions during that conference must be briefed that presidential participation in the exercise is highly sensitive and the president's comments are even more so.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

White House Military Office Army aide Lt. Col. Charlie Rockwood was on “Football” duty this afternoon for Trump’s departure for Grand Island, NE. The ~45-pound satchel trails Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize using any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Then, in July 2025, a different version of RECA was included in the massive budget bill championed by Trump and Republicans. It continues coverage through 2027 and expands eligibility to include people exposed to the July 1945 Trinity test in New Mexico, plus all of NV, UT, AZ, CO, ID, and MT.

Two side-by-side maps of the United States showing the areas covered by the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act before 2025 on the left and after 2025 (when the coverage areas were expanded). A note at the bottom says, "Some of the coverage in green [pertaining to Manhattan Project radioactive waste dumps in Alaska, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee] would be for certain zip codes and not apply to the entire state."

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

President George H.W. Bush signed this bill into law on October 15, 1990. As of September 30, 2026, 54,174 people have been awarded $3,549,771,264. Another 14,546 individuals have had their claims denied.

Two tables from the Department of Justice RECA website showing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act awards as of September 30, 2026, broken down by claims received before July 3, 2025 (under the original terms of the law) and those received afterward under Public Law 119-21.

Link: https://www.justice.gov/civil/awards-date-09302026

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Today in 1990, Congress passed H.R. 2372, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, providing limited, one-time payments of $50,000-$100,000 to some people sickened by atmospheric nuclear testing in Nevada from 1951-62, or mining, milling, or transporting uranium ore. www.justice.gov/civil/reca

A screenshot of the linked Department of Justice page for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A frustrated Eisenhower knew but could not publicly say that secret photographs from U-2 spy planes and new CORONA photoreconnaissance satellites proved that no such gap existed. In fact, the United States had a six-to-one advantage in ICBMs (12 versus 2) and a small lead in SLBMs (32 versus 30).

A declassified black and white early CORONA satellite photograph showing the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Soviet Union’s first missile flight test and space launch facility, located in Kazakhstan near the village of Tyuratam, some 1,300 miles southeast of Moscow. A rocket test stand and flame trench are at the lower right.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This incident occurred during the final month of the 1960 election, where Senator John F. Kennedy was attacking Vice President Richard M. Nixon and President Dwight D. Eisenhower for allowing the Soviet Union to overtake the United States in ballistic missiles, creating a dangerous “missile gap.”

A black and white photograph of the first televised debate between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard M. Nixon at the CBS television studio in Chicago, Illinois. Kennedy is standing at a lectern, speaking to and gesturing toward Nixon standing at his own lectern on the right. The moderator, CBS journalist Howard K. Smith, sits at a table between the two candidates. Four men who will question the candidates—NBC news correspondent Sander Vanocur, Mutual News correspondent Charles Warren, CBS news correspondent Stuart Novins, and ABC news correspondent Bob Fleming—sit in chairs in front of the candidates, their backs to the camera.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Today in 1960, the newly operational USAF Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) radar at Thule, Greenland, mistook the rising Moon for a huge Soviet nuclear attack—triggering a false alarm while Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was in New York City attending the UN General Assembly.

A black and white photograph showing the original BMEWS mechanical radar at Thule Air Base (now known as Pituffik Space Base) in the background while in the foreground stands a warmly dressed Inuit man on the ice and snow next to his qamutit or wooden sled, his sled dogs resting to the left.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Jupiter is a key example of the arbitrary decisions that drove the US nuclear buildup. Pursued in tandem with the Thor to determine the best IRBM, Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy in November 1957 authorized production and deployment of _both_ weapons to appease advocates in industry and Congress.

A black and white United Press Telephoto photograph dated November 15, 1957, showing Neil McElroy smiling and sitting at a table before a bank of microphones for his first formal press conference at the Pentagon.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Jupiter IRBMs were deployed in Italy beginning in April 1961. An additional 15 missiles were deployed in Çiğli, Turkey, beginning in March 1962. That influenced Nikita Khrushchev’s decision to secretly move Soviet nuclear weapons to Cuba, which triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.

A close-up color photograph of a Jupiter missile in Turkey with the vertical missile filling most of the frame against a cloud-streaked blue sky. The Turkish flag (a red field with a crescent and a white five-pointed star) is visible near the top of the missile, above an emblem featuring a mushroom cloud.

A color photograph of a Jupiter missile in Turkey inside its “petal” launch enclosure. The Turkish flag (a red field with a crescent and a white five-pointed star) is visible near the top of the missile, above an emblem featuring a stylized mushroom cloud. Standing and kneeling in front of the missile is a group of about 30 men and three dogs. Someone has handwritten on the photo in dark ink, “IOC [Initial Operational Capability] Team II 1961."

A color photograph of three Jupiter missiles deployed in Turkey, taken from a hill overlooking the base and showing its layout.

Chart 7-3 (really a table), titled "IRBMs in Europe," from Jacob Neufeld's 1990 book, "The Development of Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force, 1945-1960," showing the squadrons in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Turkey where Thor and Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missiles were deployed, along with the number of missiles at each location, the dates when Strategic Air Command turned over the weapons at each site to the host nation, when the sites first became operational, when the first and last missiles were taken off alert, and when the last missiles were shipped back to the United States.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

At the time of the accident, the missile was in its unerected horizontal position. The nose cone and warhead were shipped back to the United States, where the W49 was disassembled and evaluated at an Atomic Energy Commission facility (no visible damage or defects were observed).

A black and white photograph of a team of four men in Air Force uniforms and hard hats carefully attaching a nose cone (held by a crane) to a Jupiter missile, which is in a horizontal position.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Today in 1960—during warhead installation and checkout operations on a US Air Force Jupiter IRBM at Gioia Del Colle Air Base in southeastern Italy—three explosive bolts accidentally fired due to a power surge, causing the nose cone and 1.4-Megaton W49 warhead to fall 6 to 10 feet to the ground.

A low-resolution screenshot from a declassified color film showing a low-level aerial look at three Jupiter IRBMs deployed at Gioia Del Colle Air Base.

A color map titled "Jupiter IRBM Emplacements—Gioia Del Colle Air Base, 1960-1963" adapted from a map in an official document showing the location of all the Jupiter missiles deployed at Gioia Del Colle Air Base in Italy from 1960-63 (numbered in the order in which they were activated), along with the date the missiles were activated and deactivated and the driving distance to each location from Gioia Del Colle.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

At 7:28 pm GMT tonight in 1957 at the Tyuratam Test Range in Kazakhstan, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite—Prosteyshiy Sputnik 1 (Elementary Satellite 1)—into low-Earth orbit, shocking the United States, igniting a Cold War space & ICBM race, and spurring the creation of NASA.

A color photograph of a contemporary duplicate of Sputnik 1 on display in a museum. It is basically a metal sphere with four long metal antennas protruding from it (all pointing in one direction), like feelers on an ant or whiskers on a cat.

The front page of the October 5, 1957, edition of the New York Times, with the triple-deck banner headline, "SOVIET FIRES EARTH SATELLITE INTO SPACE; IT IS CIRCLING THE GLOBE AT 18,000 M.P.H; SPHERE TRACKED IN 4 CROSSINGS OVER U.S." There is also a small illustration showing the satellite's orbital path.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If this quote is indicative, I don’t have much confidence the current CJCS will be a behind-the-scenes voice of reason, caution, expertise, etc., when given the opportunity to weigh in on whether the current president should unleash nuclear weapons for any reason (www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/u...):

An excerpt from a September 14, 2026, New York Times article headlined “In Hegseth’s Pentagon, Top Leaders Battle Turmoil”:

“As the top military adviser to Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth, General [Dan] Caine sits at the center of the strained relationship between Mr. Hegseth and the force. General Caine, a former fighter pilot, came to the Pentagon determined to build trust with Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth, both of whom had a dim view of his predecessors. To that end, he has defined his role more narrowly than previous chairmen.

In a recent commencement speech at the National Defense University, he said it was his job to tell the president whether the military could execute a mission, and to lay out the risks. But he warned against wading into internal debates over whether the president should take a particular military action.

‘We don’t do that in our business,’ he said.

It was a break from the recent past, when senior military officers like Gen. Mark A. Milley, a previous chairman, voiced opposition to former president Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. …”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The White House Military Office Coast Guard aide is on “Football” duty for Trump’s trip this evening to Vandalia, Ohio, for a campaign rally. The ~45-pound satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize using any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

In 2001, Britanov sued Warner Brothers Studios, arguing they had not asked his permission to portray him in the movie and that the story was inaccurate and made him appear incompetent. Three years later, a court awarded Britanov a settlement of less than $100,000.

A color photograph of Captain Igor Britanov posing in his uniform.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Here is some of the initial coverage in the New York Times of the K-219’s explosion and subsequent sinking:

A copy of the front page of the October 5, 1986, edition of the New York Times with the lead article headlined, “Moscow Reports Fire on Atomic Sub in North Atlantic.” A black and white photograph showing a Yankee-class submarine and a small map showing the location of the accident are to the left. Below this is a related article headlined “Leak of Radiation is Called Unlikely.”

The continuation of the two front-page articles in the October 5, 1986, edition of the New York Times. An additional box at upper left is headlined, "A-Sub Accidents: A Log," and summarizes seven serious accidents involving US and Soviet nuclear submarine between 1963 and 1984.

A copy of the front page of the October 7, 1986, edition of the New York Times with the lead article headlined, “Soviet Atomic Sub Sinks in Atlantic 3 Days After Fire,” accompanied by a black and white photograph of the damaged submarine and a small map showing its location relative to the east coast of the United States.

The continuation of the front-page article in the October 7, 1986, edition of the New York Times

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

It is unknown whether the United States retrieved some of the SLBMs and their nuclear warheads from the K-219, but if it did there was precedent. In 1974, the CIA used the purpose-built Hughes Glomar Explorer to secretly raise another sunken Soviet missile submarine in the Pacific Ocean, the K-129.

The cover of the 2010 book “Project AZORIAN: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129” by Norman Polmar and Michael White, showing a photorealistic underwater image of the Capture Vehicle being lowered from the Moon Pool of the Glomar Explorer.

A color graphic titled “Azorian System Concept” showing the Glomar Explorer and the massive Capture Vehicle it carried and used to retrieve part of the K-129 submarine. Various parts of the ship and the vehicle are numbered, with the key at the bottom.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

In 1988, the Soviet research ship Keldysh sailed to the location the K-219 went down and found the submarine upright on the ocean floor but broken in two. It also reportedly discovered that several missile hatches had been pried open and that the missiles and their nuclear warheads were missing.

The cover of the 1997 book “Hostile Waters,” by Peter Huchthausen, Igor Kurdin, and R. Alan White, which shows a submarine sitting upright on the bottom of the ocean and in addition to the title includes the words:

“October 3, 1986:

A nuclear disaster is poised to strike the United States. Only one man can stop it. A true story never revealed … until now.”

A copy of the top of page 314 of “Hostile Waters” describing what happened after the K-219 sank:

“In 1988, the Soviet hydrographic research ship Keldesh positioned itself over the wreck. it sent down a pair of remote-controlled cameras to take a look at what was left of the K-219. What they found under eighteen thousand feet of water was this: The submarine was sitting upright on the sandy bottom. It had brown in two after of the conning tower. Several missile silo hatches had been forced open, and the missiles, along with the nuclear warheads they contained, were gone.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

On October 6, 1986, the Soviet Politburo discussed the intelligence value of the submarine if the United States attempted to salvage it. Deputy Defense Minister and Commander in Chief of the Soviet Navy Admiral Vladimir N. Chernavin told the Politburo this posed no serious concerns:

A transcript of a portion of a declassified October 6, 1986, Politburo conversation, translated into English:

GORBACHEV: “If the Americans raise our submarine to the surface], what information can they get?”

CHERNAVIN: “It’s possible that they’ll take an interest in the nosecone and the reactor’s construction. However there are no new secrets there because this submarine is an older design. Also the punch cards [used to launch the missiles] may interest the Americans.”

GORBACHEV: “Why weren’t they withdrawn?”

CHERNAVIN: “They are located in a special safe. We do not have precise information about their fate.”

Moments later, Anatoly Dobrynin, the former ambassador to the United States and then head of the International Department of the Central Committee, suggested that “several ships should be left at the location of the accident so as to deny the Americans an opportunity to try and raise the submarine.” General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev responded, “We should look into this.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The K-219—including its two pressurized water reactors, 16 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and 32 to 48 thermonuclear warheads—sank in 18,000 feet of water to the bottom of the Hatteras Abyssal Plain.

A low-resolution image of a black and white map showing the various locations of the K-219 at several stages of the accident relative to Bermuda and the east coast of the United States. The submarine is surrounded by concentric circles denoting distances of 300, 500, and 700 nautical miles. The closest point of US land (1,060 nautical miles away at Cape Hatteras in North Carolina) is also noted.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Under very dangerous conditions, the crew managed to shut down the submarine’s two reactors and to stabilize it. The Soviet Navy ordered Captain Igor Britanov to have the K-219 towed by a freighter 4,300 miles to its homeport of Gadzhiyevo (near Murmansk), but it flooded and sank three days later.

A black and white photograph from a US Navy ship showing a Soviet sailor aboard the K-219 standing behind the sail and tied to the submarine with a rope. A US Navy P-3 Orion anti-submarine and surveillance aircraft, flying low over the surface of the ocean, is visible in the background.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

40 years ago today, 680 miles northeast of Bermuda, the Soviet Yankee 1-class ballistic missile submarine K-219 was on patrol when seawater leaked into a missile tube on the port side, triggering an explosion of the missile’s volatile liquid fuel that killed three sailors and crippled the submarine.

A US Navy color photograph of the K-219 at sea, with the damaged missile tube clearly visible on the port side, as well as a plume of orange rocket fuel vapor (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, UDMH) coming from the hole in the hull.

A US Navy black and white photograph of the K-219 at sea, zoomed in on the sail and missile tubes and showing damage to missile tubes on the port and starboard sides of the hull. Four crew members can be seen sitting on the port side of the sail.

A color photograph from aboard the K-219 looking aft and showing a close-in view of the twisted metal and damaged missile tubes, with orange rocket fuel vapor (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, UDMH) streaming from the tube on the port side.

A second color photograph from aboard the K-219 looking aft and showing a close-in view of the damaged missile tubes, with orange rocket fuel vapor (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, UDMH) streaming from the tube on the port side, and also showing the hatches of the tubes directly in front of the ones torn apart in the explosion, which are also deformed and no longer properly sealed.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Longtime Associated Press military reporter Robert Burns flagged the story in a small sidebar to a longer May 31, 1997, article about NORAD, but the incident still remained largely unknown, unlike subsequent widely-publicized nuclear false alarms in November 1979 and June 1980.

A copy of a full page Associated Press article in the May 31, 1997, edition of the Nashville Tennessean, headlined “Inside ‘steel city,’ focus in on defending N Roth America,” about the North American Aerospace Defense Command, including the sidebar at the lower right (headlined “False alarms scare White House”) discussing the October 3, 1979, and June 3, 1980 false alarms (with the former incorrectly cited as having occurred in 1980. The article is illustrated with four photographs: the “main computer center” at NORAD; “U.S. Lt. Col. Patricia O’Neil, a missile operations officer, stays busy during an exercise designed to practice defending against an attack.”; one of the massive reinforced doors securing the interior of the NORAD complex, misidentified as the entrance to one of the steel buildings inside NORAD, and a small, close-up of NORAD’s Deputy Commander Canadian Lt. Gen. Lou Cuppens.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

As far as I can tell, the first, somewhat cryptic, public reference to this little-known incident was in former CIA Director Robert Gates’s 1996 book “From the Shadows.” Gates offers some basic details and mentions Odom’s involvement, but provides no date.

A photograph of the front jacket of the hardcover edition of “From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War,” by Robert M. Gates.

A copy of page 114 from Gates’s book describing two nuclear false alarms: the one under discussion in this thread (although Gates provides no date and only scant details, including that a missile was believed to be heading toward the Oregon coast, and mischaracterizes the event as a “computer glitch”), and another on June 3, 1980 (though Gates does not provide the date for this either), where Odom actually called Brzezinski in the middle of the night to alert him that hundreds—and then thousands—of Soviet ballistic missiles were heading toward the United States.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Two days later, Odom informed Brzezinski that the cause of the false alarm was still unknown—the radar did not malfunction—but that it may have been a piece of Soviet space debris falling out of orbit which was mistakenly categorized as a SLBM (this hypothesis was confirmed by a later analysis).

A copy of a Top Secret one-page memorandum dated October 5, 1979, from General Wiilliam Odom to Zbigniew Brzezinski providing an update on the false alarm:

“The causes of the radar at Mt. Hebo, Oregon, recording an SLBM launch are still undetermined. There is no evidence of a system malfunction. A decaying Soviet space object could have been the basis for the sighting, but further investigation has made that look less probable. Furthermore, the ‘software’ in the system should distinguish between decaying objects and SLBM. (TS) …”

A typed notation at the top reads, “No Objection to Declassification in Full 2013/11/15 : NLC-12-48-7-11-7.” A typed notation below the body of the memorandum reads:

“TOP SECRET
Review on October 9, 1999
Classified and extended by Z. Brzezinski
Reason for Extension: NSC 1/13(e)”

Link: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/docume
nt/27626-document-7-william-odom-zbigniew-brzezinski-causes-false-warning-slbm-launch-5

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

It turned out to be false alarm, but as Odom wrote to Brzezinski in a top secret memorandum later that day, “It is a very chilling experience to pick up the phone and hear NORAD repeating ‘we have high confidence in the system’ and wonder how to use the remaining four or five minutes.”

A copy of a Top Secret one-page memorandum dated October 3, 1979, from General William Odom to Zbigniew Brzezinski describing the false alarm and the steps the Department of Defense took in managing it. Below Odom's initials at the bottom, someone (presumably Brzezinski) has handwritten: " --> causes?"

A typed notation at the top reads, “No Objection to Declassification in Full 2013/11/15 : NLC-12-48-7-11-7”

“TOP SECRET
Review on October 3, 1999
Classified and extended by Z. Brzezinski
Reason for Extension: NSC 1.13(e)”

Link: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/27625-document-6-william-odom-zbigniew-brzezinski-siop-changes-and-tactical-warning-map

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

At 0400 today in 1979, Gen. William Odom, National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski’s military assistant, was awakened by a call from the Pentagon’s “War Room.” A West Coast early-warning radar had detected a Soviet SLBM in flight which was expected to land 150 nautical miles off Oregon’s coast.

An official black and white portrait of General William Odom in uniform. He is balding, square-jawed, and wears round black-rimmed eyeglasses.

A black and white copy of a declassified map showing the hand-drawn projected impact of a Soviet submarine-launched ballistic missile off the coast of Oregon at 030404 EDT on October 3, 1979.

A handwritten note on the map's bottom margin reads:

SLBM THREAT ASSESSMENT

Bill: SYSTEMS MALFUNCTION [circled with an arrow going up to a note in a different hand: "not necessarily: NORAD says 'high confidence'."] AT MT. HEBO SLBM DETECTION. SITE APPARENTLY TRIGGERED THREAT ASSESSMENT CONFERENCE THIS MORNING CIRCA 0400. TWO OTHER DETECTION SITES WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED BY SUSPECTED LAUNCH INDICATED NOTHING. NMCC [National Military Command Center] WILL SEND US MFR."

Another handwritten note to the left of this reads: "Yes—they woke me. WO”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

See also this dramatic footage from an official UK Central Office of Information film about the Hurricane test: www.facebook.com/iwm.london/v...

A screenshot from the linked film showing an analog clock counting down to 0 with the second hand at 24 seconds.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Today in 1952 aboard the frigate HMS Plym, anchored off Trimouille Island in the Monte Bello Islands off northwest Australia, the United Kingdom conducted Operation Hurricane, its first nuclear weapon test. The yield of the plutonium-fueled, implosion-type bomb was 25 kilotons.

A black and white photograph of the early stage of the Hurricane fireball, with condensation appearing to form around the fireball due to the shockwave compressing the humid air.

A black and white photograph of the large, dark, and irregularly-shaped Hurricane mushroom cloud rising over Trimouille Island.

A black and white photograph showing the large Hurricane mushroom cloud dissipating and drifting away from the site of the test in two different directions due to different winds at different altitudes.

A photograph of the front page of the October 4, 1952, edition of The West Australian newspaper with a banner lead headline, “BRITAIN TESTS HER FIRST ATOMIC BOMB OF W.A. COAST,” and featuring a large photograph of the mushroom cloud under the sub-headline, “Cloud Billows High Over The Indian Ocean.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The White House Military Office Navy aide was on “Football” duty for Trump’s flight this evening to Mobile, Alabama, for a campaign rally. The ~45-pound satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize using any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

White House Military Office Army aide Lt. Col. Charlie Rockwood is on “Football” duty for Trump’s campaigning trips to Denton, TX, and Durant, OK. The ~45-lb. satchel trails Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize using any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The Soviet Union only publicly revealed the specific location and purpose of its second “peaceful nuclear explosion” (officially known as Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy) in an article in the Tashkent newspaper Pravda Vostoka on November 26, 1971.

Copy of an article in the December 2, 1971, edition of the New York Times headlined, “Soviet Discloses Nuclear Blast That Put Out Fire in Gas Field,” including a small map showing the location of the of the underground nuclear explosion (in what is now southwestern Uzbekistan, close to the Turkmenistan border and relatively close the the northern border of
Afghanistan).

A screenshot from a color film of the large and very strong orange-yellow gas plume shooting into the air from the out of control fire.

A black and white photograph of the nuclear device canister hanging from a cable before being lowered into the ground in a shaft adjacent to the gas well that was on fire. The canister is painted with thick alternating black and white horizontal stripes.

A screenshot from a color film of animation showing the emplacement shaft for the nuclear device and how the explosion would seal off the gas well on fire by crushing the surrounding rock, cutting off the oxygen supply and extinguishing the fire.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

When the shelter frenzy ended in December 1961—after tensions over Berlin decreased—Congress had appropriated $2.9 billion (FY26 $) to clearly identify and restock existing public shelters. But only ~200,000 people like Hugo Kellner, below (out of a population of 184,000,000), had built their own.

A black and white news photograph of 60-year-old German immigrant Hugo Maria Kellner of Caledonia, New York (18 miles southwest of Rochester), standing just inside the entrance to his large, underground, 13-room fallout shelter (built into a mound located a five-minute drive away from his primary aboveground home), while smiling and holding a shotgun.

A copy of a United Press International 1961 newspaper article about Mr. Kellner titled, “$24,000 Hole in the Ground His Hope For Saving Family if A-War Comes; Booby Traps Would Keep Others Away." The article features two large black and white photographs: one of Mr. Kellner standing just inside the entrance to his shelter and another of him standing next to the stove in its kitchen.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The multiple letters to the editor that were published in the following week’s issue from readers responding to this article are ... interesting.

The letters section on page 3 of the August 25, 1961 edition of TIME magazine.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Almost overnight, Kennedy’s address set off a nationwide frenzy over fallout shelters. Heated public debates ensued on the morality of turning away or even shooting neighbors trying to enter a family’s shelter during an emergency, as TIME reported in its August 18, 1961, issue: “Gun Thy Neighbor?”

A copy of an article in the August 18, 1961, issue of TIME in the religion section titled, “Gun Thy Neighbor?” A black and white photograph shows two men, three women, and two children sitting around a Formica kitchen table in a shelter, with cans of food visible on the shelves behind them. The man in the background is holding a rifle with a scope in his left hand, while another rifle rests on the table in front of the other man, who is seated. The caption reads, “Defender Davis (standing) & family in shelter. Imagine a child out there saying, ‘Let me in.’”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The Shelter” was broadcast only two months after President John F. Kennedy—in a nationally-televised speech as the crisis over the freedom of Berlin rapidly escalated—urged Americans to start making plans for fallout shelters to protect themselves and their families in case of a nuclear attack.

A black and white screenshot of a film of President John F. Kennedy delivering his speech on television while seated behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

A scanned copy of the first page of President Kennedy’s July 25, 1961, typewritten speech, as released by the White House.

A scanned copy of the fourth page of President Kennedy’s July 25, 1961, speech, as released by the White House, with the section on civil defense highlighted in a red box at the bottom

A scanned copy of the fifth page of President Kennedy’s July 25, 1961, speech, with the section on civil defense highlighted in a red box at the top.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

65 yrs ago tonight, CBS broadcast the second nuclear-war-themed episode of “The Twilight Zone” to air in a month. Written by Rod Serling, “The Shelter” dramatically and effectively distilled the profound moral/ethical dilemmas presented by the family fallout shelter during a serious nuclear crisis.

A black and white screenshot of the title screen for the episode “The Shelter” of “The Twilight Zone.”

A black and white screenshot of a scene from “The Shelter” showing three men frantically trying to use a large pipe to ram through the reinforced metal door of the shelter.

A black and white screenshot of a scene from “The Shelter” showing four men looking through the now broken open door of the shelter, fear and uncertainty on their faces. In the background, two of their wives can be seen at the top of the basement stairs with similar expressions on their faces.

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