iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1h

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 · 5h

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 · 9h

You might say it flew under the radar.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 11h

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 · 11h

The 1997 HBO movie “Hostile Waters” (based on the 1997 book of the same name) dramatized this accident, choosing to depict a US submarine colliding with the K-219 and causing the fuel leak—a claim the Soviet Union made in 1986 that was disputed by both the US Navy and Capt. Britanov.

youtube.com

Hostile Waters trailer

YouTube video by micarone

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

This deadly accident happened eight days before the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, and just over five months after the Chernobyl disaster. Top Secret minutes of a Politburo meeting published in 2016 reveal the Soviets learned critical lessons from Chernobyl—especially not to deny it.

nsarchive.gwu.edu

Soviet nuclear submarine carrying nuclear weapons sank north of Bermuda in 1986

Washington D.C., October 7, 2016 -Thirty years ago, a Soviet nuclear submarine with about 30 nuclear warheads on board sank off U.S. shores north of Bermuda as Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan were...

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

For more on this disturbing and formerly obscure false alarm, which could have ended very differently had it occurred during an international crisis or a state of heightened US-Soviet tensions, see this 2022 electronic briefing book from the National Security Archive.

nsarchive.gwu.edu

Colonel Odom’s “Chilling” Four A.M. Phone Call

New Information on False Missile Alerts and Threat Assessment Conference Calls, 1978-1980. First publication of 1976 U.S-Soviet Agreement on NUCFLASH Messaging

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 11h

The late historian Bill Burr at the @nsarchive.bsky.social noted Gates’s reference to this false alarm in a March 2020 electronic briefing book on nuclear false alarms (which was actually an update of an earlier briefing on the same topic from March 2012) and then diligently tracked it down.

nsarchive.gwu.edu

False Warnings of Soviet Missile Attacks Put U.S. Forces on Alert in 1979-1980

Washington D.C., March 16, 2020 - During the Cold War, false alarms of missile attacks were closely held matters although news of them inevitably leaked. Today the National Security Archive revisits t...

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

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 · 11h

The explosion effectively vaporized the HMS Plym, although some extremely hot metal fragments landed on Trimouille, setting fire to the brush. The blast carved a crater in the lagoon 20 feet deep and 1,000 feet wide. The mushroom cloud rose to 15,000 feet.

youtube.com

Dramatic Footage of Britain Testing An Atomic Bomb (1952) | War Archives

YouTube video by War Archives

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 11h

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 · 21h

Even when the captain’s dog pisses on the launch tube?

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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 · 02/10/2026

Oh, I think there would definitely be such discussions. I’m just increasingly unsure anyone could persuade Trump to act rationally—which, among other things requires a willingness to obey the law, a healthy concern about domestic and international political repercussions, and a degree of empathy.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Good questions. We know what the answers should be with regard to a “normal” presidential administration. Now, who knows? Worse still, I can’t see anyone in Trump’s Cabinet willing to really stand up to him to stop him from a blatantly illegal act. Certainly not Hegseth. Probably not Vance or Rubio.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Perhaps, but that’s not even close to “annihilating” or “obliterating,” which are the specific terms Trump has used repeatedly since February 2025 (Trump also threatened to attack Iran with nuclear weapons during his first term).

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This 2017 comment from General John Hyten, the then-commander of US Strategic Command, which he intended to be reassuring in the face of Trump’s multiple angry nuclear threats against North Korea that year, is anything but.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Neither is this about nuclear deterrence because (a) Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, and (b) Trump isn’t trying to stop Iran from doing something. The only question is whether senior military leaders will allow Trump to exterminate a country that poses no imminent military threat to us.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“Annihilating Iran”—which can only mean the widespread use of thermonuclear weapons against Iran’s nearly 100 million citizens—is, I’m afraid, the Chekov’s gun of Trump’s second term. He has spoken too often and too explicitly about unleashing such wanton destruction for it to be an idle threat.

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

Or, in the words of the former head of US Strategic Command, work with the president to make an illegal order legal.

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

Speaking of presidential control of nuclear weapons …

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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 · 01/10/2026

Yes, absolutely. But if you can also ensure jobs and money for your constituents and increased political power for yourself, so much the better.

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

Because back when the ICBM fleet was first being developed, powerful senators and representatives ensured that the Air Force deployed those missiles in their states and districts (which also explains why major SAC bomber bases wound up in such illogical places as Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas).

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

All hail the (in)competence of Pete Hegseth and the Trump-Vance regime! “… several unauthorized users exploited a security vulnerability in an unspecified file-sharing system over several months between October 2025 and mid-July 2026. … The notice says that the personnel records were unencrypted.”

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

This was the first time a nuclear explosive was used to put out an underground natural gas fire, and it appears to be the first Soviet “peaceful nuclear explosion” or PNE ever officially announced. The first Soviet PNE took place almost two years earlier in Kazakhstan:

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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 · 30/09/2026

60 years ago today, the Soviet Union detonated a 30-kiloton nuclear device 5,026 feet underground to successfully extinguish a natural gas fire that had raged out of control for nearly three years in the Urta-Bulak gas field in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.

youtube.com

USSR used nuclear bombs to stop gas well blowouts

YouTube video by Production Technology

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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

Harshly criticized (including by Eleanor Roosevelt and the Rev. Billy Graham) for triggering the hysteria, President Kennedy subsequently pleaded, “Let us concentrate more on keeping enemy bombers and missiles away from our shores and concentrate less on keeping neighbors away from our shelters.”

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

To date, this nuclear accident ranks as the third worst in world history (in terms of radioactivity released), after the ones in Fukushima, Japan, in March 2011 and Chernobyl, Ukraine, in April 1986.

A color photograph of a monument in Kyshtym, a large slab of black granite inclined at an angle on a pad of stone or concrete squares near a stand of trees along a road, adorned with a large rendering of the radiation trefoil and the words (carved in Cyrllic), “Liquidators of the Accident Kyshtym 57.

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

Some 1,300 tons of grain, 240 tons of potatoes, 61 tons of vegetables, 100,000 kilograms of meat, and 67,000 kilograms of milk were disposed of. Nevertheless, doses in the most contaminated zone were estimated to average a whole body equivalent of 52 rems and 150 rems to the gastrointestinal tract.

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

About 59,000 hectares of contaminated agricultural land were removed from production and many tons of contaminated food were disposed of. In 1961, some agriculture in the zone resumed, but it wasn't until 1978 that 40,000 hectares were returned to cultivation (the rest was still too dangerous).

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