In the early 1960s atmospheric nuclear tests had been forbidden by the Limited Test Ban Treaty. But with the Cold War in full swing, the U.S. Government (and the Soviet government too, for that matter) felt they had to continue testing nuclear explosives, so the focus became testing underground. Nuclear detonations, especially those carried out underground, could be detected seismically and their yields estimated. This led to Project Shoal, which was located about 30 miles east of Fallon, Nevada. There’s a legend from the early days of nuclear testing that a…
