Nuclear Testing and Howard Hughes
In the 1960’s Nevada was the testing ground for nuclear explosions. The cold war was raging and the U.S. was preparing for the worst.
In the 1960’s Howard Hughes lived in a penthouse on top of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He was one of the richest men in the world and he detested the nuclear testing going on in Nevada. At this time it was a race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to see who could make and detonate the biggest nuclear explosion that would do the most damage. Hughes claimed the explosions shook his penthouse and unnerved him. The testing site was in the middle of the desert about 75 miles from Las Vegas and Hughes wanted it moved further from Las Vegas. Although there were no environmental issues at that time. Howard Hughes was a powerful man and a multi billionaire. When he spoke people listened.
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He wrote in a memo in 1979; “Has anybody ever tried to compute the price paid for the privilege of laying waste, mutilating and contaminating for all the days to come millions of acres of good,fertile, vegetated Nevada earth through the damage wrought by these explosions?” Hughes wrote to President Lyndon Johnson and many political figures with his complaints.It seems his complaints were heard and the government tried to please the man who owned Los Angeles based Hughes Aircraft Co, one of the country’ largest defense contractors. Hughes also owned part of the country’s oil drilling industry, and he controlled the Las Vegas Strip.
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One nuclear weapon was exploded a hundred miles further south but it shook Hughes penthouse just as much as it had at the original site so the new site was abandoned and testing was resumed as before.
Where once The Central Nevada Test Area was a beehive of activity, nobody lives in this forsaken waste land that is more than 12 miles from the nearest road. 3,200 feet down at the bottom of the shaft is tons of radioactive trash. The only thing to mark the site is a rusty steel well casing that stands awkwardly on the desert floor and a sign that warns, “No excavation, drilling,or removal of material is permitted without U. S.government approval within a horizontal distance of 3,300 feet from the surface ground zero.”
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It seems unbelievable that our government could have ever poisoned the land in such a fashion but at the time we believed war with Russia was inevitable and the winner would be the one who developed the most powerful atomic weapons. As some have said Russia and the United States during the cold war successfully bombed themselves.
http://quazen.com/Reference/Biography/Bobby-Lee-from-Summervill,Ga.Ga.714849
http://www.newsflavor.com/World/usa-canada/Vietnam-Vet-honered/
http://www.socyberty.com/Activism/The-Coal-Industry-Said-What.682871
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20 Responses to “Nuclear Testing and Howard Hughes”
On July 19, 2009 at 4:00 am
This is very sad and horrible indeed! I agree. Peace, Love and Friendship are the highest values, it is time that governments realize that!
Very best wishes,
François
On July 19, 2009 at 4:07 am
They were right. We had the tail wagging the dog during the cold war.
On July 19, 2009 at 5:04 am
In the 60’s politics of cold war spoiled everything.Nevada was not an exception.In fact Mr.Huges, just because he was a multi-billionaire and a defense contractor, could exert some influence on the US government, could write to US President Lyndon Johnson and made people hear him.Still his penthouse felt the shock waves.But for Hughes, no ordinary man could have ever even raised a finger.Thanks for sharing and driving us back to the 60s atleast for a brief period.
On July 19, 2009 at 5:09 am
You are a font of knowledge Ruby. I never realised the Howard Hughes connection with this piece of history!
On July 19, 2009 at 5:35 am
Dear friend Francois, governments have nothing to do with peace, love and friendship. They just make business
, in the past in the present and in the future nothing will change is my opinion. And about the cold war period, i am always wondering if people realy believed they could survive a nuclear war in their underground homes that so cleverly advertisers promoted, or that it was just another part of the business?
Thanks Ruby,
Chris
On July 19, 2009 at 5:57 am
Nuclear testing is a “human disaster”. The power of nuclear explosion can destruct a huge area. Great piece and have my liked it.
On July 19, 2009 at 9:57 am
Ruby , another great article, bringing to light the importance of preservation. Our own, as humans and the earth we all come from. Hughes clout didn’t seem to stop the damage being done, although he tried. Was unaware of his efforts. Just think if you combine all the nuclear bombs and put them together in a room , or really a skyscraper. We could blow the world up well over a hundred times. It only takes one time to end it all. Why so many still in production. My point, how many times can we blow up our world to smithereens, for the manufacturers to just keep building them. Seems beyond senseless. It’s utterly disgusting to see somes obsession with annhilation. Great article for all to read.
On July 19, 2009 at 12:39 pm
proof that people are basically idioits..
I find it ironic that Huges opposed this for a blight on the landscape.. but then supported Las Vegas.. as some would call that a blight on the landscape too.
On July 19, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Good article, Ruby. The nuclear test has spawned a plethora of speculative fiction in that time-period. Most people knew no one would survive. That is part of what spawned the whole peace/love/hippy movement. There were other aspects–like civil rights for all races and for women; but, yeah, if you were aware at all you knew those shelters were a joke.
On July 19, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Blame it all on Albert Einstein. I might get back to your article, i didn’t read it. srry
On July 19, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Well presented article, Ruby. I know it’s trivial but didn’t I read somewhere that Howard Hughes invent the bra?
On July 19, 2009 at 4:38 pm
That should read ‘invented’!
On July 19, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I suppose the movie, The Hills have Eyes may have some solid basis after all. The Cold War was really a child’s play which has accounted for a lot of wastes. There’s is a site there at AMARC in Tucson, Arizona with a thousand of fighter jets and bombers during the Cold WAr scattered over a thousand acres which have lapsed their pupose.
On July 19, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Sorry, the ‘r’ was omitted in purpose.
On July 19, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Howard Hughes was a fascinating individual. Too bad he had obsessions/paranoias which stopped him from meeting his true potential.
On July 19, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I never knew the Howard Hughes involvement. Quite and interesting look back into history.
On July 19, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Thanks everyone for your input, it’s what I enjoy most about writing for Triond. It was a joke when you think back on it. The underground bomb shelters. I never saw any but I read how to build them. They wouldn’t have sheltered anyone from radiation or impact. The alarms at school with kids gathering in the hall with their heads tucked between their knees. The church, and public basements filled with water and supplies.What was our government thinking?
George, Howard Hughes invented a underwire bra for Jane Russell. I believe it was the first underwire made.
Howard Hughes grew so paranoid that he wouldn’t come out of his hotel room and all his food had to be prepared right in front of him. He was scared to death of germs.
On July 20, 2009 at 4:34 am
Thankyou for your Article most enjoyable and interesting reading
On July 20, 2009 at 6:09 am
It is frightening what we did to ourselves during the Cold War – fascinating article, especially the insight into Howard Hughes.
On July 20, 2009 at 6:22 am
Newsworthy article here, Ruby. I enjoyed the read. Very informative and photos are explicit. Very good indeed.
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