Free Republic

Spectators were also holding “watch-the-bomb parties” in Hawaii, as the countdown was broadcast over shortwave radio. Photographers aimed their lenses toward the horizon and debated the best camera settings for capturing a thermonuclear explosion in outer space. It turned out that the blast—a 1.4 megaton bomb, 500 times as powerful as the one that fell on Hiroshima—was not subtle. “When that nuclear weapon went off, the whole sky lit up in every direction. It looked like noon,” “It looked as though the heavens had belched forth a new sun that flared briefly, but long enough to set the sky on...

Iran launched 'secret' rocket test From correspondents in BerlinFebruary 04, 2006IRAN secretly tested a new surface-to-surface missile (SSM) on January 17, seeking to establish the measurements needed for long-range missiles, the German daily Die Welt reported in its issue to appear today. The test, conducted by members of the Revolutionary Guard led by Yahya Rahim Safavi, was successful, according to Western diplomats cited by the newspaper, which did not indicate the location where the test took place. On January 28, Safavi said that Iran would use its ballistic missiles if it was attacked. "Iran has a ballistic missile with...