**Context:** On September 22, 1979, the American **Vela Hotel satellite** (designed specifically to detect nuclear explosions) recorded a “double flash” in the South Indian Ocean, between the Prince Edward Islands and Antarctica. This signature is almost exclusively associated with a nuclear detonation.
While the South African government remained silent and the Carter Administration—wishing to avoid a diplomatic crisis and the triggering of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act—convened a panel that claimed the flash was likely a “zoo event” (a meteorite hitting the satellite), intelligence circles and researchers generally agree it was a joint nuclear test between **South Africa and Israel**.
To this day, it remains one of the most famous “open secrets” of the Cold War, as South Africa later admitted to having a nuclear program but never officially confirmed this specific test.
Royal-Albatross1538 on
That’s a very specific kind of coincidence.
[deleted] on
[removed]
Athabuen on
Wouldn’t be the last time an unclaimed nuke went off there
bittercripple6969 on
Oh hey somebody watched the new AlexanderTheOkay video.
6 Comments
**Context:** On September 22, 1979, the American **Vela Hotel satellite** (designed specifically to detect nuclear explosions) recorded a “double flash” in the South Indian Ocean, between the Prince Edward Islands and Antarctica. This signature is almost exclusively associated with a nuclear detonation.
While the South African government remained silent and the Carter Administration—wishing to avoid a diplomatic crisis and the triggering of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act—convened a panel that claimed the flash was likely a “zoo event” (a meteorite hitting the satellite), intelligence circles and researchers generally agree it was a joint nuclear test between **South Africa and Israel**.
To this day, it remains one of the most famous “open secrets” of the Cold War, as South Africa later admitted to having a nuclear program but never officially confirmed this specific test.
That’s a very specific kind of coincidence.
[removed]
Wouldn’t be the last time an unclaimed nuke went off there
Oh hey somebody watched the new AlexanderTheOkay video.
But what if second meteorite?