LAS VEGAS: The fifth atomic explosion in ten days at Frenchman Flat jolted this city early today [Feb 6] but to Las Vegas’ residents, now veterans of test blasts, it was an excuse for coffee parties. Early risers dotted their lawns to watch the flash then descended on cafes for coffee.

In Los Angeles hundreds of persons watched the spectacle on their television sets. More serious tone was given to the blast which the Atomic Energy Commission again described as “one of our periodic tests” by the presence of two members of the AEC and a group of military weapons experts here to witness the rumbling explosion. The sky flashed with light many times more brilliant than the sun at 1347 GMT. Some five minutes later a jolting concussion hit Las Vegas. Buildings quivered as in an earthquake and two downtown automobile agencies reported plate glass windows broken. The flash was seen hundreds of miles away.

Two Los Angeles television stations announced on Monday [Feb 5] night that they would have cameras trained on the sky from Mt [Wilson] above Pasadena, California, to catch the flash.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2026