Operation Plumbbob: Tertiary Effects of Blast - Displacement

The objective was to determine the velocity and distance of translation of anthropomorphic dummies and equivalent spheres caused by blast winds. The primary technique for recording the movement of these objects was photo-triangulation. Analysis of the films obtained thereby gave the velocity and distance in the case of shot 1. In shot 2, the field of view was obscured by smoke (perhaps dust too) before any motion could be recorded by the cameras. The secondary technique (applicable to certain of the equivalent spheres) was to have the spheres impelled into missile traps. The resultant penetration provides a means for determining the velocity at the time of impact. Analysis of the results from both the primary and secondary techniques is expected to provide some of the information identified in the objective. Operation Plumbbob, Nevada Test Site, Project 33.3, May-Oct 1957.