# Whence Smoke Tendrils from Atomic Blasts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 23, 1999, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866 "1999-10-23T08:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Timothy\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Timothy\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timothy_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 1999, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/1 "1999-10-23T08:42:00Z")
I have noticed, when I see films of atomic explosions, that there are frequently several parallel (though slightly squiggly) smoke tendrils extending from the sky up into the clouds. I have racked my brain trying to figure out why these happen, and I haven’t a clue. I can’t even figure out why, once they’re created (somehow), they aren’t disrupted by the shock front. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch some films of above-ground atomic tests. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 1999, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/2 "1999-10-23T08:50:00Z")
I believe those smoke tendrils were created before the test. They form a background against which the blast and subsequent mushroom cloud can be measured for size. Does anyone else, deep down inside, have a sneaking wish that they could witness a live, _above-ground_ atomic test? It’s not going to happen, and we should be glad of it, but all the same, wouldn’t that be the most kick-ass event of your life? DHR ---
**Author:** ![pmh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@pmh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmh)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 1999, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/3 "1999-10-23T10:11:00Z")
This exact topic was discussed in GQ some time ago. The thread was called “nuclear kaboom lines” or something similar. I’ve looked for it, but the search engine seems to think all threads are about rechargeable batteries… Anyway, if you can find it, there were several possible explanations brought forward. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 1999, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/4 "1999-10-23T13:42:00Z")
The guts of the answer to the previous thread, [read it](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/002198.html), said these are the result of smoke rockets launched independently of the nuke blast in order to give the observers a means to measure the blast’s effect on surrounding air. ---
**Author:** ![Timothy\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Timothy\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timothy_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 1999, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/5 "1999-10-23T18:52:00Z")
Thanks, Beatle, for pointing me in the direction of that older thread. So it appears that the lines come from smoke rockets. I also gather that they are not displaced by the shock front because it isn’t “wind” but “shock” (i.e. it may push the smoke trails out, but then there’s a rebound effect). As for the idea of seeing an atomic explosion live, I think I could do without the radiation bonus. You could probably get a similar charge by watching a launch of the space shuttle from as close as they’ll let you get. (Maybe a few orders of magnitude less kaboom, but you _can_ get closer, so I’m sure it’s still overwhelming.) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 1999, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/6 "1999-10-24T03:05:00Z")
> [@](#): > > As for the idea of seeing an atomic explosion live, I think I could do without the radiation bonus. OK, I guess it’s just me and Edward Teller then–radiation notwithstanding, he seems to have lived to a ripe old age, don’t you think? DHR * * * Mein Fuehrer, I can walk!–Dr. Strangelove ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 1999, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/7 "1999-10-24T03:11:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You could probably get a similar charge by watching a launch of the space shuttle from as close as they’ll let you get. The Challenger launch, maybe. Don’t think (or hope) that kind of launch will be repeated anytime soon, though. DHR * * * “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds; waiting the hour that ripens to their doom.”–J. Robert Oppenheimer ---
**Author:** ![davidbrantley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@davidbrantley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidbrantley)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/8 "1999-10-26T16:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > wouldn’t that be the most kick-ass event of your life? During the first A-bomb test one of the scientists (I think it was Oppenheimer?) quoted a bit of Hindu sacred text. Scientists were certainly much more educated in those days. If the Bomb were invented now, what would the developers say when they set off? “Awwwwsome!” That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 1999, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/9 "1999-10-27T05:36:00Z")
The text was: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Some controversy remains on whether Dr. Oppenheimer said this immediately after, or upon being asked what his immediate response was, during subsequent interviews. \

Tris\ ---

**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/10 "1999-10-26T20:52:00Z")
Doghouse Reilly wrote: > [@](#): > > OK, I guess it’s just me and Edward Teller then–radiation notwithstanding, he seems to have lived to a ripe old age, don’t you think? Which is kinda ironic, considering how he is, in the minds of many scientists (including Carl Sagan), single-handedly responsible for creating the most destructive weapon the world has ever seen. * * * Quick-N-Dirty Aviation: Trading altitude for airspeed since 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 1999, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-smoke-tendrils-from-atomic-blasts/16866/11 "1999-10-26T23:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > During the first A-bomb test one of the scientists (I think it was Oppenheimer?) quoted a bit of Hindu sacred text. Proof that nobody here actually reads sig lines? DHR