Was that Nuke!!

On July 16, 1945 the first nuclear weapon was tested near Alamogordo, New Mexico. After the end of World War II, many countries were determined to gain nuclear technology. In 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first fission weapon. The United Kingdom followed on October 2, 1952, France on February 13, 1960, and China on October 16, 1964. These five powers are permitted to possess nuclear weapons under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. There are four recognized sovereign states that are not parties to the treaty, including India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea. India, Pakistan and North Korea have openly tested and declared that they possess nuclear weapons, while Israel has a policy of opacity regarding its nuclear weapons program. There have been over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted since 1945. In 1963, many states signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, pledging to refrain from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space.

After adopting the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, world powers pledged to discontinue all nuclear testing. When a nuclear explosion occurs, it creates intense light, heat, and incredible explosive force. Many national defense programs have released satellites into the atmosphere that have sensors designed specifically to detect nuclear explosions. On September 22, 1979, a "double flash" was detected by the American Vela Hotel satellite. World specialists who examined the data speculated that the double flash was characteristic of a nuclear explosion and may have been the result of a nuclear weapons test. The satellite reported the characteristic double flash of an atmospheric nuclear explosion. It was detected in the Indian Ocean between Bouvet Island and the Prince Edward Islands, which belongs to South Africa. The recording was labeled the Vela Incident.