In the 1950s, nuclear testing began at the Nevada National Security Site with nuclear bombs mounted on top of a 1500 foot detonation tower so the fireball wouldn’t damage the monitoring equipment.
“Doom” towns were assembled with shops, gas stations, and homes made of brick and wood .
Building interiors held life-size, family mannequins wearing various types of clothing to evaluate how different fabrics would be affected during the energy bursts and extreme heat.
I remember the newsreels of these tests being shown in theaters, and as a member of the audio-visual team, I showed these film clips supplied by the government to my Bedford Elementary classmates. Terrifying then, terrifying now.