JTF 8 Presents Operation Dominic: Christmas Island (1962)

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A previous video release, “Dominic Fireballs,” (silent with captions) featured 16 nuclear bursts conducted near Christmas Island in 1962 and presented a general visual overview of the test operation. This documentary presents a brief history of the British-owned Christmas Island and the agreement that allowed the United States to use it as a staging area for 24 atmospheric tests.

However, only three nuclear blasts are shown, each representing a different aspect of Operation Dominic I. The first test shown was ADOBE, detonated on April 25, 1962, which had a yield of 190 kilotons (kt). This was a proof test of a device prior to it going into the nuclear weapons stockpile. The second test, FRIGATE BIRD, involved a warhead (yield not given) launched on May 6, 1962, from the submarine Ethan Allen and carried to its target by a Polaris missile. It was an atmospheric test. The third test, SWORDFISH, a low-yield device, was a system proof test of an antisubmarine rocket (ASROC) conducted on May 11, 1962. The weapon, an atomic depth charge, was successfully detonated underwater after its ride on the ASROC.

EG&G OPERATION DOMINIC SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY BLUESTONE EVENT
10:00 (Silent)

This video shows the BLUESTONE thermonuclear airdrop from several vantage points at various camera speeds and focal lengths. Conducted near Christmas Island in the Pacific, BLUESTONE
had a yield of 1.27 megatons. This test does not have the familiar mushroom cloud effect, but forms a huge circular fireball and as it expands, forms a large ring.

BLUESTONE was but one of many Dominic I tests dedicated to research and development of thermonuclear devices. The Dominic I series was ordered after the Soviet Union had resumed
testing nuclear weapons.