The Atom Strikes

This 1945 documentary, likely produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, offers a sobering account of the atomic bomb’s debut and its devastating use in WWII. Filmed in black-and-white, it begins with the Trinity test on July 16, 1945, in New Mexico’s Alamogordo desert: a blinding flash, narrated by Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves, erupts into a mushroom cloud, captured from multiple angles as shockwaves ripple across sand. The film shifts to August 1945, with aerial footage from the B-29s Enola Gay and Bockscar over Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9)—bombs drop silently, followed by plumes rising over cityscapes. Close-ups reveal the aftermath: Hiroshima’s skeletal A-Bomb Dome, Nagasaki’s charred ruins, and streets of rubble, with dazed survivors amid flattened homes. Aimed at military briefings or public education, it underscores the bomb’s power—ending Japan’s resistance—while hinting at a new atomic era, balancing awe with grim reality.