How did Robert McNamara's 100 megaton bomb stay hidden from the public eye?

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The discussion centers on Robert McNamara's mention of a 100 megaton bomb in the documentary "Fog of War," raising questions about how such a powerful weapon could remain hidden from the public. Participants speculate on the challenges of concealing the fallout and seismic signatures of a detonation, particularly in light of the Soviet Union's Tsar Bomba, which was ultimately reduced from 100 megatons to 50 megatons due to concerns over the catastrophic effects. Anecdotes are shared about the detection of shock waves from past nuclear tests, illustrating the difficulty of hiding such events. The conversation touches on the technological capabilities of the time and the implications of nuclear testing during the Cold War. Overall, the thread explores the complexities surrounding the secrecy of nuclear weapons and their testing.
Posy McPostface
In Fog Of War, a superb documentary about the life lessons learned by Robert McNamara is mentioned the design development and detonation of a 100 megaton bomb. I have no reason to doubt what McNamara said was untrue or a lie, what's the point of that anyway?

Anyone have any ideas how such a powerful bomb could be held in secret or covertly detonated? I don't mean to imply a conspiracy; but, how could you hide the fallout, seismic and sonic signatures from such a gigantic blast? Otherwise, we'd refer to this bomb as the largest explosion and not the USSR's 50 megaton 'Tsar bomba'.

Transcript from the documentary:
http://www.errolmorris.com/film/fow_transcript.html

Quote:
During the Kennedy administration, they designed a 100 megaton bomb. It was tested in the atmosphere. I remember this. Cold War? Hell, it was a hot war!
 
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New From my understanding, the design was for a 100 megaton bomb, but they halved it because they were chickens (not really, I guess). I think it ended up as a 58 megaton explosion.
 
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Ok, did some more research. By 'they' McNamara was referring to the Soviets, which downsized the Tsar bomb from 100 Mt to 50 Mt.

Sorry, clarified this on my own.
 
DiracPool said:
From my understanding, the design was for a 100 megaton bomb, but they halved it because they were chickens (not really, I guess). I think it ended up as a 58 megaton explosion.

Yes, nobody in their right mind would detonate a 100 Mt bomb at least with the technology available at the time. Thanks to the scientists that pointed the issue with the fallout from such a bomb and convinced the Soviet leaders to downsize Tsar to around 50 Mt.
 
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DiracPool said:
From my understanding, the design was for a 100 megaton bomb, but they halved it because they were chickenshits (not really, I guess). I think it ended up as a 58 megaton explosion.
May I ask where your picture is from? I have a philia for Greek or Roman statures.
 
Ahh, so it is Coeus. A great Titan indeed. What was Prometheus relation to Coeus?
 
Posy McPostface said:
Ok, did some more research. By 'they' McNamara was referring to the Soviets, which downsized the Tsar bomb from 100 Mt to 50 Mt.

Boring anecdote

That bomb was an Earth shaker.
Dad worked at the Miami Weather Bureau office then. When he came home from work that day he took sister and me out to see the barometric pressure recorder. Back then they were analog strip charts, paper and ink. Sure enough there were two blips on it that he said were the shock waves reaching Miami , one from each side of the great circle route connecting Miami and northern Russia.

Sure there are sensitive instruments these days that detect such explosions, but to upset a meteorological aneroid barometer halfway around the world - that was really something for 1961..
 
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jim hardy said:
Boring anecdote

That bomb was an Earth shaker.
Dad worked at the Miami Weather Bureau office then. When he came home from work that day he took sister and me out to see the barometric pressure recorder. Back then they were analog strip charts, paper and ink. Sure enough there were two blips on it that he said were the shock waves reaching Miami , one from each side of the great circle route connecting Miami and northern Russia.

Sure there are sensitive instruments these days that detect such explosions, but to upset a meteorological aneroid barometer halfway around the world - that was really something for 1961..

Not a boring day at work was had, all thanks to the Russians and their 50 megaton bomb.
 
jim hardy said:
Boring anecdote

That bomb was an Earth shaker.
Dad worked at the Miami Weather Bureau office then. When he came home from work that day he took sister and me out to see the barometric pressure recorder. Back then they were analog strip charts, paper and ink. Sure enough there were two blips on it that he said were the shock waves reaching Miami , one from each side of the great circle route connecting Miami and northern Russia.

Sure there are sensitive instruments these days that detect such explosions, but to upset a meteorological aneroid barometer halfway around the world - that was really something for 1961..
Why would a shock wave take the Great Circle Route?

We did have listening devices waiting for the sound of Russian atomic tests in the air by 1949. They were hoisted by balloon trains. One of them crashed near Roswell, New Mexico.
 
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Noisy Rhysling said:
Why would a shock wave take the Great Circle Route?

What other route could it take? That's the shortest distance between two points on a sphere.
 
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jim hardy said:
What other route could it take? That's the shortest distance between two points on a sphere.
Sorry, that got linked to the Nagumo Kido Butai by means too esoteric to get into.
 

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