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THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 3, 1958
i MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
PORTIONS EXEMPTED
E.0. 11652, Sec. 5 (B) (B)
NLE 76-52, 4 ¥23
FROM: J, R. KILLIAN, JR.
NLE pate 9/20/77
SUBJECT: Preliminary Results of the ARGUS Experiment
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Ba ckground and Summary
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This historic experiment, probably the most spectacular ever
conducted, provides the first verification of the existence of several
phenomena of military importance when a nuclear explosion takes
place in space above the earth's atmosphere, That these phenomena
vould result was first predicted by Nicholas Christofilos of the Liver rhore Radiation Laboratory. He pointed out that high energy electrons
from the fission products generated by a suitably placed explosion
ould spread out into a broad belt around the earth covering the equarial and temperate zones. These electrons might damage electronic
quipment in space, render the space above the earth temporarily
lethal to man, generate world-wide radio noise, especially in the HF
and VHF bands, and produce strong localized disturbances of the
‘ionosphere at great distances from the explosion.
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These predictions were brought to the attention of the President's
Science Advisory Committee in January 1958, and at its request a
group of twenty outstanding physicists in the country was assembled
at Livermore for an intensive two-week study of the subject. Their
report, completed in March, confirmed and extended the theoretical
findings of Christofilos.
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This subject matter was presented to the National Security Council
on March 6 by representatives of the President's Science Advisory
pommittee, The experiment itself, with the approval of the President,
as planned during April and May under ARPA direction and was
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frarried out by a team including elements of all three military services
“Mend the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project. W.H. Bradley of my
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