S- /S The three laboratories answer Betts request for information quite promptly and I have documented their replies in other notes. Included in these is that Sandia points out that the Air Force now desires to use the B-52 rather than the B-47 as a drop aircraft, that LRL cannot meet a 1 December date with the 56X1 but rather say that the earliest possible date for testing in an air drop is December 15. LRL mentions a couple other devices which could and they would desire be tested by air drop in this time frame. LASL replies that they feel that they could meet the 1 December date with the 50 and the 59 and they propose testing the 50X1 at two different yields. Bradbury further recommends testing another device at several different yields and recognizes that the LASL proposal would extend the operation beyond the minimum number of three which Betts had given but also points out that the additional strontium 90 contribution is trivial and that Also once we have opened the door to atmospheric air drop testing it would be wise to get the most for our money. The DoD forwarded a joint AEC/DoD nuclear testing program proposal to the President on about 9 October and it went to Mr. Gilpatrick. As a result of presidential approval of the DoD letter, Captain Craig of the DMA Test Branchproposed several actions to General Betts. Among others was that the appropriate AEC field agencies be advised that active preparations by the AEC and the DoD are now underway toward conducting atmospheric tests and that final approval may be imminent. Furthermore, it is recommended that the NTS be authorized to go full speed ahead on preparing for the balloon shots and that the planning board set up a firm schedule for these shots and that various other preparations in conjunction with the atmospheric program at the NTS and also at Johnston Island be undertaken. On 13 October a letter from General Booth, Chief of DASA, to the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Atomic Energy) covered the subject of overseas nuclear weapons testing and in particular for the first time that I have seen addressed Christmas Island as a possible site for such testing. The letter is followed by a lengthy report covering the operational and logistic characteristics of Christmas Island and prepared in 1959 by the Pacific Missile Range. In part General Booth states "it appears that the adaption of Christmas Island as a U.S. nuclear test site is both operationally and logistically feasible. Christmas Island affords sufficient advantages to make it attractive as a base for sampling operations, balloon shots, and off-shore detonations with onshore instrumentation."' Further he notes that a PMR report prepared in July 61 indicates that NASA is also interested in Christmas as a launch site in support of the lunar program. General Booth considers the selection of Christmas Island as a nuclear test site second to his choice of Eniwetok with which he is more familiar. However, he considers it desirable that a survey of Christmas Island be conducted immediately. A 13 October TWX from Hertford of ALO to Betts points out that while the various labs have been answering Betts requests for information on planning a three device quick response air drop operation on or before 1 December that LASL and ALO had already done some planning and coordination on the possibilities of a two device "quick and dirty" air drop of LASL's 28 and 43 as proposed by the Planning Board on September 27 and 28.