Sketches of the Atomic Clouds
As explained previously, it was not possible to make photographs during tha time that the clouds were in the mushroom stage. For
about the first ten seconds the clouds were in the firoball stage and
were lighted from within by incandescent gases; but after these gases
cooled, there was no light for photogruphic purposes wmtil after sunrise.

YOKE DAY- the quantity of gaseous constituents in the fireball

appeared to be noticeably greater on YOKE Day than
TRAY Day, At
first, the cloud began to take the characteristic mushroom shape; but
for some reason, perhaps its size, the cloud was not able to form campletely the ring shape circulation seen in previous clouds. The primary portion rose as a gigantic bubble of gas without a well defined
internal circulation. By the time the cloud reached maxinun altitude,
there appeared to be a diminution in volume of the gas bubble because
of the large quantity of material left behind in large irregular

The blue~violet luminescence did not photograph or provide light so that

Photographs of the clouds could be obtained. However, the blue-violet
glow did illuminate the clouds so that they wore easy to see mtil they
rose high enough to catch the firet of the morning twilight.

By the

time the luminescence had faded, the upper parts of the clouds were
high enough to catch sufficient light to show their details clearly.

masses,

Throughout, the time that the clouds were visible, they were
being rapidly sketched for the purpose of correlating theodolite data,
These rough sketches-are the only records of the shapes of the clouds
during the time that it was impossible to make photographs, Therefore,
since photographs of the mishroom stage are non-existent, it waa decided
to make the fullest use possible of the sketches in order to describe
the complete histories of the clouds.
Most of the sketches were very crude since met of them were

completed in less than one minute, and some of the sketches were affected
by the preconceived ideas and imaginations of the observers; but by comparing three or more separate sets of sketches reasonably good pictures
of the clouds were obtained.

This cloud seemad to contain little condensed water vapor,

Instead, it seemed to consist almost entirely of dust and smoke, At
H-hour plus sixteen minutes, the lowest part of the cloud resembled
a swelling cumlus clow reaching to 9,000 or 10,000 feet. This cloud
moved away in the easterly winds at low elevations so that there is no
record of it after this time.

On page 50 is shorm a sketch of the YOKE Day cloud at H:
plus one hour. This sketch has been drawn from a colored photogra
which shows the same view as the black-and-white photogmph on page 69.
Unfortumately, the black-and-white photograph did not print very well,
and it is not possible to reproduce colored photographs in this report.
Therefore, this sketch is the best available means of showing the shape
of the cloud,

XRAY DAY-i0 my be noted in the sketch, there was considerable
natural cloudiness at H-hour.

The tops of the cumlus averaged 8,000

feet and a few reachad 10,000 or 12,000 feet. There were also fractocumilus, and thin stratus around the tops of the cumulus. Passing rain
showers had occurred in the vicinity of the test site. The natural
clouds, together with darlmess obscured the atomic cloud at altitudes
below 10,000 feet, The XRAY Day cloud had the most pronounced internal
circulation characteristics of any of the mushroom clouds, In fact,
the cloud wery much resembled the ABIE Day cloud at Bikini. The sketches
show several short clow) streamers, or spurs, projecting out of the bottom of the cloud as was seen at Bikini; and some of the observers recorded an ice cap, or a smooth veil of cirrus draped over the mushroom
at about H-hour plus five minutes. As the cloud rose, the stalk or stem
elongated and became smaller in diameter; and at nine minutes and thirty
seconds past H-hour, the break which is shown between upper and lower

ZEBRA DAY-this cloud had the familiar mushroom form, but the cloud

stem of the cloud dispersed and left an irregular patch of smoke and
dust. The lowest part of the cloud, which greatly resembled the other

did not have a well defined circulation after the second minute. Fro
the third to after the eighth minute, there was little change in the
general shape of the cloud; but by the ninth minute, the finger-like
projection which rose out of the top of the cloud could be plainly seen,
This projection rose an additional 5,000 feet above the top of the
atomic cloud and reached maximm elevation at about plus 12 minutes. At
about the fifteenth minute, the finger-like part of the cloud broke away,
but it never did get far from the min body of the cloud. At about the
tenth or eleventh minute, the top and bottom of the cloud had shifted
so that the top wis east of the broad stom, and observers on the U.S.8.
Bairoko were able to look up into the base of what hed been the rising
wushroom head, These observers atated that the cloud, viewed from the
bottom, had a hollow appearance and looked somewhat like a amoke-ring.
There was more cloud material in the edges of the clow! than in ite
center. This cloud also had a cumulus-like formation in its lowest

and then became lost among the other clouds.

and then disappeared as it moved off to the west,

cloud masses occurred, This separation occurred at about 20,000 feet.
Just below this break, which occtrred in a region of wind shear, the

large cumulus nearby, remained visible util H-hour plus twenty minutes

portion,

—48‘

Thia cumilo~form cloud grew util it reached about 8,000 feet

Select target paragraph3