SECRET (ieee. eee so . al — | Sages Project 4,1 - Flash Blindness - Capt D. V. L. Brown - USAF School of Aviation Medicine The objectives of Project 4.1 will be fourfold - firstly, the measurement of blink reflex time of rabbits and monkeys by high-speed movie camera following exposure to the intense bomb illuninations. Results will be compared to base-line studies on rabbit, monkey and man performed in the laboratory under various flash-bulb and strob units, Secondly, an evaluation of the ability of the various specific portions of the bomb time-intensity curve to cause retinal burns. The bomb spectrumwill be divided into ten millisecond increments and both rabbits and spectrographs will be simul- taneously exposed to each fraction. Dr. Plumof NRDL has offered to help accomplish this. Knowing precisely which portions of the spectrum are capable of causing burns is vital to the designing of protective equipment for aircraft pilots and other personnel. Thirdly, the evaluation of presently available colored glass filters of several densities and colors on both rabbits and monkeys. Fourthly, and most important, the testing of several newly developed, high-speed mechanical and electronic shutter systems as protective devices. In order to accomplish these objectives, we will expose about 400 rabbits and 40 monkeys to four or five nuclear devices with approximately 100 animals per shot. Tentatively, we will participate in Cherokee, Zuni, Erie, Flathead and possibly Mohawk, Pueblo a@ Lacrosse. Animals will be stored on Japtan Island; however, appropriate animals will be brought to Bikini a day or two in advance before the shots there. As for exposure site locations, only one station for each shot will be required: thus, for Cherokee, we'll probably use How; Zuni = Nan; Flathead = How or Nan; Erie - Japtan; we'll be able to expose from the same island where we store the animals. It's obviously necessary to consider the curvature of the earth in maintaining the line of sight exposure; however this may not be practical in the surface Mt detonation. Since the exposure of one eye to the flash requires the immobilization of the animal's head and the body confined in a tight box, it's necessary to keep the pre-shot confinement time te a minimm. Thus, late placement-hefore shot time and rather early re-entry are essential. the direction of the predicted fallout. Exposures preferably should not be made in We plan to have about 10 people in the PA. get them, a 20' x 40' animal shelter on Japtan. will be needed on the exposure island. Construction requirements are, if we We hope that no other construction