Case file · Cosmic event
Operation Argus: man-made auroras
In August and September 1958 the US Navy secretly fired three small nuclear warheads from the USS Norton Sound into the upper atmosphere over the South Atlantic, creating artificial radiation belts and auroras.
1958 CE · -38.50, -11.50 · status: official
The account
The test, revealed by the New York Times in 1959, was meant to see whether nuclear blasts could disrupt radio and missiles. Brief auroras were seen from ships and aircraft.