Yep, that one....also when the U.S. or USSR would occasionaly "lose track" of the opposing ballistic missile submarines.....or when a satellite would fall out of orbit, but come in looking like incoming missiles.....or when...

But you get the point....

Dad also told me about how leaky the bombs in the bombers were at the time as well....He would talk about how at night you could see the people walking around the flight line with their dossimeters(?) sparkling like fireflies...

Hopefully you still have your thyroid, as I have heard that many crew members had trouble with theirs over the years?

Keep talking, you wonderful people! I'm totally eating this information up! I have several tabs open as I research myself.

On another thought, the "Duck and Cover" instructional videos or ideas don't make me think they were stupid or retarded. It was very practical... and I think it was just a way to keep everyone's spirits up, because somehow they knew the truth of the outcome. I find it sad, and I feel sorry for the people that had to live their lives in fear--so a silly turtle, I think, was well in order, even if it was false hope in the end.

One thing about the "Duck and Cover" movies....

If you were within "Ground Zero", then obviously it wouldn't matter.....

What if you were just outside the overpressure wave, where it would blow out windows, doors, etc.?

Hitting the ground and covering your arms and legs would keep your from getting the worst of the shrapnel.

Of course, as the bombs got bigger, they put in mutiple warheads, and all of that, it became a moot point, but at the time, it was a decent idea.

Look at techniques for surviving tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.

This is definately one of the more interesting threads I've seen here. It's actually an eerie feeling watching the old Bert the Turtle cartoons. Almost like I've living Fallout. My father would know a lot more about that kind of stuff considering he remembers when they used to make him practice drills in school that involved crawling under the desk and covering his head with his arms (Like that would save you from a Nuke? These were more likely drills to practice tucking your head between your legs and kissing that ass goodbye were one to drop). Anyways, I remember back when I was playing Fallout 2, I found one of the original "Vault" advertisemants relating to Duck & Cover. I don't think Forums were very popular back then but after seeing this post, I had to find it again... Here's the link:

http://blog.makezine.com/_1337_1097520951_97f586f5cd.jpg (It even looks high-tech inside)

This site has a lot of interesting info, photo's, and video from the start of atmospheric testing to today's subcritical tests.

http://www.nv.doe.gov/nts/default.htm

NTS photo's contains video as well.

Great thread, Lots of info!

I completely agree.... little did I know that if I posted a couple simple pictures that we would compile an entire museum worth of information... this is amazing.

I guess. Apparently tactics have changed... now they go straight for fear and don't bother to lighten the mood.

you can thank russia

I just remembered a past colleague of mine telling of how he was once posted on a bomber in poland(must have been in the seventies at the latest). The place where he was supposed to sit was situated right above one of the nukes. The job description also came with a very firm " you WILL become sterile". Not that he had much choice of course.... Eventually he managed to solve the problem by making "blanket" of lead-sheet to squat on.
Strange times indeed...

Im seriously suprised that didn't happen I mean really >.> lol poepl spent like 200 thousand dollars on spam xD

Thank you russia and no I am not being racist just I think it gona be are next war just like our favorite game the chances of china is much higher than anyone else :\ advancing tech high numbers and dont try to tell me they DONT have nukes stashed away in some place there i mean really!

what about Y2K?

wow those are real ads nice in fallout 3 some of the propaganda ads they use a turtle telling kids to take shelter you can find one in springvale school

yeah, i was surprised to see how many things in Fallout 3 were real.

Do not be too surprised at how rreal this stuff is.
They showed us Duck and Cover in grade school, early 60's.
This fear tactic was part of what fueled the the rebellions of the 60's, since fear loses its edge over time.

Anyone with a knowlege of nuclear physics can tell ya that the "bomb shelters" most had (rich primarily, poor could not afford them) were woefully inadaquate as to being able to survive long term.

Those were designed for the Fission bombs like those used on Japan, not the atomics developed since which were far more potent than the Fat Man and the Long Boy (Names of the bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki) had ever been.

From a poster in the 60's:
"In case of Nuclear Attack, bend down, stick your head between your legs, kiss your "back side" good bye."

When I was in 4th grade I was given a pamphlet on nuclear survival. It was a drab orange color and showed the cold hard data concerning an attack in layman's terms. Not a single damn turtle in that one and that was somewhere near 1980!

Thats very accurate an assesment. In the UK/Europe, we had quite extensive experience of heavy bombing and mass destruction during the war years so cutesy cartoons and jingles wouldn't have cut the mustard over here. Instead we had very official and reassuring booklets and film reels showing how the civil defence would come forth from the bunkers and dig us out of our bomb craters. All very stiff upper lip, shipshape and Bristol fashion. Mostly nailing some doors against a wall and painting your windows white (As seen in the book/film "When the wind blows"). It was meant to offer practical advice that the common man could do himself without the money required building underground bunkers in your garden (The UK was bankrupted by the war).

In reality, there would be no prior warning of attack given by siren or radio because the panic this would have generated would have interfered with military and government efforts to respond to an attack.

As for the subject of how often we got close to pushing the red button, well I remember more than the one occasion being scrambled after being told "this is it" and the very long wait in our holding pattern over the North Sea waiting for further instructions. I'm getting chills down my spine right now with the memory.

I found a few clips relevant.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4c3TUXkkFtU
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NZAHpuY_sCo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2T9f4u5sVVw
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cB3bZPhxf1o

I just came home for Thanksgiving break and my mom said she remembers the duck and cover drills... no cheesy videos, just the drills.

wow.... and thanks for the clips.

sigh, i'd hate to see this thing die

Nice findings. My school was built in the 1920s, but got major additional areas added on during the Cold War. As a result, it is a certified "fallout shelter" (there's even still old signs saying so above the doors in the antechambers).

I haven't seen them but I hear you access them through a secret staircase and it's still full of rations and stuff, it'd be a neat place to hide out in.

Here's an interesting site you might want to check out....

http://www.bomb-shelter.net/p6-bomb-shelter

My dad(the Retired Air Force one if you haven't read my posts) has the P10 model under his house. Well, off to the side actually, but has an escape tunnel that goes to it. It is actually very comfortable down there, with little "closed in" feelings....

I do think he is a little paranoid, but as he says, "I may be paranoid, but it will only take me to be right one time to justify my actions."

wow, that would be pretty cool.

If i ever get lots of money, im going to build myself a vault and live in it with my family and friends.

I'm personally paranoid about Terrorist attacks, even though I have no good reason. I was only 6 or 7 at the time of 9/11.