In my http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1526198-two-nuclear-detonations thread, I proposed that rather than a single nuclear detonation, there were in fact two. After carefully re-anolysing some of the evidence, I can confidently say that I was actually wrong. There were not two nuclear detonations in the Greater Boston Area.

There were actually three.

Look again at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5esyZPt5Jo&feature=youtu.be&t=4m45s image from the concept art. Notice how the area immediately around the crater is bare of any trees or buildings, but a short distance away, everything seems to be pretty much 'intact'. To the right, we can see the Bunker Hill Monument, and to the left we see a large cluster of 'unaffected' buildings, including Harvard and MIT.

So how then do we explain the extent and nature of the damage to buildings in the foreground?

The answer is that a third missile successfully detonated. But this time it was in the sea, specifically in the area East of the Boston Harbor Hotel, between the hotel itself and the airport. If we look at https://youtu.be/D5esyZPt5Jo?t=4m55s image from the concept art, we can actually see the explosion in Lincoln on the far left, and the one in Prospect Hill in the centre. There is also a third detonation visible on the far right, but it is much lower down compared to the other two, which would suggest an underwater detonation.

Now listen again to what Todd says about the Glowing Sea in https://youtu.be/DqQqeEgWb7Q?t=5m32s interview. At 5:32 he says:

"The other thing that people really need to know, we kind of hint at it in the trailer and the other footage, is that there is different weather. So, you'll see a couple of shots where it looks more like Fallout 3, where it's kind of blasted, and that... We actually have a part of the world we call the Glowing Sea, which is where the bomb falls. So, we wanted to vary, as opposed to just being one node. So there is a section of the map where the bomb fell, and that, that looks more like your classic Fallout 3 wasteland, but even more so. And then we have, we have a new weather system for this one so that, the storms from the Glowing Sea, these radiation storms, can flare up and then blow through the world. And, when the lightning goes off you get irradiated. That creates a very, a very post-apocalyptic look. So having that, having that change whilst you're playing the game is really important to us. And so, then there's rain and other things as well."

If you extract the sentences I have highlighted in bold, he seems to be talking about two different things. Firstly, the areas of the wasteland that 'look like Fallout 3' due to the lack of colour and their proximity to the land-based blast sites. And then he talks about 'the Glowing Sea', complete with radiation storms. Now look at https://youtu.be/D5esyZPt5Jo?t=4m50s image at 4:50, in which we can see many of the same buildings in the previous image, but this time a little closer. Notice that they all appear to have taken a great deal of damage considering how far away they are from the previously mentioned crater. Also, notice the sea. It does appear to have something of a 'glow', and perhaps the extreme 'weather' we can see going on is the beginning of a radiation storm.

And so I believe not only that there were three separate detonations, but that the Glowing Sea is actually Boston Harbor.

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EDIT: important new information added below.

Okay guys, after a great deal of further investigation, I think I may have finally made something of a breakthrough. First, a question:

What would tie Boston Harbor to the Glowing Sea, radiation storms, a 2285 start date, the design of vault 111, and the start of the great war? Well, you may wan't to consider the following:

On the morning of 23rd October 2077, a Chinese Super-Sub (seen https://youtu.be/D5esyZPt5Jo?t=4m27s at 4:27, current Chinese flag shown https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Flag_of_the_People) drifts into Boston Harbor after a 'mechanical failure'. The sub begins to descend, and eventually collides with a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_mines_in_United_States_harbor_defense (shown https://youtu.be/D5esyZPt5Jo?t=3m40s at 3:40 on the right-hand side of the 'green' image). The detonation partially ruptures the hull, and a distress signal is immediately sent out. When the sub hits the bottom of the harbor, the resulting impact kills most of the remaining crew members, and also causes damage to the area surrounding the reactor core.

Meanwhile, the scrambled distress signal is received by the Chinese Military, and when contact with the sub is lost, it is assumed that this was a deliberate strike by the US. And so a non-nuclear missile is launched on an American target in retaliation, most likely another sub or a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer. The US Military sees this as an act of war, and so they also retaliate. Before long, the situation escalates, and the result is a full-scale nuclear exchange involving China, the US, and the USSR.

Three nuclear warheads detonate in the Greater Boston area. First in Lincoln (seen from vault 111), then in Prospect Hill, and finally, in the harbor between the Boston Harbor Hotel and the airport. The detonation in the harbor throws up a massive volume of mud, water, and other debris at supersonic speed, destroying and partially vaporising many of the nearby buildings as seen in the foreground of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5esyZPt5Jo&feature=youtu.be&t=4m45s image at 4:45. The underwater detonation also sends out a powerful electromagnetic pulse, causing http://navyadvancement.tpub.com/14325/css/14325_370.htm to the electrical systems inside the sub. The shockwave also tears a http://www.extremescience.com/deep-sea-vents.htm along the sea-bed, and the submarine ends up lodged partway down the fissure, leaking dangerous levels of radiation into the surrounding water.

The result of this incident is a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent on the sea-bed, which contains high levels of radiation (due to the ruptured core of the sub's nuclear reactor), a large pocket of superheated water, and a submarine hull that has been charged up like an enormous electromagnet by the EMP blast, and maintained by the reactor core. Whenever the temperature reaches a critical point, electrostatically charged and highly irradiated water is pushed up towards the surface, causing the surrounding water to 'glow'. The water vaporises as soon as it reaches surface level, and this vapour quickly gathers at high altitude to form electrostatic irradiated clouds. The clouds are blown inland, and as they move, radioactive lightning bolts are discharged, as described by Todd during the interview following the showcase.

As for the 2285 start date, an 8 year duration would allow more than enough time for the technology from project purity to be brought to other areas along the East Coast, including New York and the Commonwealth. This would explain the relatively 'clean' water we have seen in the showcase and concept art (apart, of course, from the radiated water being produced inside the hydrothermal vent).

And finally, the design of vault 111, as suggested in http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1523172-is-vault-111-built-like-a-submarine thread, now seems even more viable, as it ties in very closely with the incident described above.

I never noticed that about that piece of pre-war concept art from the trailer. After studying the image I'd say thats most likely what happened, but only launch day (or Todd) will tell for 100% (For example the concept artist could have thought it looks better but it was reduced to one bomb in the end)

Concept art started immediately after F3. It may be something. But it might also just be concept art.

I'm seeing from these quotations mention of only a singular "the" bomb.

I'm not disagreeing with your observations, but, I am pointing out a possible discrepancy.

i think Gk you make good case. if they told us about 3 detonations that could be in fact a plot spoiler.

but Gk have you every considered that you were right the first time and this third detonation could be the result of the new nuke megaton quest that see in the e3 demo footage?

Why would something like that happen in Pre-War boston? That ain't gameplay footage that is concept art.

the concept art could be showing what happens after push the button this time i bet it affects way more things than just megaton like the whole surrounding area

Just to add some gasoline..... Do you think that Sub (if it was that man its big ) where the Lurk is uhh lurking hehe is on the shore of the G-S?

I wonder if its reactor or maybe payload still on it is Bleeding Rad's. (assuming it went belly up before it could return fire)

Pack your rad-resistant swim trunks, lads.

Im just excited to walk up to the beach in game and look out at the radiation storms brewing.

Nope. It's definitely showing the bombs falling in 2077 and the people trying to pack there cars/escape the apocolypse/get to the choppah vault. And beyond that all the houses, skyscraqers, and surrounding landscape are still pristine so it's certainly not nuking a settlement. My final point is that I extremely doubt bethesda would be stupid enough to copy-paste megaton's story into fo4 with a different name. That would be the laziest thing I can think of them doing.

I don't think that's the Glowing Sea. Personally, I'm inclined to believe that the Glowing Sea is that area that the Deathclaw was walking through in the reveal trailer. Personally, I hope there were more than 3 detonations. To maintain that kind of Fallout 200 years later, you'd need more than just three 200 kiloton bombs.

the way i see it, we are on the coast of the eastern seaboard, wwhich to me this means that all of the irradiated water and sediment from the mainland is washed into the sea, then travels up the coast to NE.
The radioactive weather that rolls through the game as a result of the glowing sea aligns with this thinking (for me), and is also a reason why the game location could have a lot of radiation, without necessarily being hard hit

Well at 4:55 you can see three mushroom clouds.

good observation

And, per Mr. House's speech, 77 warheads were launched toward Las Vegas (59 which were stopped by House's defence system). It would make NO SENSE to have only 1 warhead targeted to Boston.

It might be worth noting that concept art is ... conceptual, and shouldn't necessarily be taken too seriously.

For instance, does the in-game pre-war neighborhood look like the one pictured in the concept art with houses built into the sides of hills? Nope.

There will be differences.

The fact that Istvan Pely has been drawing Fallout 4 concept art since 2008 is just awesome. Looking through his folios would be amazing. As Lead Artist for FO4, its going to great to see what Istvan does with the Glowing sea.

It is fun to theorize and speculate and flat out shoot for the stars guess sometimes though.

The area must be bound with mirelurks and other nasty mutants...

However, if that is the case, wouldn't that mean that there are two missiles aimed at the naval yard?

It would make sense if the third nuke was actually targeted directly at the airport, which would make this a near miss. Also, look at the reference I made in my concept art thread to a possible 'Captain Nemo' easter egg. At https://youtu.be/D5esyZPt5Jo?t=4m35s in the E3 footage we see a GIANT SQUID! This would tie in perfectly with the idea of unusual goings on in the sea. And being that we've already seen certain enemies climb out of the ground, it stands to reason that we will see some (possibly huge) enemies also climb out of the sea. This is especially true if you consider the sheer size and scope of the main Boston Harbor area as seen https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Boston+Harbor,+Boston,+MA,+USA/@42.3387162,-70.975523,9608m/data=http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1526246-the-glowing-sea/!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e36561b7075467:0x54d350088341b9e7!6m1!1e1.

To address one or two other points above, yes there would have been more nukes targeted, but maybe these were the 3 that slipped through the net, and there would no doubt have been many other detonations outside of the game's map area. Also, the last image in the concept art showing three detonations would most likely be from somewhere around https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Newton,+MA,+USA/@42.3253729,-71.2136779,11z/data=http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1526246-the-glowing-sea/!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e38209840725a5:0x5592087b9b70af7e, which would actually be an ironic choice of location, and due to the position of the 3 detonations in the image.

And the fact that we keep hearing about 'the bomb', as in singular, would tie in with the experience of our protagonist during the tutorial. Even if they see more detonations on the way into the vault, the first one, as shown in the trailer and at E3, changed their world forever. But from the devs point of view, 'the bomb' could be any one of the three mentioned above depending on what they're talking about at the time!

Finally, the explosion we see https://youtu.be/D5esyZPt5Jo?t=31m34s looks very much like it happens post-war, and would also appear to be non-nuclear.

I'd be honest.I thought about the glowing sea as a massive crater filled with radioactive fog giving it a lake-like appearance.The idea of the glowing sea being the actual Boston bay does make sense.The damage to the seaside buildings might however have been caused by anomalous waves caused perhaps by the crazy climate changes that the worst of the fallout might have caused.

Looking at the damage we see in the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5esyZPt5Jo&feature=youtu.be&t=4m45s, it would seem that something has hit the sea-facing buildings very hard at roughly a 45 degree angle, and then continued upwards (the buildings behind this area appear to have been shielded).

If this was in fact caused by a submerged nuclear blast (in fairly close proximity), then any water or debris carried up by the blast wave would have been vaporised. It actually looks like the tops of the buildings have been literally sheared off as the blast wave extended upwards.

Also, look at the two buildings immediately to the left of the one with the 'globe' on top. Imagine the force required to have knocked the first skyscraqer backwards into the second one! Interestingly, the idea of a '45 degree' blast wave would even explain how the Boston Harbor Hotel (with the huge archway) still looks to be intact.

Makes sense.

I found these while looking for any info on the glowing sea.....

http://i.imgur.com/RNQ69JM.png

Seems to show an area near a blast site, with the trees leaning away from the blast.

http://i.imgur.com/iBODwwu.png

Shows a Deathclaw in a wasteland area.

Neither of these appear to be coastal areas.

http://i.imgur.com/RrGV64T.png

Picture of the concept art showing Boston and the blast crater.

The damage to the harbour and surrounding buildings could be due to an airburst, but could also be due to 200 years of neglect and storm damage that was never repaired.

The 'Glowing Sea' may not be a sea at all, not least because an Irradiated sea would also irradiate the coastline and the rivers in Boston leading it to be contaminated like the Pitt.

The images you have suggested are from the https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/3bc1sj/fallout_4_the_glowing_sea_details_from_the/ discussion page. Even the http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Glowing_Sea has assumed the Glowing Sea to be inland. And I thing that both of these sources are actually wrong, simply based on information 'suggested' by Todd Howard during his https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqQqeEgWb7Q&feature=youtu.be&t=5m32s after the E3 showcase. If you read between the lines as I have outlined in my OP, you can see that he is actually talking about two entirely separate things. Firstly the areas around the land-based detonations, and then the Glowing Sea itself. This also ties in with my other evidence about there being 3 separate blast sites.

Think about this for a second. We have such a strong theme of water running through this game, what with the connection to the Marine Corps, and Boston itself being a port city with a rich and highly significant history. We also have some very strong suggestions to support the idea of extensive underwater exploration, as seen in the concept art. Even Fallout 3 was based around water purification, and the quote during the FO3 tutorial even mentions "the waters of life". So why wouldn't the Glowing Sea actually be the Fallout universe's equivalent of Boston Harbor.

Also, an airburst would not project damage upwards from sea level at 45 degrees (see above post), and a conventional storm, no matter how strong, would be nowhere near powerful enough to knock over a skyscraqer weighing something in the region of a quarter-of-a-million tonnes.

As for contamination, the coastal areas may well be contaminated. No doubt some of the inland waterways will be if they were close enough to blast sites. But for all we know, the radiation within Boston Harbor may well be 'contained' due to some anomaly. This could be the very same anomaly that causes the 'radiation storms' that Todd mentioned in the interview.

As a side note, is it just me, or is all of this making anyone else wish that November would hurry up already!