So I was reading the "Mojave Wasteland" page on The Vault and it reminded of Mr. House's lines about shooting down enough enough ICBM's that were targeted at Vegas and it's surrounding areas, that the area stayed largely unaffected by radiation, and that all except 7 missiles were able to get through. An impressive feat no doubt, but it got me wondering:
Where did those 7 nukes hit? So I started thinking. Luckily for me, I happened to be in an area that I believe one of the nukes hit as I was pondering the question, and that got the ball rolling for me. This post does contain some spoilers if your looking to do the searching on your own, as some areas mentioned are confirmed.
So..

Searchlight Airport: BUSTED-LIKELY NOT A LOCATION! A large crater in the center of the airport is my first piece of evidence for this location. That, coupled with the fact that there are numerous mutated creatures from Cottonwood on up in that area on that side of the map, makes for a pretty strong argument. Additionally, the area has been highly radioactive. No, not from the Legion attack on Searchlight, but from the fact that the town was deserted prior to the NCR moving in and setting up camp. Why is that important? Remember what our Boomer historian told us about the "idiot savages" knowing to stay away from areas they "knew" were radioactive. The fact that the town was deserted, could imply that wastelanders thought the town was too dangerous to live in. Why the Chinese would attack such a largely useless location is unknown.

Nellis Air Force Base: Speaking of the Boomers, this one seemed obvious. As stated above, the area was dosed in radiation for a large amount of time, keeping people away until the Boomers moved in 2231. Additionally, the surrounding area seems like it was smacked with the shock wave from a nuclear blast that tore apart homes, however the destruction could simply be from Boomer artillery. Another argument for this location would be that Nellis Air Force Base could definitely be a legitimate target in a nuclear attack.

Black Mountain: This one is almost a given. However, if you haven't been to Black Mountain, I suggest skipping this section due to minor spoilers. Anyways, the area is highly infested with radiation and mutated creatures in the surrounding area-not speaking of the super mutants. If that wasn't a good enough reason for you, it's almost confirmed it was hit by terminals atop the mountain, which give a nice easter egg and tidbit about the goings on at that time. I've forgotten the purpose of the stations at the top of the mountain, so I can't remember if they would be a valid target or not. There are 2 craters on Black Mountain.


Cottonwood Crater: This one is confirmed.

Mesquite Mountains Crater This one is confrimed.

Devil's Throat and Devil's Gullet: Large amounts of rads in the area, together with mutated critters and giant craters at each provide more than enough evidence to be more than valid possibilities.

Jack Rabbit Springs Highly radioactive area.

It could be said that targeting systems on ICBM's in the FO Universe aren't as advanced as they are in ours, due to the limited room for computer space on something of that size, which could explain some missiles as simply "misses."

Currently, that's all I can think of, but I'll keep thinking and update it if I think of any. If you think of a possible location, please share!

I think theres one over at the Devils Gullet.

That's a good guess. Large crater. Loads of Cazador's and RadScorps nearby.

Devils gullet, and i think there is one just southeast of prim

Cottonwood crater?

Mesquite mountains crater..

The devils throat is another kinda obvious one.

Went there for the first time yesterday. Totally didn't even think about it.

So searchlight airport
Nellis
Black mountain
Devils gullet
Devils throat
Mesquite mountain crater
and cottonwood crater?

Kinda figured jack rabbit springs had been hit also but that would make for an eighth warhead..

I guess the Chinese nukes must have been little mini-sized knockoffs, if they could hit an airbase or an airfield and not take out any of the towers, hangers, or structures. Or a mountaintop without taking out any of the delicate radio towers, buildings, or massive transmitter dishes sticking way up in the air. Unless their nukes had little more punch than a truckload of TNT, I don't see much evidence that any hit anywhere within the traversable parts of the gameworld. Except for Devil's Gullet and Devil's Throat, those are pretty obvious craters... although the Gullet isn't radioactive, and could have been some kind of quarry or mining pit.

There are radioactive barrels there.. and an undetonated warhead a little ways away with WW.
I'll put it down as as possible.

I dunno man, the devils throat is kinda big, and the cottonwood crater and mesquite crater.. Oh and the devils gullet.. I know what you mean though, the one on Black mountain looks kinda small for a nuke..

I'm guessing FO nukes are atom bombs and not thermo nukes, but still should have wiped black mountain out tbh.

Which one would you get rid of?

Dunno, I'm tempted to say Nellis but the boomers say that Nellis had been a priority target during the great war.. Can't remember any large craters there though..

I'm more tempted to say searchlight. The crater there is small in comparison to the others-although now unexplained. The radiation from cottonwood would be the source of all the critters nearby. That'd be my vote.

Nellis has no evidence of any nuke hit. everything on base is still in pretty good shape, and the destroyed houses outside the gate are all the Boomer's doing, with artillery. Same for Searchlight airport... sure there's a cave-in of the road passing under the runways, but the building and tower just a sofa-toss away are intact... unlikely a nuke hit there.

It's also said in-game however that the area was dosed in radiation. If you have another option in that area I'd be glad to hear it.

There's 2 A-Bomb impact craters on Black Mountain
1. on the main super mutant encampment area
2. where the centaurs are

3. Cottonwood crater

4. Mesquite Mountains crater

*note*
Devil's Throat is a real crater near Las Vegas so it seems unlikely a A-Bomb created the New Vegas Devil's Throat.
Devil's gullet is just a normal hole in the ground.
Searchlight Airport doesn't have the sort of charring, damage, or impact crater found in other locations where A-bomb were dropped so it seems unlikely one was dropped there

Its doubtful that all 7 nuke impact sites are actually on the new vegas map.

So, your list is this:

Black Mountain(x2)
Cottonwood Crater.
Mesquite Mountains Crater.

That's 4..or 5 if your including Nellis..Where else? Jack Rabbit Springs?

I don't think crater size can be used as a factor. All the craters in Fallout are kind of small. The bomb that detonated over Hiroshima had a five mile blast radius. Granted that was an air detonation so it didn't have much of a crater to begin with, but the bombs detonated in Nevada left craters the size of Ellis Island. In game that would be about the size of valley that the NCRCF sits in.

Like i said it seems unlikely all 7 are on the map several may be north of vegas that we cant see. also Pete at Nellis said Nellis was struck by SEVERAL warheads. The remaining 3 might have been there.

I also think it's unlikely that they'd throw 5 or 6 on there and just not get around to adding the 7th..

considering there's no visible craters at Nellis that leaves 3 out of the 7 not on the actual map

Perhaps the large irradiated pool near the busted farmstead at the entrance to red rock canyon.. Could be a nuke crater thats just been filled with water..
It is suspiciously round.