BoingBoing reader Rodney Hoffman says,
In the early 1950s, several above-ground atom bomb tests at the Nevada Proving Ground were visible in Los Angeles. This photo and five similar ones from 1951-1955 are from the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Database. Search for "bomb nevada" to bring up all six thumbnail photos with descriptions.
No photographer name credited with this photo, but the library database description reads:
An A-bomb blast set off in Nevada at 4:36 a.m., on April 18, 1953, was judged by early risers to have been the most sensational of any seen so far. The blast made the eastern horizon as "bright as day."
Update: on blogging.la, commenter "katecoe" writes,
"If you have ProQuest or go to the public library, you can read the stories of the day. In one of the photos, the man pointing is reporter Jack Smith of the Herald. Yes, that Jack Smith."
Mr. Smith was a legendary, longtime newspaper columnist with the Los Angeles Herald/Examiner, and later the Los Angeles Times where he served for more than 40 years. He passed away in 1996.
