They are beautiful in the entirety.

It is disheartening this was used not just in one crowded city but two!

Although the pictures are a beautiful disaster. You can accept it, or bash it, either way it's pretty awe inspiring.

Where is the disaster happening in the picture? I must have missed it.

They are beautiful pictures. *wipes hands* that's that.

they are some awsome pics, as they say, destruction can be a beautiful thing.

Still find it wierd how france want nukes though, i cant see them pick up a gun let alone let of a nuke

I could never imagine a nuclear bomb explosion being beautiful, but from an artist's point of view, those pictures are amazing!

Incredible.

Are those original colors? Or edit?

Thanx for sharing.

I agree it is beatifull,stunning pics.Most of the ones i have seen are crappy quality.They are evil weapons, but you cant stop your jaw dropping when you see pics of them going boom.

A nuclear explosion is a beautiful sight, but its aftermath and uses are evil. Nuclear weapons are mankind's most powerful, and able to destroy the earth 7 times over. They might be beautiful in pictures, but their power must be respected and they must NEVER be used again.

Absolutely stunning!!

In sort of a sterile, clinical(psychotic) way a nuclear weapon is quite elegant.

One target (a city) one bomb. Target neutralized. Next.

To a military strategist it must be the holy grail. Now add in the moral ethical global consequences and 500 pound dumb bombs start to look really good.

Excellent photos thanks for sharing.

Just seeing those kills me inside.

How sad that a person would even want to think about how to make one of those things.

Funny how the most powerful nation on earth, was the only nation to ever use a nuke on a country.

Wanted to try our new weapon.

Beautiful in a very scary sort of way. The awesome power of the bomb but the beauty of the colors the shapes its like like a dark modern art piece.

If you think about it thats what art is. It isnt always supposed to be something thats bright and happy and beautiful and good. Art is about all the things around us the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the terrifying, and the peaceful.

These show the awesome power that we hold, but they also warn us, in their own way, of what that power can do. Very thought provoking.
First one was the most visualing appealing one. Nice post !

[edit on 26-5-2009 by caballero]

It's amazing how precise the color and focus is. The had mostly slow speed film back then, and I don't think autofocus zooms were around until the early 1980s. Good post!

star and flag,

I just made the first one my desktop pic. Awesome photo. Always astonishing the power of the universe and how man can harness it for good and bad.

Infowars.com is using the first picture for one of their headline stories today.

Is the infowars staff reading my threads ^_-? Or is this a coincidence.

Nice photos but not close to the real colors of a nuke bomb blast.

Before the above ground treaty i saw two in Nevada and a camera can not record the strange colors in a nuke shot.

The phosphorescent and florescent colors do not show up on film.

One of the ones i saw (night shot)had a fluorescent; amethyst and red colored glow in the fire ball as it went up.

Awe-inspiring really; a sublimely wicked thing captured in a moment of color strewn beauty.

As caballero mentioned, I do believe that is by definition "art".