31 May 2026

In July 1962, the United States detonated a 1.4-megaton nuclear warhead 400 kilometres above the Pacific Ocean. The electromagnetic pulse knocked out streetlights and burglar alarms across Honolulu, 1,400 km away, and painted the sky with artificial auroras visible from New Zealand. The test, called Starfish Prime, was designed to explore whether nuclear blasts in space could intercept Soviet missiles.

Operation Starfish Prime, 1962