US military film made in Hiroshima, Japan, in March and April 1946. The goal of the film is to show the way in which the intense heat of the atomic bomb dropped on the city in August 1945 created "burned in" shadows very far from the explosion itself. There is also considerable footage of the damage from the bomb.
Notable shots, captions from the official "shot list":
00:36 - Flash burn shadow cast by a bolt on the west side of a desulfurization tank located on the western side of Gas tank. The bolt is moved upwards to show shadow cast on side of tank
01:12 - Iron ladder leaning against a boiler shows shadow cast by the sun. Iron ladder shown above is now removed by a Japanese workman in order to reveal shadow detail caused by flash burn. Several angles were taken in order ti show clearly the difference between Atomic shadow and Sun shadow.
01:29 - Shut off valve wheel shadow cast on side of tank.
03:06 - Another ladder.
03:33 - Shadow cast on the side of gas holder by bamboo ladder which was leaning against the tank at the time of detonation of the bomb. The detail of the shadow is exceptionally clear and reveals that the third rung from the top of the ladder was broken. The shadow was cast by the upper section of the ladder. Much of lower section of the ladder and tank were not exposed by flash since they were hidden by adjacent building.
05:14 - Storage tank showing rain water which has collected in a compressed section of the tank with flash burn and shadows cast by the camouflage netting surrounding it.
08:32 - Side of a railroad coach shows blistering effect caused by flash burn; car located in Marshaling Yard, Hiroshima.
09:40 - Several extreme close up shots showing effect of flash burn on a red berry bush, located approx. 7275 feet from zero.
10:26 - Japanese male is shown sitting on granite steps at the entrance to Sumitomo Bank which is located approx. 925 feet from zero at 106 degrees. This scene reconstructs as faithfully as possible, the position of an individual facing towards zero at 1:14 AM on the morning of August 6, 1945. Zoom down showing the shadow of the departed man's buttocks etched on the granite steps. It is interesting to note that his right ankle casts a shadow on the steps, but since his left foot was resting on the surface of the step no corresponding shadow was cast on perpendicular faces of the step.
12:41 - Showing flash burned east wall of small concrete tower on top of G wing of building 95 with a length of lumber resting in its' original position. A Japanese boy holds the wood out of position in order to show the shadow cast in the wall. It is interesting to note that a piece of straw rope attached to the piece of wood was not ignited by the flash.
13:41 - A series of shots showing the effect of flash burn on the paint of a 1925 Ford Sedan, whose location at the time of detonation of the bomb was unestablished. These shots include a shadow cast by an exhaust pipe on the right side of the car. The car was converted to a charcoal burner before it met its' doom.
14:26 - Bridge No. 20 to illustrate relationship of sun shadow and shadow cast by flash rays from Atomic bomb which cast shadows of lefthand railings onto the asphalt, also a shadow of a man pulling a cart was transposed into the concrete. The above scene re-created to show the real shadow of the man, cart and occupant
Silent, but haunting. From the National Archives (342-USAF-11077). More nuclear history at http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/
