Vela incident

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The Vela incident was an atmospheric nuclear explosion that occurred on 22 September 1979, near the South African territory of Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean, roughly midway between Africa and Antarctica. This explosion is widely believed to have been an undeclared test of an Israeli nuclear weapon on the ocean surface, carried out with assistance from South Africa. Initially detected as a double flash of light by an American Vela Hotel satellite, further meteorological satellite, hydroacoustic, and radionuclide data support the event's identification as an atmospheric nuclear explosion. In 1980, US president Jimmy Carter wrote in his diary, "We have a growing belief among our scientists that the Israelis did indeed conduct a nuclear test explosion in the ocean near the southern end of Africa." Experts have suggested the weapon tested was a neutron bomb and/or nuclear artillery round, and that Israel may have carried out other nuclear tests. It is the second most recent atmospheric...

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