Woman Discovers Great Uncle’s Incredible Vintage Atomic Bomb Photos While Rummaging Through Basement Box
A woman on Twitter shared an incredible find she made while looking around in her grandmother's basement.
While some people might find important pieces of family history or even a family heirloom tucked away for safekeeping, Emily Galvin-Almanza found a piece of world history connected to her family. Specifically, she appears to have found photos her great uncle took of atomic bomb tests.
"Just opened a box from my grandmother's basement and here is a photo labeled 'Jack's Photos Of Atom Bomb' and... apparently my great uncle was able to capture this. In Nevada," she tweeted.
The photo she shared alongside the tweet features the signature mushroom-shaped cloud associated with a nuclear bomb. The fiery tones and destructive blast are offset by the peaceful blue background.
Check out the tweet below:
Galvin-Almanza shared shared several more photos she found as well as a brief history about her great uncle. She wrote that he died from cancer and that many thought it was a result of smoking.
"Though these could of course have been his collection, idk. All we have is a very brief label," she wrote in another tweet.
The final batch of photos she shared was accompanied by a note that did imply her great uncle — who was identified as Jack Pepper, the director of the Las Vegas News Bureau, photographed with a camera around his neck — was responsible for capturing the historical moments.
Check out more photos below:
The photos went viral on Twitter and sparked a conversation with other users weighing in.
Some warned that the photos could be radioactive and should thus be handled with caution. One user recommended that they "be stored in a lead box" or wrapped "in a foil pouch" and stored in a toolbox outside the home. Meanwhile, others called into question if they were dangerous since it is unclear where the photos were developed.
Others were simply impressed by the find and offered recommendations on what to do with them.
Galvin-Almanza explained that she merely shared a subset of the pictures that she'd found and that she left them stored in the basement.
Check out some more tweets below: