North Korea Blast: Don't Worry, Be Happy!

CNN reports today that a “huge explosion” that shook North Korea’s Yanggang province three days ago and produced a “mushroom cloud over 4 kilometers (two miles) wide” was NOT, according to an unnamed U.S. official, the result of a nuclear explosion.

Yanggang is the site of Yongjori Missile Base, a large facility with an underground missile firing range. And The New York Times reported yesterday that President Bush and top advisors recently received intelligence reports that indicate North Korea might be preparing its first nuclear test. But CNN’s “U.S. official” says that last Thursday’s mushroom cloud, spotted in satellite images, “could be the result of a forest fire.”

Perhaps U.S. officials should consult Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie to refresh their memories of what a nuclear blast looks like. That 1999 film contains the most remarkable and terrifying U.S. nuclear test footage I've ever seen.