Terrifying video shows nuclear bomb doesn’t actually sound like anything you’d expect

A terrifying video shows that a nuclear bomb sounds nothing like you’d expect.

With Oppenheimer taking centre stage at the Box Office, alongside Barbie, our interest in nuclear bombs is at an all-time high.

After Christopher Nolan's film made its debut last week, cinemagoers were finally able to witness Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy play the role of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in devising the world's first atomic bomb during WWII.

The three-hour film is the director's first-ever biographical drama, featuring the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.

Oppenheimer has promised to be a nuclear hit from the get-go as Nolan’s movie is set to amass $75 million in the opening weekend, which has way surpassed projections of $50 million.

Universal Pictures

Now, back in 2019, YouTuber venera13 took it upon himself to figure out what a nuclear bomb actually sounds like.

"I was lost in my thoughts as I was working today (which happens often) and was thinking about how almost no videos of nuclear bombs have the proper audio," he explained.

"So I decided to make a quick video on the subject because I find it interesting and maybe others do too."

The YouTuber went on: "A lot of people think they know what they sound like because of movies and TV shows that show nuclear tests, and the usual, you know, sound they show is this low rumbling explosion sound that gets bigger and louder before it hits.

"But this actually isn't what they sound like at all."

As venera13 explains, the audio that we hear in movies, and even test footage, is not that of a nuclear bomb.

It's just there for 'flare' and a lot of the real audio doesn't exist because they did not record it in the first place.

YouTube/@venera13

However, as shown in his video, which takes a snippet from a 2014 clip shared by fellow YouTuber TheVino3, we witness footage from what was known as the Upshot-Knothole 'ANNIE' test.

It took place at the Nevada Test Site on 17 March 1953, and was nationally televised.

The clip is largely silent, with a slight fuzz. Not as loud as you'd think.

So due to the low quality, the YouTuber 'made a reconstruction of the sound of a Nuclear Detonation'.

"I tried recreate what your ears would hear as closely as possible (hence, no EMP fuzz in the reconstruction)."

Many were shocked by the sound, with one writing: "Honestly it’s just terrifying how slow the sound travels, implying that the bomb isn’t small, but just far away."

Another said: "The fact that it takes so long to reach the camera is terrifying."

So that is what, apparently, a nuclear bomb sounds like.

Topics: Oppenheimer

Anish Vij

Anish is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2024 finalist. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

@Anish_Vij