an apartheid nuclear test?

Vela Hotel satellite

On September 22nd 1979 a "double flash" of light that was detected by an American Vela satellite in the South Pacific between South Africa and Antarctica.

The Vela satellite network was established by the United States in the 1960s for the specific purpose of monitoring compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty.

Though each satellite’s intended lifespan was only eighteen months, the units continued to detect detonations for years thereafter. Prior to the mysterious event of September 1979, the orbital surveillance system had successfully recorded 41 atomic detonations, if this incident on that day wasn't a nuclear flash it would have been the first time a Vela satellite mistook something.

But by who?



The available evidence suggests that Israel and South Africa had a joint nuclear test, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 of 4 November 1977 introduced a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa, also requiring all states to refrain from "any co-operation with South Africa in the manufacture and development of nuclear weapons".

This didn't deter Israel from helping South Africa build at least 6 nuclear bombs (around the same time).

In 1977 Israel traded 30 grams of tritium for 50 tons of South African uranium and in the mid-80s assisted with the development of the RSA-3 ballistic missile.

Convicted Soviet spy Dieter Gerhardt put forward this same claim also stating:

“The explosion was clean and was not supposed to be detected, but they were not as smart as they thought, and the weather changed – so the Americans were able to pick it up.”

From his claims Dieter seems to be suggesting that the weapon was a neutron bomb which would mean decreased fallout, meaning a lot less evidence of the test would be left in the form of ocean contamination.

This was an interesting example of Israel breaking the basic rules of a good civilization, in this case putting dangerous weapons in the hands of an horrid apartheid regime that could have put them to horrific uses.

Luckily South Africa has moved on, the apartheid state was disembled in 1994 in a national election along with it's nuclear program.

Unfortunately the same can't be said about Israel!