Imagine a city so
shrouded in secrecy
it could only receive mail
through a fake address
at a university, a place
residents were discouraged
from using their real
names, and where no one was
above suspicion of being a spy.
We're talking Los
Alamos, New Mexico.
This wasn't just
another American town.
It was a military facility
housing the world's most highly
top secret and dangerous
scientific research project,
and the people living there
were building an atomic bomb.
Today, we're going
to take a look
at what life was
like at Los Alamos
while building the atomic bomb.
But before we don
the blast suits,
be sure to subscribe to
the Weird History Channel
and leave us a
comment letting us
know what top secret
government project you
would like to hear more about.
Now, shall we stare into
the light of trinity?
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When the US government
decided to proceed
with the creation
of an atomic bomb,
they knew maintaining
secrecy would be essential.
With somewhere in the
neighborhood of 150,000 people
working on the project, physical
isolation would be necessary.
Eventually, they decided to
place the research facility
at a remote location in
Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Mail in and out of the
town was heavily monitored.
Scientists weren't even allowed
to have magazine subscriptions
because the military was worried
it would look suspicious.
The facility was surrounded by
armed guards and barbed wire
fences.
Entering required passing
through multiple security
checkpoints, and every single
person involved needed security
clearance.
Despite all this, the
government was still worried.
They understood that yappy
employees were, in many ways,
as big of a threat
as enemy agents.
After all, loose
lips sink ships.
Leaders would constantly
remind the scientists
that the things they saw,
heard, and did within the ground
had to stay within the ground.
To really underscore
this point, a billboard
was installed in a
highly visible location
to remind everyone
about staying quiet.
"It read, keep mum
about this job."
Very subtle.
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When you're trying to keep a
secret as big as the Manhattan
Project, there's no such
thing as being too security
conscious.
Secrecy was vigorously enforced.
Scientists were forbidden
from telling anyone, even
their spouses, about their
work, and merely leaving
the area would
require authorization.
One measure taken to prevent
scientists and employees
from spreading the identities
of other workers on the project
was to have everyone live
under an assumed name.
In this way, a scientist
couldn't even accidentally tell
anyone else who was involved
since they didn't know who they
were talking to to begin with.
Despite the fact that they
were building in a bomb there,
Los Alamos was an ideal
place to have children.
Indeed, while the bomb
was being developed,
the city experienced
its own baby boom.
However, when it came to
the Manhattan Project,
everything was top
secret, even the babies,
so birth certificates from
those born at Los Alamos
during this period
was PO box 1663 New
Mexico as their place of birth
rather than the town's name.
This, not
coincidentally, was also
the address used for
absolutely everything shipped
to the facility, whether
it was a postcard
or a ton of machinery.
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The librarian at Los Alamos
during the Manhattan Project
was Charlotte Serber.
She had been asked
to join the project
by her close friend, lead
scientist J Robert Oppenheimer.
Part of her job
included protecting
the sensitive materials
stored in the library.
However, getting the scientists
to observe the strict secrecy
rules was no easy feat.
On one of her nightly security
sweeps through the library,
Serber discovered some
technical specs that
had been left lying around.
She confronted the
scientist responsible,
who sarcastically retorted
that there was no need
to worry about this particular
report falling into enemy hands
because the report
was all wrong.
Regardless of her efforts
and her connections,
Serber herself eventually
came under suspicion
for being a communist
sympathizer.
In 1943, she was investigated
and the Army recommended firing
her.
Luckily for her, Oppenheimer
dropped the power bomb,
insisting that she
could be trusted.
As a result, no
action was taken.
Boom.
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As a fully functional
city, Los Alamos
had a school system for
the children of those
working on the project.
The local school
was staffed mostly
by the wives of the
scientists and functioned
like any other school.
But the school wasn't
exactly like other schools.
One major difference
was that the children
were required to follow
the Manhattan Project's
strict security rules as
much as their parents were.
Kids as young as
six years old would
be issued an official security
ID so they could enter and exit
the town.
One resident recalled that
the strict security protocols
benefited parents.
A parent who wanted to stop
their kids from leaving
the area only needed to
take their security ID away,
because without one,
you couldn't leave Los
Alamos under any circumstances.
Oh, much like The
Beach Boys song,
and they'll have fun, fun,
fun until their daddy took
their top secret
government ID away.
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To the people of
nearby Santa Fe,
the new military installation at
Los Alamos was hardly a secret,
and residents inevitably
began to wonder
what was going on at the
highly guarded facility.
In an effort to keep
the locals in the dark,
several of the scientists
and civilians on the project
would occasionally make efforts
to spread misinformation.
For example, remember
librarian Charlotte Serber?
Well, Charlotte and her husband,
physician Robert Serber,
once visited a bar in Santa
Fe where they spent their time
spreading the rumor
that the facility was
building an electric rocket.
You'd probably think some
local Santa Fe residents would
be fascinated to get top
secret details of what
was going on at a heavily
guarded military research
facility, but not so much.
Charlotte recalls
asking one man what
he thought was
going on at the base
only to be told
that he didn't care.
He just wanted to
dance with her.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
With so many people
working on the project,
there were bound to be some
close calls, and there were.
During one incident,
the operation
was nearly exposed by the
Santa Fe Public Library.
As is usual, the
library kept a log
of visitors who
checked out books.
One day, they sent a
mass mailing to the names
in the log, many
of whom happened
to be scientists at Los Alamos.
This sent the military security
folks into a crisis mode.
They were baffled as
to how the library was
able to obtain so many of the
project scientists' real names.
Turns out the
scientists, who weren't
used to living under such
strict security measures,
had been using the real
names to check out the books.
This was, of course, a major
violation of security protocol,
and the scientists were
quickly reprimanded.
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The rules of the project held
that residents of Los Alamos
were never allowed to
state their location
in correspondence except to
say that they were somewhere
in New Mexico.
They were also forbidden
from discussing
how many people were
working on the project
or who any of those people were.
Accordingly, all mail in
and out of the facility
was screened by the
Office of Censorship.
Many of the scientists
involved weren't
used to this level of secrecy
and would occasionally
try to find ways around it.
Physicist Richard Feynman,
known as the town prankster,
would constantly look for ways
to circumvent the censors.
One of the ways he did this
was exchanging coded letters
with his wife, Arlene Greenbaum.
To further confuse things, they
would white out selected words
and passages in the letters.
The censors, as you might
imagine, were not amused.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Beneath the cutting-edge science
and life or death discussions
of morality, Los
Alamos wasn't that
different from any
other American town.
Dance parties were
a regular event,
and the facility even had
a local band, The Keynotes.
Square dancing was
especially popular,
and was often led by the
base commander himself.
The town had its own theater
where plays were performed,
and even a radio station, KRSN.
One resident
recalls being amused
that the town, which was
so obsessed with secrecy,
never seemed concerned
that its radio
station was easily receivable
by those outside the perimeter.
Convinced that
their efforts were
going to save American lives,
the scientists at Los Alamos
worked long hours.
The stakes were high, and the
pressure was equally intense.
To help deal with that
stress, the scientists
enjoyed getting drunk and
partying into the night.
One engineer recalls
how these parties
would serve punch
that would inevitably
be spiked with alcohol.
Where did they get that alcohol?
According to physicist
Albert Bartlett,
it was ethyl alcohol taken
from the laboratories,
and it made for some
pretty strong punch.
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Building a secure facility
in a geographically isolated
location is bound to
create a few complications.
For example, Los Alamos, which
was built on top of a plateau,
was only accessible
by dirt roads.
This meant that when the
rainy season arrived,
the roads became muddy
and difficult to traverse.
The remote location also
meant that residents
didn't have many options
when it came to shopping
for the things they needed.
One former resident
recalled, you
couldn't buy so much as a spool
of thread on the base itself.
Therefore, anyone going to town
for their once a month day off,
was usually burdened
with a long list
of purchases for the others.
While the purpose
of the project may
have been destructive
and frightening,
the area surrounding Los
Alamos was quite beautiful.
Many of the scientists, who
came from disparate areas
of the country, were
taken by the scenery.
Scientist Rebecca
Diven fondly recalled
memories of co-workers banging
on her door before breakfast
to take her for a morning
on the ski slopes,
a hike in the mountains,
or a ride on horseback.
Dolores Heaton, who
grew up at the facility,
recalls it being surrounded
by huge mountains
in all directions,
and described it
as the most beautiful setting
she ever saw in her life.
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For most of the
project's duration,
Los Alamos seamlessly
blended the normal elements
of American life with a
massive top secret scientific
undertaking, but as completion
of the project drew nearer,
things began to change.
The staff believed their
work would end World War II,
and they took that
goal very seriously.
Workdays became longer as
everyone threw themselves
into getting the bomb finished.
Working to create the
most destructive weapon
in the history of
the known universe
raised some ethical
questions for those involved.
Many of the scientists were dead
set against the military's plan
to use an atomic bomb.
One group even reached
out to the government,
pleading that the bomb not be
used on any populated areas.
Physicist Victor
Weisskopf later lamented
that the team was
never able to settle
the question of
whether using a device
with such unprecedented
destructive force
was morally acceptable
in any case.
After the project
proved successful
in an event known
as the Trinity Test,
lead scientist J
Robert Oppenheimer
gathered the scientists
and made a speech.
He told them, you
are heroes today,
but in a very short time,
you will be criticized
for what you have done here.
Despite the fact that their
work would go on to end the war,
history would prove
Oppenheimer correct.
How would you fare working
on the Manhattan Project?
Let us know in the comments
below, and while you're at it,
check out some of these other
videos from our Weird History.
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