No, not the Holy Trinity... but rather more like the "Unholy" Trinity.
Trinity is the name of the test site for the first ever atomic bomb!
It was detonated here 64 years ago.
Soon after that, "the bomb" (in two different forms) was used against Japan to quickly end the Second World War, but with absolutely devastating effects for the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The "nuclear" age had begun...
And the "Cold War" was just about to get started!
The site is located out in the New Mexico desert as part of the White Sands missile test range.
Its usually off limits to the public, but twice a year it is open to the public...
And I just happened to be in the area when that date rolled around this time. I had thought about coming here when I was riding South the first time two years ago, but the dates were wrong. This time, I hadnt thought about it at all, but as I read a local newspaper over coffee the other day morning, I noticed an article that said the opening was "tomorrow"!
So I decided to stay in the area for an extra day and go see it.
I got up early and drove the fifty odd Km out to the main gate to the test site.
There they let me and a veritable cavalcade of other day-trippers through into the missile range for a further drive of about 20Km. They gave everyone a warning not to take any photos till we get to ground-zero, but really there is nothing there to take pictures of, so I think its really just a bit of a game to keep people interested while they drive along.
Anyway, the desert in the area seems more or less normal, and its only at the ground zero site its self that there is a noticeable change in the vegetation (gets very sparse).
But, I think this is in fact due to the clean-up efforts rather than the radiation its self.
The site was "cleaned up" in rather brutal fashion some years after the test. When they detonated the device, the sand around the blast site was melted by the intense heat (actually, I believe it rained molten sand!) and a layer of this glassy green substance coated the blast site. The glass is called Trinitite and is unique to this location. It is also radioactive, and the clean-up effort meant that all the surface ground was broken up and removed (buried in a bunker of radioactive waste I believe).
Anyway, its a desert out here and plants take a long time to grow and more so when the minimal top-soil has been removed.
The site its self does not have a lot left to show of the blast. There is an oval fenced area with little radiation warning signs on it but apparently the radiation level is really minimal. Inside the fenced area there was a truck parked with a "fatman" bomb loaded on the back (one of these was used on Hiroshima). Then there is the "obelisk" made of volcanic rock that marks the exact ground zero point. There is a small "buried" shed that supposedly covers a patch of ground that was left in original post-blast condition (though we cant see inside it), and finally there are the buried stumps of concrete and steel reinforcing that were the foundation of the 100' tower on which the bomb sat. the tower was vaporized, but the foundations still remain.
On the entry gate to ground zero there is another sign (as well as the verbal reminders from the security people) that it is illegal to remove Trinitite from the area. I think its mostly another of those little "games" with the public :)
It has the effect of making you scan the ground you walk over and true to form, most people seem to be spending a good deal of time looking at their feet :))
Actually after sixty years and untold numbers of visitors to the site I figured there would be not a scrap of the stuff to be found.
But not so!
It was not too hard to find very small pieces (5mm in diameter or so) of the stuff if you walked away from the obelisk area. Without even trying, I came across a larger 20mm piece as well. I guess the wind and rain are constantly uncovering small bits and pieces.
Lots of people seem to think of the Trinity site as symbolizing the "evils" of atomic energy and of "digging too deeply" into the nature of things. It was after all the site of the "birth of atomic age" and a whole new order of destructive potential for humanity.
For myself, I agree with the "evils of war" aspect and I spent a few minutes in quiet contemplation over the destructive use of nuclear technology all those years ago (and up to the present day for that matter).
But I wholely disagree with the idea that atomic energy is evil or the idea of "digging too deeply".
I believe there is no such thing as "protection from the truth"!
For me, the truth (no matter how painful) is the only protection there is!
Humans are inquisitive, and if we can learn something then we will... no matter how many books you burn or secrets you keep.
What IS dangerous however is the way we use the knowledge we gain, and I have not yet figured out how to protect us from our own human frailties... and Im not sure you can!
