They were all there. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the bomb. Edward Teller, the original Dr. Strangelove. Enrico Fermi, creator of the first nuclear reactor, was taking bets on whether the blast would ignite the atmosphere and destroy the world. The scientists were waiting, nervously, for the morning to come.
Robert Oppenheimer’s brother Frank couldn’t sleep. He was listening to the strange sound coming from the edge of camp on July 15, 1945, the night before Trinity. The world was about to enter the atomic age and Frank Oppenheimer was thinking about frogs.
It had rained that night, and “All the frogs in that area,” he recalled “had gathered in a little pond by the camp and copulated and squawled all night long.”
You can hear more about the "frogs" (toads, technically) of Trinity in a story I am producing for NPR that airs next week. I visited Trinity Base Camp several times over two summers in a quest to find and record those toads. Here's what they sounded like on August 1st, 2017 — and possibly on July 15, 1945 just before the world changed forever.
Here's a 360 degree video that allows you to see Trinity Base Camp in all directions. Just click on the screen and move the image.
This video was recorded on August 1, 2017 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University. Copyright Jeff Rice, 2018. All rights reserved. 2 MAR 2018 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION IS UNLIMITED
Support for my recordings at Trinity Base Camp was provided by the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University.