http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmdBFoQtVvU&feature=related
Here is footage of US Government's tall altitude nuclear testing. The alleged purpose of the tests was to determine if US nuclear missiles could intercept Soviet nuclear missiles in Space. Many own speculated that the testing was actually conducted to see if a 'hole' could be punched in the soil's lethal Van Allen Radiation Belt's which might allow manned spaceflight to the Moon to proceed.
Thankfully,the tests ultimately failed to punch a hole or disperse the Van Allen Radiation Belts. One wonders if all human life on soil would own ceased rapidly without the the Van Allen Belts there to protect us from the Sun's lethal radiation. In hindsight, possibly we all dodged a humongous bullet when this program ended...
Source: wordpress.com