Declassified Footage Reveals Decades-Old Secret Of World’s Most Powerful Nuclear Bomb

The most powerful nuclear explosion ever recorded occurred in 1961, yet footage of the immense blast wasn’t released to the public until nearly 60 years later.

Amid another global crisis, Russia finally declassified video footage of the massive 'Tsar Bomba,' or 'Tsar Bomb,' sharing it in August 2020 as much of the world was under coronavirus lockdown.

Take a look at the footage of the explosion here:

The release of this footage was a sharp contrast to the usual lockdown distractions, from rewatching Friends to the Tiger King obsession.

The video was shared by Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear agency, for the very first time as part of a documentary celebrating 75 years of Russia’s nuclear industry.

Known as the 'King of Bombs,' the Tsar Bomb was built over five years, from 1956 to 1961, while the Soviet Union was deep into a nuclear arms race with the United States.

Its destructive power was estimated at 3,300 times greater than the bomb that struck Hiroshima, fueled by a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb—that’s 50 million tons of explosives.

The mushroom cloud was higher than Mount Everest Росатом

When it was tested in October 1961, the Tsar Bomb unleashed a mushroom cloud towering 60 kilometers high.

Cameras on the ground and aboard two Russian planes captured the colossal fireball created by the bomb in the sky.

The documentary featuring the footage started with the words 'Top Secret' and detailed each step of the test, from the bomb’s transportation—it weighed 27 tons and measured about eight meters in length—to the post-explosion measurements taken by scientists.

A narrator described the event, saying: "The testing of an exceptionally powerful hydrogen load ... confirmed that the Soviet Union is in possession of a thermo-nuclear weapon with power of 50 megatons, 100 megatons and more."

When detonated, the force of the Tsar Bomb’s explosion was so immense that its shockwave was felt from nearly 70 miles away, while the blast was visible from a remarkable 620 miles.

Cameras on aircraft caught footage of the blast Росатом

The Tsar Bomb was part of a series of detonations conducted by Russia during the nuclear arms race.

However, this 'King of Bombs' was among the last nuclear tests performed above ground.

In 1963, the US, UK, and the Soviet Union signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which required all future nuclear tests to be conducted below ground.