Up until 1963, when they were banned, the United States conducted above-ground nuclear weapons tests. According to Gizmodo, there were around 210 (!) of them, mushroom clouds and all, and the military quite often filmed the festivities. Those national security home movies spent the next 50-plus years in a vault, and many are close to decomposition. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory weapon physicist Greg Spriggs is working to save them, though—and after he salvages them and they're declassified, he plants to upload them to YouTube.

Today brought the first batch, a group of 64 spectacularly terrifying displays of raw kinetic power. Here's the pick of the bunch:

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This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

"We hope that we would never have to use a nuclear weapon ever again," Spriggs told Gizmodo. "I think that if we capture the history of this and show what the force of these weapons are and how much devastation they can wreak, then maybe people will be reluctant to use them."

You can see the rest of the videos here, and read more at Gizmodo.

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