Jones C.B., Doyle M.K. et al. Operation Argus 1958

Unite States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests. Nuclear Test Personnel Review30 April 1982. — 138 p.Prepared by the Defense Nuclear Agency as Executive Agency for the Department of Defense.ARGUS was the designation given to the three high-altitude nuclear test shots conducted by the United States in the South Atlantic Ocean in August and September 1958. The ARGUS shots were conducted to test the Christofilos theory, which argued that high-altitude nuclear detonations would create a radiation belt in the upper regions of the Earth's atmosphere. It was theorized that the radiation belt would have military implications, including degradation of radio and radar transmissions, damage or destruction of the arming and fuzing mechanisms of ICBM warheads, and endangering the crews of orbiting space vehicles that might enter the belt.