Magic snowflakes.. March 1, 1954, Rongelap Atoll

Mystical. A blinding flash of light in the west made it seem as though the sun was rising from the wrong side of the ocean. The sky and the sea turned red as a mushroom cloud swelled rapidly to a height of nearly 25 miles above the open ocean. Ash, water, and pulverized coral rained down on the nearby islands. Palm trees swayed in the winds. Seversl years earlier, the Marshall islanders first encountered radioactive fallout as almost magical snowflake-like ash falls on them during the Bikini Atoll atomic test. Some of the native women and men ran about trying to catch the magic snowflakes.