The Vela Incident

Damn Interesting » The Vela Incident:

"In 1994, convicted Soviet spy Dieter Gerhardt claimed that the flashes were the result of 'Operation Phenix,' a joint Israeli/South African weapons test conducted under the cover of bad weather. 'The explosion was clean and was not supposed to be detected,' Gerhardt claimed, 'but they were not as smart as they thought, and the weather changed - so the Americans were able to pick it up.' He did not claim to be directly involved with the operation, stating instead that he had learned of it though unofficial channels. Gerhardt's description of the explosion as 'clean' suggests that, if his account is accurate, the device may have been a neutron bomb: an atomic device with increased neutron radiation and decreased fallout. Israel has never openly admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, but in 1986 a former Israeli nuclear technician named Mordechai Vanunu furnished a London Times reporter with photographs and descriptions of Israeli atomic weapons. Shortly before that article was printed, Vanunu was abducted by undercover Israeli Mossad agents, and imprisoned for his treason."