AUSTIN, TEXAS: Joe Rogan, 55, has managed to establish himself as world's one of the most popular podcaster. The 'Joe Rogan Experience' host and UFC color commentator never shies away from sharing his strong opinions on distinctive topics.
In the latest episode of Rogan's highly-ranked Spotify podcast, he claimed that the video of the US nuclear tests looked faked, claiming that the forces that blew out model homes, cars, and electrical structures could not be captured on cameras.
'Boy, that does look fake'
In an interview with billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen as a guest, Rogan focused on the conspiracy theory regarding nuclear test videos. During an episode of 'The Joe Rogan Experience', which attracted millions of listeners, on July 19, 2023, Rogan said, "Boy, that does look fake." He was referring to a videotape of nuclear test explosions. Rogan's response came after Andreessen mentioned an advanced notion regarding trials done by the US to increase its nuclear weapons after dropping two atomic bombs on Japan during World War II.
Andreessen said, "You've seen all the grainy footage of nuclear test blasts." He continued, "Well, there's always been a conspiracy theory that those were all basically fabricated at this facility, that those bombs actually were never detonated. Basically, the US military was basically faking these bomb tests to freak out the Russians."
When asked how the explosions were faked, he said, "So, what happened to the camera? How is that happening yet the camera is like totally stable and fine? And by the way, the film is fine. The radiation didn't cause any damage to the film."
Andreessen acknowledged that the hypotheses might not be accurate, but speculated that the material might have been "faked at Lookout Mountain", a defunct military station in California that generated videos and pictures of nuclear test explosions.
'The type of film used was very slow'
In the days following the release of the episode, clips from Rogan's podcast rocketed on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. One TikTok clip received more than 7.4 million views. The debate takes place as audiences throng theatres to watch the megahit film 'Oppenheimer' which is about American physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, who played a crucial role in the development of nuclear weapons. However, the development of atomic photography is well known. More than a dozen experts confirmed to AFP that the Cold War-era tests were not staged and that they were actually captured on equipment made to resist nuclear explosions.
According to Yahoo, Peter Kuran, author of 'How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb', said, "The type of film used was very slow and not very sensitive to radiation, yet these cameras still needed a couple of inches of lead around them."
