Sponge Bomb

A year after the bombings of Hiroshima (8/6/45’) and Nagasaki (8/9/45’) a joint operation between the Army and Navy continued testing the effects of atomic weapons in the Martial Islands.  Documents posted by the National Security Archive about “Operation Crossroads” shed light on the events of the Hydrogen bomb testing at Bikini Atoll as do declassified videos and photographs. Two tests were done to determine the effects of the new weapons on warships, “Able” test (6/1/46’) and “Baker” test (6/25/46’). The Baker test was the most dangerous of the two by contaminating nearby test ships with radioactive mist, also rendering the islands virtually uninhabitable by the native population that was forced off their ancestral lands with the understanding the relocation was temporary and they would be able to return.

These events gave rise to a fan theory in one of the most popular cartoons in history over 50 years later. Fans of SpongeBob SquarePants have pieced together through names, locations and brief events in their favorite show that the world of SpongeBob is caused by the radioactive fallout and luck that the right mutations from the atomic testing in the Bikini islands created their universe. The popularity of this theory is owed in part to the confirmation of an anonymous staff member at the show that some fan theories do make their way into cannon.

RABBIT HOLE

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