On September 22nd 1979 an American satellite detected a double flash over the South Atlantic — the unmistakable signature of an atmospheric nuclear explosion. The CIA assessed 90% probability it was a nuclear test. The Naval Research Laboratory pinpointed the location. The Arecibo Observatory recorded a matching ionospheric disturbance. Carter wrote in his diary it was almost certainly Israel. Then his administration convened a panel that concluded it was probably a meteoroid. The intelligence a