Officially the bomb was called the BLU-96, but its nick- name was HADESÄand for its size it was the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in existence. HADES was filled with two hundred gallons of a thin, gasoline-like liquid that was dispersed over a target, then ignited by remote control. Be- cause the weapon does not need to carry its own oxidizer but uses oxygen in the atmosphere to ignite the fuel, the resulting explosion had all the characteristics of a nuclear explosionÄ it created a mushroom cloud several hundred feet high, a fireball nearly a mile in diameter, and a shock wave that could knock down buildings and trees within two miles. Oddly enough, the BLU-96 had not been used since the Vietnam War, so HAWC was conducting experiments on the feasibility of using the awesome weapon again for some future conflict.

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