What Did I Just See?

Photo credit: https://www.debate.com.mx/mundo/Explosion-masiva-sacude-Beirut-capital-del-Libano-reportan-heridos-y-grandes-danos-20200804-0081.html via Twitter.

I was listening to Glen Beck this morning at work, not long before he was scheduled to hand the airwaves over to Rush Limbaugh at noon. Suddenly I heard Mr. Beck's voice take a very noticeable change in tone. This is not particularly unusual for him. He's an emotional guy. And he lets his emotions show on the air. I think I respect that, though sometimes it can be annoying. He's certainly not a primary source of information for me, but I do usually find him entertaining.

His voice became hushed and serious as he said something very close to, "There's been a major explosion in Beirut. We don't have any information yet." It was clear that he was watching video of the blast. He said, "It looks nuclear. It's not, obviously, but it looks like a small nuclear blast."

Being someone who MUST be the most well-informed person in the room, no matter the room, I jumped on the chromebook to find out what happened. (I am outmatched in some rooms, but it's not due to a lack of effort.)

I have to admit to exclaiming, "Jesus f***!!" when I first saw the footage. I may or may not have repeated that when I sent the video of the explosion to my girlfriend. Her reaction was similar, though her language tends to be a little better. With 6 years in the Army and 5 at a police department, f*** is a comma to me.

I viewed the video 12 to 15 times initially. I found a 5-second video on Twitter that showed the entire explosion until the time the person recording the video was apparently knocked down by the shockwave, debris, or something else. It's hard to know what the culprit was. There are so many dangers with an explosion of that magnitude.

After the initial shock wore off, I began to try to analyze the video with my *slightly* trained eye. The first thing that occurred to me was that it looked like a tactical nuclear explosion.

When our military uses a tactical nuke, it explodes in two stages. The first stage of the "bunker buster" blows a hole in the bunker. The second, the nuclear component, vaporizes everything inside. I will be damned if it doesn't look like there are two separate explosions in this case. The first, the "fireball" that is the initial explosion. The second is the rings that look for all the world to be nuclear in nature.

Bunker busters generally explode underground and don't leave a "nuclearesque" signature above ground. If this *does* end up being a tactical nuclear strike, someone -- be it a nation state or terrorist group -- is going to have a lot of explaining to do. Of course, there is the possibility that some of the simpler, less sinister explanations are true.

I hope they are.

-- Treehouse of Liberty Times brief --