America’s Secret Plan to Blow Up the Moon | Tales From the Bottle
With Donald Trump’s recent announcement of ‘Space Force’, ‘Tales From the Bottle’ takes a look at one of the United States’ earliest military involvements in the final frontier.
“Project A119, also known as A Study of Lunar Research Flights, was a top-secret plan developed in 1958 by the United States Air Force. The aim of the project was to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon which would help in answering some of the mysteries in planetary astronomy and astrogeology. If the explosive device detonated on the surface, not in a lunar crater, the flash of explosive light would have been faintly visible to people on earth with their naked eye, a show of force resulting in a possible boosting of domestic morale in the capabilities of the United States, a boost that was needed after the Soviet Union took an early lead in the Space Race and was also working on a similar project.
The project was never carried out, being cancelled primarily out of a fear of a negative public reaction, with the potential militarization of space that it would also have signified, and because a moon landing would undoubtedly be a more popular achievement in the eyes of the American and international public alike. A similar project by the Soviet Union also never came to fruition.
The existence of the US project was revealed in 2000 by a former executive at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Leonard Reiffel, who led the project in 1958. A young Carl Sagan was part of the team responsible for predicting the effects of a nuclear explosion in vacuum and low gravity and in evaluating the scientific value of the project. The project documents remained secret for nearly 45 years, and despite Reiffel’s revelations, the United States government has never officially recognized its involvement in the study.”
More on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119
@Qxir
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Discord: https://discord.gg/jZzvvwJ
Nuke the Moon T-Shirt: https://teespring.com/stores/qxir
@ericeric-zv2qs
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
The problem is we have plans for the early everything here in the good old USA. Warplan emerald green is the invasion plan for Ireland.
@joshyoung1440
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I don't know if the "good luck space force" bit at the beginning was earnest or not, but as a leftist American, my people hated it immediately
@tuti5811
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
11
@mabvsfd
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I LOVE the Megadeth Easter eggs
@sethgeezy
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
How about shaking the hell outta the moon would fuck up the tides and seasons on earth? Bc it would. Mos def.
@johnhandily2943
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I love Qxir!
@moldyhalfling
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
💚🌻thank you from the UK😊
@ToddGeary-n6q
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
China demonstrated blowing up one of their own satellites from the ground, SF is not exactly a bad idea. Why the hell wouldn't you keep an eye on things?
@lucy_Bad_Bunny
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I can't believe they thought people seeing a nuke explode on the moon would raise their morale. Like if i looked up at the moon and a nuke exploded on it big enough to see it from earth, id be fucking terrified bc it's gonna take alot to convince me we aren't being invaded by aliens.
@patrickbureau1402
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
"A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey's on the moon)
I can't pay no doctor bills.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still
While Whitey's on the moon.
You know, the man jus' upped my rent las' night,
'cause Whitey's on the moon.
No hot water, no toilets, no lights,
but Whitey's on the moon.
I wonder why he's uppi' me?
'cause Whitey's on the moon?
Well I wuz already givin' 'im fifty a week
And now Whitey's on the moon.
Taxes takin' my whole damn check,
The junkies make me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin' up,
An' as if all that crap wuzn't enough,
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an' arms began to swell
And Whitey's on the moon.
Was all that money I made las' year
For Whitey on the moon?
How come I ain't got no money here?
Hmm! Whitey's on the moon.
Y'know I jus' about had my fill
Of Whitey on the moon.
I think I'll sen' these doctor bills,
Airmail special
To Whitey on the moon"
@redwolf979
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Space force is for rich people to put there kids during a war so they don't actual fight in the war. It's not a real branch of the Military and NO they don't send people into space …It's more like space balls than a real thing… It's a place to put Trumps last son in case of a war without people complaining…..
@makepoisonsnotfriends
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Our country is just ridiculous ☠
I just purchased this shirt and the dragon one for sleep tees tho 🚀🐉
@ken4777-g7n
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
1:45 Are you sure you're not American.
@SensSword
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Kamehameha would've been a better idea. Only requires one turtle hermit. Quicker too.
@markwybierala4936
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Wensleydale cheese puffs from space!
@chuckplainview4085
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Man can't gave nothing these days
@marcopohl4875
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Fly me to the moon, so I can kick its freaking arse
Let me show you what I learned in my moon jujitsu class
@paurushbhatnagar8100
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I wud call it project moonlighting
@devious187
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Hmmm, if they had blown up the moon, can you imagine the irradiated, melted cheese rainstorms we'd get? Also, you'd never need a cheese grater again
@AzimechTheWise
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Well that treaty banning space nukes seems to be largely ignored now. Go RuZZia
@Splitt3rHe4d
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
This man really used to record his voice in an empty warehouse
@Whydidudoitcrushinator
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
now you don't have to live on benefits, from 50k to 1 million subs in 5 years. awesome!!!
@thomasdickson35
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
3:42 As it turns out, Ben is indeed, hopelessly gay.
@nineofnine
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Sputnik was a spacetank
@aes0p895
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Even if they got it launched right, but then missed the moon itself, the bomb would be on a non-orbital trajectory and come right back to Earth just from gravity.
@CharonTheWhisperer
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
"Cheeki Breeki laboratory"
Qxir confirmed as a Dark Valley Bandit. I just hope you don't have a Gauss Gun in store for $800.
@johnchrysler5122
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Pissing on the moon would have been more effective than blowing it up but okay.
@Name-ot3xw
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I will always read "Space Force" in Steve Carell's voice.
@dr.holiday613
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
fuck the moon
@ReZpawner
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
NUCLEAR not fucking nucular.
@imperalofficer3350
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
I think we should have let the President piss on the moon.
@wrmlm37
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Ok, my science is shaky here, but wouldnt blowing up the moon eff up our gravitational pull, set us off our axis? No?
@wrmlm37
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
At the time you just hit 1k subs, but now, 5 ys later, this vid was viewed…600K times. I adore this content. Thanks, Man. Second time through your library, I think:) I love to laugh;)
Edit: what the heck? This comment was about the Dancing Plague-dont know HOW it got here.
@GothicSteamEngine96
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Let alone the fact that if the moon did go up and should it go HORRIBLY wrong, surfing would be canceled and we'd be at risk of a man-made meteor storm.
@slayerd357
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Leave it to humanity to land on an alien world and prove it by setting off an explosive.
@projection-75-emulation
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Imagine it was scheduled to arrive and detonate on the moons surface on the 4th of july 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@JMan5437
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
The best part is how incredibly anticlimactic it would have been. With no atmosphere, the bomb wouldn't create a mushroom cloud. It would just explode in a ball of fire that expands until it fades away
@pezilord
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
a nuke on the moon wouldn't have made an explosion , the explosion of a nuke comes from the rapid heating of the surrounding air, in a vacuum all a nuke does is create a gamma ray burst , and in space gamma rays are a dime a dozen.
@richardroach5866
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
snark snark bloody snark… got to love it.
@Pining_for_the_fjords
April 14, 2026 at 9:13 pm
The US sketch comedy "Mr Show" actually did a sketch about America blowing up the moon. It's hilarious that it's based on a true story.