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After the Rain
Episode 4: After the Rain: The Storm That Dumped Radiation on Troy, New York
Restoration Obscura Field Guide Podcast
Written and hosted by John Bulmer
In this episode of the Restoration Obscura Field Guide, we investigate one of the Capital Region’s most unsettling Cold War legacies—a radioactive rainstorm that quietly fell over Troy, New York, in the spring of 1953. Drawing on Bill Heller’s A Good Day Has No Rain, along with government documents and independent research, this story traces how nuclear fallout from a Nevada test site traveled across the country and landed, unannounced, on a city that never saw it coming.
Act I introduces listeners to the events surrounding “Shot Simon,” a 43-kiloton atmospheric nuclear test conducted at the Nevada Test Site. When radioactive debris entered the jet stream, it traveled thousands of miles before being pulled down by a spring storm over New York’s Capital Region. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Professor Herbert Clark’s students detected radiation levels in local rainwater more than 4,500 times the government’s safe limit—higher than some areas impacted by the Chernobyl disaster. While Clark urgently reported the findings to the Atomic Energy Commission, the response was silence. Meanwhile, documents revealed that Kodak had received prior warnings about nuclear tests to protect its film products—an agreement never extended to the public.
Act II explores the science of fallout and its long-term effects on the human body. Radioisotopes like Strontium-90, Iodine-131, and Cesium-137 entered Troy’s ecosystem and were absorbed into water, soil, crops, and livestock. Once consumed or inhaled, these isotopes embedded themselves in bone, muscle, and organs—altering DNA, irradiating tissues from within, and triggering illnesses years or even decades later. Studies from the National Cancer Institute and other public health agencies have linked fallout exposure to significant increases in leukemia, thyroid disorders, and soft tissue cancers. Yet despite scientific confirmation of the dangers, no government-sponsored study was ever conducted in Troy. Families were left with unspoken questions, unexplained diagnoses, and a generational burden of illness without acknowledgement.
Act III expands the focus beyond Troy to reveal a national and global pattern of radioactive exposure. From the sheep ranches of Nevada and the rain-soaked farms of Iowa to the windswept atolls of the Marshall Islands, communities around the world became unintentional participants in the nuclear arms race. The Kodak Agreement stands as one of the most disturbing symbols of this era—a private arrangement prioritizing corporate preservation over public health. The episode closes with a sobering reflection on modern environmental crises, including PFAS contamination, that mirror the same institutional silence and delay that defined the fallout era.
This episode combines historical storytelling with investigative research to bring one of Troy’s most overlooked Cold War events back into the public eye. It’s a narrative shaped by declassified documents, scientific studies, and the voices of those who lived in the fallout’s shadow. What happened in Troy wasn’t isolated—it was part of a larger pattern of denial, misdirection, and forgotten consequence.This episode includes full source citations.You can read the original article here: https://restorationobscura.substack.com/p/the-fallout-that-fell-as-rain
Subscribe to support independent, reader-funded storytelling: www.restorationobscura.com
🎧 The Restoration Obscura Field Guide Podcast is streaming now on all major streaming platforms.
Every photo has a story. And every story connects us.
© 2025 John Bulmer Media & Restoration Obscura. All rights reserved.
Get full access to Restoration Obscura at restorationobscura.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By John BulmerEpisode 4: After the Rain: The Storm That Dumped Radiation on Troy, New York
Restoration Obscura Field Guide Podcast
Written and hosted by John Bulmer
In this episode of the Restoration Obscura Field Guide, we investigate one of the Capital Region’s most unsettling Cold War legacies—a radioactive rainstorm that quietly fell over Troy, New York, in the spring of 1953. Drawing on Bill Heller’s A Good Day Has No Rain, along with government documents and independent research, this story traces how nuclear fallout from a Nevada test site traveled across the country and landed, unannounced, on a city that never saw it coming.
Act I introduces listeners to the events surrounding “Shot Simon,” a 43-kiloton atmospheric nuclear test conducted at the Nevada Test Site. When radioactive debris entered the jet stream, it traveled thousands of miles before being pulled down by a spring storm over New York’s Capital Region. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Professor Herbert Clark’s students detected radiation levels in local rainwater more than 4,500 times the government’s safe limit—higher than some areas impacted by the Chernobyl disaster. While Clark urgently reported the findings to the Atomic Energy Commission, the response was silence. Meanwhile, documents revealed that Kodak had received prior warnings about nuclear tests to protect its film products—an agreement never extended to the public.
Act II explores the science of fallout and its long-term effects on the human body. Radioisotopes like Strontium-90, Iodine-131, and Cesium-137 entered Troy’s ecosystem and were absorbed into water, soil, crops, and livestock. Once consumed or inhaled, these isotopes embedded themselves in bone, muscle, and organs—altering DNA, irradiating tissues from within, and triggering illnesses years or even decades later. Studies from the National Cancer Institute and other public health agencies have linked fallout exposure to significant increases in leukemia, thyroid disorders, and soft tissue cancers. Yet despite scientific confirmation of the dangers, no government-sponsored study was ever conducted in Troy. Families were left with unspoken questions, unexplained diagnoses, and a generational burden of illness without acknowledgement.
Act III expands the focus beyond Troy to reveal a national and global pattern of radioactive exposure. From the sheep ranches of Nevada and the rain-soaked farms of Iowa to the windswept atolls of the Marshall Islands, communities around the world became unintentional participants in the nuclear arms race. The Kodak Agreement stands as one of the most disturbing symbols of this era—a private arrangement prioritizing corporate preservation over public health. The episode closes with a sobering reflection on modern environmental crises, including PFAS contamination, that mirror the same institutional silence and delay that defined the fallout era.
This episode combines historical storytelling with investigative research to bring one of Troy’s most overlooked Cold War events back into the public eye. It’s a narrative shaped by declassified documents, scientific studies, and the voices of those who lived in the fallout’s shadow. What happened in Troy wasn’t isolated—it was part of a larger pattern of denial, misdirection, and forgotten consequence.This episode includes full source citations.You can read the original article here: https://restorationobscura.substack.com/p/the-fallout-that-fell-as-rain
Subscribe to support independent, reader-funded storytelling: www.restorationobscura.com
🎧 The Restoration Obscura Field Guide Podcast is streaming now on all major streaming platforms.
Every photo has a story. And every story connects us.
© 2025 John Bulmer Media & Restoration Obscura. All rights reserved.
Get full access to Restoration Obscura at restorationobscura.substack.com/subscribe