In 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States launched a nuclear weapon into space and detonated it 400 kilometres above the Earth.

No, seriously.

What started as a military experiment became one of the strangest moments in human history. The explosion lit up the Pacific sky, created artificial auroras, disrupted electronics in Hawaii, damaged satellites, and left scientists scrambling to understand what they'd unleashed.

In this episode, Oldmate and Josh dive into the incredible story of Operation Starfish Prime—the nuclear test that proved humanity was willing to detonate an atomic bomb in space just to see what would happen. From Cold War paranoia and missile races to electromagnetic pulses, secret military planning, and the long-term consequences for modern technology, this is a story that sounds completely made up... except it actually happened.