Photos of Daily Life in the U.S. Government’s Secret Atomic City
April 17th, 2012What does this sign mean?
Security, That's All
Via: io9:
In 1942, the US government acquired the town of Oak Ridge in eastern Tennessee. From then on, Oak Ridge was just like any other town — except for the fences, the guards, and the top-secret uranium separating facility.
Related: DOE-Oakridge’s Photostream
Flashback: The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project
Having spent part of my childhood growing up in the other secret atomic city – Richland, WA it all seemed quite familiar. I’ve experienced similar attitudes visiting Los Alamos. The combination of an over-educated populace, money and the illusion that they’re keepers of great secrets leads to some incredibly naive and dangerous thinking.
Looking at the pictures I couldn’t help but notice this one. Check out the sign the boy on the left is wearing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doe-oakridge/6987505011/in/photostream
In another photo it looks like the girls are doing an interpretive dance of ‘duck and cover’:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doe-oakridge/6987753957/in/photostream/
Just sayin’…
Okay, so we have a lunar eclipse, with an inscribed lunar mission, and some Terran compass indications all thrown together with Masonic flavouring on a 1970s security billboard for a uranium processing site.
Holy non sequiturs, Batman.
Why all the references to space? Was there hope back in Nixon days that rocket engines would evolve into some sort of nuclear drive?
That doesn’t explain the eclipse though. The placement of the Sun and Earth side by side and the same size seems a bit unusual. Subliminal googol sign, perhaps? The Sun might be a reference to nuclear energy.
The compass references make me think it is some sort of map.
The Masonic undertones seem to fit right into a government energy site. Especially one to do with fission or fusion as I can’t think of anything more “alchemical” than altering elements.
But none of the semiotics have anything to do with security other than the inherent secrecy of Masonry.
And the “that’s all! is just bizarre, although I presume it is some form of inherent threat with a “nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no more” aspect to it.
Buddy here is wondering if the N above the moon refers to the questions about the moon’s magentic field.
He also thinks the eclipse on the moon is drawn wrong and should have a dark side facing the earth also.
The East and West lines on the “compass” surrounding the sun/face are also missing.
there’s some sort of flight path indicated by dotted lines. I’m really curious now…
If I recall, a few US abomb projects where hidden under solar energy/alternative energy terms.
Oak Ridge (Y-12) worked on the Apollo program. Google image search for “apollo path” I’m not sure if the time frame matches, but it looks like a lunar launch/landing path imho.