This is somewhat of an obscure historical curiosity that maybe of few people here can recall. At least those of us in our 50's.
It was somewhat of an open secret that, back in the 1970's and 1980's (and possibly later?), Israel and South Africa cooperated on defense matters. Their circunstances were similar - Israel was a small Jewish state surrounded by a sea of hostile neighbors while South Africa had a minority White population in a majority Black nation. Some have also suggested that Taiwan also may have been a party to this alliance, but I've read little to nothing about that theory. One example that comes to mind is the Galil/R4 rifles.
So, was an Israeli nuclear test conducted in the South Atlantic in 1979, with South African logistical support? Or vice versa (but most observers seem to discount that). It seems that the thought that it was just some sort of natural phenomena also makes sense.
"Forty years ago, on 22 September 1979, the bhangmeters on a U.S. VELA satellite picked up signals that were initially interpreted as most likely originating from a nuclear test in the far South Atlantic but which a high-level White House panel chaired by MIT professor Jack Ruina later interpreted as more probably the result of a non-nuclear event (e.g., a striking meteoroid) on or around the satellite. That view became the semiofficial public interpretation but it was contested and controversial. By contrast, according to a White House report published today by the National Security Archive, the Central Intelligence Agency had “assessed the probability of a nuclear test as 90% plus.”
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-b...orty-years-ago
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