Frenchman's Flat, Nevada
Frenchman's Flat (also referred to as Frenchman Flat) is a dry lakebed basin within the Nevada Proving Ground (later renamed the Nevada Test Site, now the Nevada National Security Site) in Nye County, Nevada. During the 1950s, it served as one of the primary above-ground nuclear weapons test areas for the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. military, hosting atmospheric detonations as part of the early Cold War nuclear testing program.
Role in Operation Upshot-Knothole
Frenchman's Flat was a key location for Operation Upshot-Knothole, a series of 11 nuclear test shots conducted in early 1953. Arthur Stansel Jr. (initially disclosing under the pseudonym Fritz Warner) was stationed at Frenchman's Flat on May 20, 1953, working as an AEC project engineer measuring blast effects on various types of structures constructed for the nuclear tests. It was from this location that he received the telephone call from Ed Doll, physicist and project director for the test series, informing him of the special assignment the following day that would take him to the 1953 Kingman, Arizona Crash Retrieval site.
The facility's remote desert location, heavy military security, and presence of AEC-cleared personnel made it a natural staging point for covert operations requiring scientific and engineering expertise under strict compartmentalization.