[DCBryan1]

How did we ever get over the thousands of nuclear explosions, many hundred of which were high altitude, from the late 40s until the 80s?! EMP is overhyped, unless it bursts overhead;)

[tacticalogic]

How did we ever get over the thousands of nuclear explosions, many hundred of which were high altitude, from the late 40s until the 80s?! EMP is overhyped, unless it bursts overhead;)

Those tests were conducted under or near ground level. Historically, nuclear weapons have been used to inflict physical damage, and designed and tested for that. Setting one off at high altitute wouldn't give you much in the way of useful data to asses it's shock wave potential.

[Wizdum]

A couple of the high altitude tests disrupted communications in Hawaii for a few hours. That's because the weapon detonated high enough,248 miles, for the thermal pulse to convert to electrical energy.

Dominic Starfish Prime 248 miles

Anything close to atmosphere generates a fireball and limits the impulse.

Bluegill Triple Prime 160,000 feet

There was also the Argus tests conducted off of South Africa to test effects on the magnetic field and communications, but there is very little information available about them.

[I Buried My Guns]

"... EMP is overhyped, unless it bursts overhead;)..."

Friend, you are either very misinformed, or very uninformed. The threat posed by HEMP (the "H" is for "High") is very real, and could be our undoing.

[Mr. Lucky]

Level headind sobriety is not welcome on these “run in circles like your hair’s on fire” threads.