It's been years since I saw it, but there was a movie called "Atomic Cafe" which was something of a documentary of early nuclear testing. It was oddly funny in parts.
One scene:
Newsman: "General, are the soldiers in danger from this bomb test?"
General: "Absolutely not. The soldiers will be no where near the blast. They will be a good thousand yards away from the actual nuclear detonation."
[Scientist leans over and whispers to the general]
General: "They may be even farther away than that."
Another scene: Scientist announcing that the above ground testing was not going to be harmful. Observers were sufficiently far away that they would be safe. The only danger would come from direct ingestion of radioactive dust, but basic precaution would stop this from occurring.
[CUT TO]
Interview with an observer:
Newsman: "What did you think of that explosion?"
Soldier: "It was really tremendous. The only part I didn't like was when all of that dust fly into my mouth."
Yeah, I think that was just beyond wrong.