"Nuclear Bomb's Surprising Connection to Aurora Revealed"

On July 9, 1962, the United States detonated a thermonuclear bomb named Starfish Prime above the Pacific Ocean, resulting in an artificial geomagnetic storm and triggering an aurora visible as far as New Zealand. The bomb's electromagnetic pulse (EMP) caused streetlights to go out, radio blackout, and temporary telephone outages in Hawaii. Similar effects can occur during powerful geomagnetic storms triggered by the sun, as seen in the 1989 blackout in Quebec.