Half-Life Histories S01 E14 The Time We Nuked Five Men to Prove a Point

"A mini documentary series exploring nuclear weapons, technology, and disasters."

On July 19th, 1957, a 2-kiloton nuclear warhead exploded above the heads of five volunteers during “Shot John” of the Operation Plumbbob series of US nuclear tests. Why would anyone volunteer to be at ground zero for such a blast, and what happened to them?