Sure to be a blast

“Strange” and “wacky” aren’t usually words you want to hear in connection with the former Nevada Test Site. But Joseph Kent, director of education for the National Atomic Testing Museum, will share a few stories that certainly fit the bill during “Strange Tales From the Nevada Test Site,” which is part of Henderson Libraries’ new “Hidden History” lecture series.

Take, for example, the unofficial souvenirs created during ’60s tests of a nuclear rocket propulsion system. Engineers would collect ashtrays and clear glass objects and put the glassware at a distance from the blast site, Kent says. Radiation released by the test turned the clear glass an amber color.

The free presentation runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. on April 17 at Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway, Henderson.

Also scheduled is a May 9 presentation on “Elwood Mead and the Drowned Towns of Lake Mead” by Mark Hall-Patton, the Clark County museum administrator. hendersonlibraries.com/events — John Przybys