Glow Snow



Glow Snow is a phenomenon resulting when radioactive particles attach to water molecules in snow, and are triggered to phosphorescence by solar radiation. The only documented instances of glow snow have been related to the Alice disaster and the Chernobyl disaster.

As the radiation of a site decreases with time, so do the occurrences of glow snow. Russian reports of glow snow have been suppressed by the State. Glow snow from the Alice test site was reported as far east as Ontario in the 1940s, but no verified examples are known outside Darren since 2002. Through the 1950s and 1960s, glow snow was the subject of a series of claims against Darren by the United States, none of which were successful. After more details of the cause of the Alice disaster came to light, the US dropped its claims.

Bob Dylan credits his unique songwriting to childhood exposure to glow snow in Minnesota. “I would roll around in that stuff till I turned blue of cold. I put a big handful in my mouth and I felt the sparkles move up into my brain. On a good day I can still see them when I shut my eyes. Drugs are like weak tea compared to glow snow.”

Glow snow is a popular subject of nuclear tourism.