Pepcon Explosion: Real Audio + Audio Reconstruction

The Pepcon Disaster of 1988 was recorded by a team of engineers from approximately 3.4 kilometers away. The footage is of reasonably good quality, but the audio is quite low quality and completely contained in one single channel.
For the first part, I pulled the audio and split it into a stereo channel, then boosted the volume, but no other changes were made.
The second part is a full audio reconstruction, using the original recording as a guide. I tried to recreate, as accurately as possible, what it would have been like to stand on that hill and hear the explosions from the valley below. I also applied some slight colour/gain correction during the second part.
Raw Pepcon disaster raw footage: • Pepcom Explosion

[@nicksalvatore5717]

Bruce Halker and Roy Westerfield lost their lives this day. Bruce was wheel chair bound and knew he could not escape in time, Roy stayed with him and dialed 911 to alert the fire department. May they be remembered!

[@ariesradke6193]

Bruce Halker? seriously that’s his name? ok i look it up and it’s his name... but i founded out he didn’t use a wheelchair. sounds like someone seen his last name and thought handicap-walker.

[@ariesradke6193]

nevermind i founded out he was in a wheelchair

[@larsmonsen88]

Wow..Roy is 1000x the man I can ever dream of being..Im ashamed to say I would get the hell out of there if I could..

[@joesmoe71]

Thanks for reminding people that more than mere property was lost that day. RIP

[@antonyduhamel1166]

69 likes. I ruined it. You're welcome.

[@thefixer1905]

I was working at a wrecking yard on Sunset, just 1 1/2 miles north of Pepcon when this happened. The first couple of small explosions (there were 7 that we heard/felt) got our attention and we were trying to figure out what was on fire when the first major explosion happened. This one knocked me to the ground and blew our roll-up door off it's tracks. Me and another employee (being young and not too smart) walked down to the corner of Gibson Rd. to see if we could get a better idea of what was happening. While we were looking south is when the second, and most massive, explosion took place. We were in an unobstructed line of sight, about one mile or so away, and I saw the blast and thought it best to hit the deck (just before the shock wave reached us). It was about then that we thought it might be a good idea to perhaps put a little more distance between us and whatever was going on. As we got back to the yard stuff began to fall from the sky. It appeared to be tiny hard Styrofoam balls (turned out to be vaporized cinder blocks and other building materials). Fearing that the fallout might be dangerous, our boss decided to close up and take everyone to a late lunch/cocktail hour several miles further north.

[@ophello]

*its tracks

[@berzerkbankie1342]

I can't help but think Repcon and old lady Gibsons scrap yard un Fallout new vegas come from those places.

[@daffers2345]

Your boss was a smart person :D

[@-108-]

A cocktail hour?? Wow. Well, it is Vegas.

[@johnshanks5593]

Who gives a fk.....

[@TOEC]

Nice to see someone keeping a copy of this that hasn't had the sound delay removed to "create drama" like so many videos do these days.

[@kaiserc2471]

I think it really adds to just how devastating these explosions are. Sound is fast. It takes several seconds for the sound to reach us. It still hurts. Wow.

[@TheExplosiveGuy]

I'm so glad you point this out. The delay between the speed of sound and light are NOT the same, and videos/movies that edit the delay out are a disgrace, especially in big dollar blockbusters. The delay between the flash of an explosive and it's report can be very useful in determining the scale of an explosion, the apparent size of the explosion and it's delay can tell you several things about it. Kind of how you can measure the distance between yourself and a lighting strike by counting the number of seconds it takes between the flash of light and the thunder which gives you a rough estimate in miles away for every 5 seconds of delay. Useful stuff to know when in a tight spot.

[@jaakkopontinen]

Exactly! Really glad to see this version again. This video has made a lasting impression on me. It is both awe-inspiring and horrifying. Thanks for the upload.

[@KC0FZZ]

So, roughly 2 miles out? Wonder how big of a thump they got.

[@Dazzwidd]

mega powerful shockwaves are still going the same speed, it is interesting

[@caseylocke4474]

It was 75 °F that morning in Henderson, NV. Sound propagates through 75 °F air at 1133.25 feet per second. Therefore, the camera was approximately a distance of 2.146 miles away from the explosion based on the lag time of the boom.

[@abnrmlmind]

Considering the high for that day was 68 I'd say yfos

[@MrJon1157]

Easier math is speed of sound = 343 m/s, and you can count damn near exactly 10 seconds before you hear the explosion, so they are ~3.43 km away ;)

[@IndigoCrimFilms]

@@MrJon1157 speed doesnt stop at the speed of sound, the shockwave could have been going twice that speed.

[@Arctic0804]

@@IndigoCrimFilms why is the shockwave related? aren't we timing the sound of the explosion?

[@Dorkrust]

@@IndigoCrimFilms The ability to make a statement while not making a point relevant to the conversation at hand is peak Dunning-Kreuger

[@towedarray7217]

This is such a testament to the steady, quiet work of the cameraman. So smart. I hope he was thanked and paid for just filming it straight in like this. Excellent archive footage of historical value. Just excellent.

[@jwalster9412]

Well I mean, this is just more proof camera men are invincible

[@KenKeisi]

An engineer was servicing a TV tower and accidentally shot this video.

[@adventuresofthedoubleamput5295]

Best camera work in 35 yrs

[@nurfuerverrueckte]

Imagine this being filmed today. Vertical, 25x digital zoom making it look like minecraft fire and someone dancing in front of it.

[@denelson83]

I believe this camera was tower-mounted.

[@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs]

The kick to the chest people felt from a blast from 3.5 km away

[@dx1450]

I'd have probably ducked down or gotten flat on the ground when I saw that huge explosion happen.

[@mikecimerian6913]

@@dx1450 Same.

[@fart63]

I think the radius of damage was like 30 miles? Many people were cut from glass flying out of windows.

[@daleolson3506]

How many pounds is 3.5 kilometers?

[@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs]

@@daleolson3506 how do you do fellow American? 😂

[@mathy906]

finaly a version without the anoying commentary and that cliché backgroundmusic hha

[@WineScrounger]

And the synchronous flash and blast. Yawn; cliche.

[@ALFTUBE50]

but with anoying clock :(

[@Lonech]

@@ALFTUBE50 It's not in front of the image, it's not annoying at all. Hell, it even helps with magnifying the scale of the explosion cause you can count down the seconds until the shock wave hits.

[@DronZizzle]

or the fake explosion sound effect instead of the real sound

[@XboxIssues]

@@DronZizzle Yes. I don't get that whatsoever. Why even upload footage of the blast if you're gonna overlay some stupid ass action movie explosion sound bite?

[@remo687]

Ooo, dat's gonna be LOUD!

[@chornobylreactor4]

KABOOM mommy😵😵😵😵😵😵😭😭😭😭

[@KickOutTheJhm]

Wooaaoww, those suns of bitches are LAOWD!!!!!!

[@andrewschannel4259]

@@KickOutTheJhm *BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

[@maxpower8916]

I was asked once why some structures were built out in the middle of nowhere. This has been my example ever since this happened. Ya. I was around then.

[@renatoantunes4988]

Plants that contain dangerous substancies such as amonia gas, fuel, radioctive elements, etc. must always been built in the middle of nowhere.

[@Dutchman-2002]

@@renatoantunes4988 *cough*cough Tianjin

[@larsmonsen88]

@@renatoantunes4988 Lol I grew up about 500 meters from the largest tank of ammonia in Europe.. right next to residential zones! Everyone there is worried about it and there has been leaks from it in the past..A fucking loooud siren would go off and we would have to go in our houses and shut the windows.

[@motorsportfan1246]

@@Dutchman-2002 *cough*cough* Texas City

[@chrismaverick9828]

@@renatoantunes4988 And marshmallows.

[@darksoul479]

Yes I'll never forget that day. I witnessed that with my own two eyes, and I was quite a bit closer than those guys were. When that toxic smoke was coming towards us, that was a lot more scary than the actual explosions were. When the explosions went off you really didn't have time to think, but when that smoke is coming towards you, you do have time to think and it's absolutely terrifying.

[@wickedgaming91]

I know I'm super late but did they ever figure out what caused this?

[@larsmonsen88]

Damn! How close were you? And what the hell were you doing out there? XD

[@darksoul479]

@@larsmonsen88 I was going to a school called Vo-Tech, which is on top of a mountain close to the pepcon rocket fuel place. When the first explosion went off parts of the ceiling fell in so we all ran outside. We were looking at the fire when the big explosions went off. Long story short it was unbelievably intense!

[@bahort]

I was 15 Miles away in North Las Vegas when we felt the building shake and the accoustic tiles in the ceilings were knocked out of place. I remember seeing this video on the news and was stunned by the way the shockwave rolled out from the blase. Definitely one of those things I'll never forget.

[@meaganglaser]

@@wickedgaming91 super late answer: the chemical plant manufactured one of the components of rocket fuel for the space program. After Challenger blew up, there was a sudden halt in the program, and Pepcon found themselves with a lot more material on hand than the facility was designed to store. A small fire started when welders were working on a building nearby (supposedly a safe distance from the explosive chemicals). It was never proven if the fire started from the welders themselves, or from a gas leak from a natural gas pipeline running under the facility. But either way, the small fire grew out of control quickly because of inadequate safety and fire prevention resources on site, and once the fire spread to the stored chemical barrels ...boom time.

[@mrolivercloseofflol4650]

To put this explosion into perspective. The United states most powerful non nuclear bomb is the MOAB (GBU-43/B) with a blast yeild of around 11 tons of TNT. The last explosion at Pepcon yeilded about 1 kiloton of tnt blast yeild. 1 kiloton is equal to 1000 tons of tnt. The MOAB only has about 1.1% the explosive power compared to the last explosion.

[@imhappyandyou.4003]

That just boggles the mind!. 1.1% is really nothing in comparison.. But thank you for sharing this information because it definitely puts this into perspective and how powerful that explosion really was.

[@theenzoferrari458]

Just threaten the terrorists with a pepcon explosion and they will surrender.

[@swithinbarclay4797]

And that 1Kt blast, is the = of "only" a "small" Uranium/Plutonium Tactical A-Bomb, what has now become the so-called "Suitcase Nuke".

[@ThereWasNoFreeName]

@@imhappyandyou.4003 But 8x stronger bomb only covers 2x distance, so 5 MOABS could do the same amount of damage. 20kt bomb would have radius of total destruction ~500m while 20Mt will have radius ~5km.

[@ChrisD__]

How does that compare to Beirut's harbor explosion?

[@TheCFD_Dude]

At 343 meters per second, the speed of sound took almost exactly 10 seconds to reach them from 0:25 to 0:35. If we plug that into a distance calculator, the camera is 2.13 miles away from the blast.

[@ehrenloudermilk1053]

Thank you. I was gonna do that

[@albertgranados2687]

Sheesh what do you eat for breakfast

[@thenn869]

thanks for taking the thought out of my head,,,,

[@OmmerSyssel]

Please quit that outdated imperial system.

[@williambrandondavis6897]

343 is at sea level and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The speed of sound changes with air density. Air density changes with elevation from the planet and temperature primarily.

[@LoneWulff829]

I was in the middle of my lunch period at school when this went off. In a panic the school told us all to report back to our 4th hour class and had us standing outside when the biggest blast hit. I lost hearing in my right ear for a week even though we were quite a few miles from the site. Thankfully only two people lost their lives in what could have been a much worse outcome.

[@AneudiD78]

Did you lose your hearing from the first or second explosion?

[@TheTradesmanLU2001]

I was walking from class to the lunchroom . William E Ferron on Mt vista/flamingo . We sheltered in place .

[@jwalster9412]

They probably thought it was something in the school.

[@mattmcrae1458]

It was Laura Dearing elementary for me. At lunch and it sounded like someone tipped the air conditioning unit over on the roof of the cafeteria. We were all evacuated to the playground and a helicopter landed on our soccer field. FEMA or National Guard. Don't know why, didn't learn what the noise was until the news that night

[@Zakkariaha]

She was in a school and had to stand outside while this happend. They thought is was an earthquake at first

[@joesmoe71]

It's fortunate that by chance those people were on that hill and had a camera, this video was key in the investigation of the cause.

[@mattb6646]

How was it used in the investigation of the cause if it didn't start until it was already underway?

[@YouveBeenMiddled]

@@mattb6646 Because afterwards, there was nothing left to investigate. This video helped to show the progression and where the initial fires began.

[@ffjsb]

@@YouveBeenMiddled Yep, we studied this in several classes I took in my Fire Science major.

[@kcflyguy]

Two very, very brave men lost their lives in this atrocity. A wheelchair bound employee by the name of Bruce that wasn’t able to make it out and the brave soul who wasn’t going to let him die alone, his name was Roy. Roy stayed with Bruce then called fire & rescue to notify them to stay away so that no other innocent lives wound be lost that day. There was nothing that could be done to stop what was coming. That man Roy, who willingly sacrificed himself he was my father. I was only one year old when he passed, I’ve seen videos and pictures. Thanks to all that have commented. I’ve never publicly shared but I just wanted to say thank you for the kind comments, thoughts, and prayers. He was a good man.

[@VeiTheOne]

A noble man, he was. No doubt about it. x3

[@JoeBlow-jj9uu]

❤

[@terrodar19]

Unbelievable man. so sorry for Your loss, your dad was a hero to his friend…

[@NeutronSplitter]

Sadly, you can't believe anyone on the internet. I doubt this dude is who he claims to be.

[@hansdieter4537]

Another one who's full of shit

[@TheGreatMunky]

Impressive work. Audio sounds way cleaner and more pronounced in the second clip. Thank you for the work you put into it.

[@cherri2665]

The audio is amazing, on a road trip right now and just the sounds of the traffic passing by in the video sounds so real with headphones. Amazing work they’ve done

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

@@cherri2665 I had my volume at a moderate level and that 2nd explosion in the recreation shook me.

[@SYST402r-Music]

​@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren yes

[@MrTangent]

Audio sounds likes shit. So synthetic sounding.

[@dsandoval9396]

In my bed watching this with bass heavy headphones on, the first major bast from that second source/recording caught me off guard and literally made me jump off my bed like it happened right outside my window. Holy crap.

[@theenzoferrari458]

It's amazing how light and sound travel at different speeds.

[@Peter_739]

Is it that amazing? Light and sound are two very, very different things.

[@FsKtyu]

Peter not the point.

[@jwang239]

@@FsKtyu Yeah just more internet warriors from reddit invading the comments section lmao. It is insane though, they were probably roughly around 2 miles away from the blast site ..

[@FsKtyu]

big fat jiji agreed, love watching videos like this.

[@jaxvanhalen1984]

FUCK, I’VE BEEN OUTNERDED

[@doitxstyle]

I stood in front of my HS (I was a sophomore), which was the closest HS to the rocket fuel plant back then. My football coach and I watched that shock wave roll across the desert (you can see the shock wave in the video) and then the percussion hit. Our HS was so damaged that we got out for summer break 2-3 weeks earlier.

[@djstringsmusic2994]

Which school? Basic HS wasn't around yet was it?

[@doitxstyle]

@@djstringsmusic2994 Yes, Basic HS was at the same location as it sits today at the time of Pepcon explosion.

[@jraybay]

​@@doitxstyle Jeez, cool story. Thanks for sharing 🤝

[@GoogleTrendingTopics]

It's insane to see the power of that explosion and not hear it until the sound waves traveled to the camera. Absolutely eerie.

[@scottydont2549]

This explosion used to be on all the disaster shows you would see on Discovery, History, or Nat Geo in the early 2000s. Fascinating to see the whole event as is.

[@Midironica]

For anyone who doesn't know, you can use your "" keys to move between the individual frames of a KZbin video when paused. Pretty fun, especially on videos like this.

[@naran_naran]

Thanks, I didn't know that.

[@MultiPurposeReviewer]

Oh my god, that is freaking amazing! You have no idea how valuable that knowledge is. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[@gonun69]

I thought it was "." and "," Maybe depends on the country's keyboard layout

[@andrewliu6592]

@@gonun69 is ,. but holding shift

[@nickhirst999]

I've been using KZbin since 2005/6 when it had not been going long and I NEVER knew that until now!! Thanks!

[@Whofan06]

This is probably a hugely educational video to show in schools. Could teach about the chemical properties of jet fuel and different types of explosions, industry safety regulations, politics/institutional failings when it comes to said regulations, and an EXCELLENT demonstration of the speed of sound. An entire 10 second delay! Students could do the math to figure out how far away the camera is just from watching this.

[@-108-]

Rocket fuel, not jet fuel. Solid rocket propellant, like that used in the Space Shuttle boosters. AP: Ammonium Perchlorate. Used in the High Power Rocketry hobby, as well. In fact, I've got some AP right here next to me. Great stuff!

[@wjumeau]

We still haven’t learned much from this all that time ago. The recent explosions in China and Beirut both storing large amounts of explosive materials on one place is a disastrous idea and policy…

[@phoenixrisin2269]

Approximately 2 miles. 1125 ft per sec. That might be a stretch for them.

[@michaelmcdonald3057]

No lack of deadly industrial incidents in this country to use as educational tools. What a wind fall for our educational system!

[@Muritaipet]

@@phoenixrisin2269 Might be a stretch? 343 m/s x 10 = 3.43 kms. Easy peasy anywhere in the world.

[@THX--nn5bu]

This happened in my Home Town of Henderson Nevada, I was in Germany at the time in 1988 but my Uncle was working about a mile away from there and the first blast of concussion threw him off of a forklift, he and the whole crew evacuated before the bigger blast occurred.

[@RobdaVegasMailman]

I was living in New Orleans at the time but I live in Henderson now, right by Black Mtn. I hate to think how badly that blast would have damaged things these days, seeing how much the area has built up since then.

[@BrownBomber92181]

Your uncle musta worked at Kerr McGee I'm guessing?

[@jhirmalwinfield3871]

My dad worked and now retired from Timet ...I remember when this happened I was around 10 years old

[@THX--nn5bu]

@@BrownBomber92181 Im not sure exactly, it was either Kerr McGee or Pioneer Chemical corp. He thought it was the end of the world.

[@VAC2]

Damn you are old... did you ever meet Uncle H?

[@stevesloan7132]

The Pepcon disaster was a knock on effect of the loss of the Challenger space shuttle and the suspension of launches. The suspension and investigation lasted two years. And rocket fuel components just built up & up on site at Pepcon until someone made a small mistake while welding.

[@spinalobifida]

Someone probably said, "While we wait for the shuttle to come back, we'll do some remodeling. Keep the gas coming though. No problem." I wonder why they felt the need to weld near the tanks.

[@plusplusplusplusp]

Love your work, sir. Realistic sound is an often-overlooked part of the experience of watching real or fictional action video

[@zephynum]

8:56 Duuuuuuude, i am amazed how the blast took down the other factory in the left.

[@osamabinladen824]

I'm amazed too

[@larsmonsen88]

@@osamabinladen824 What made you take that name and use that picture?

[@donaldbroham3994]

8:57 what factory???

[@chriswaters3442]

@@donaldbroham3994 Factories? We don’t need no stinking factories!

[@WarHawk-]

I was living in Las Vegas at the time and my daughter was at 'Basic High School' just a couple of miles away when the Pepcon explosion occurred. The students were rushed onto school busses and driven across the valley (off-road) away from the area. The high school received some major damage. Fortunately, no one was killed.

[@airmuseum]

I was at Valley View and Charleston and it broke windows. That's about 8 miles away. The only fatality was a wheelchair bound PepCon executive, They never found a trace of him or the chair. It shredded the roof off the Mars chocolate plant a half mile North.

[@WarHawk-]

I believe it. I was working at an apartment complex near the Boulevard Mall and it shattered most of the South facing windows there. I was in a panic and tried to go get my daughter but the authorities wouldn't allow anyone even near the high school. Bad day, for sure.

[@geraldardverbin9099]

I remember thinking that the Russians were attacking at the time and all I could think of was getting the hell out of there after seeing the biggest explosion

[@Framer_Mike]

Chuckie Basic eagles! Was a freshmen there :)

[@WarHawk-]

@Mike DEEZ What a day, huh? My daughter was a Junior.

[@Jin-Ro]

Kudos to the cameraman. Footage of explosions today invariably end up pointing at the floor, or the back of someone's head.

[@Roggor]

Agreed, but must keep in mind the cameras of the time. Likely this one was a bulky shoulder-mounted VHS camera on a tripod. Comparatively tiny cellphones are so much lighter and often held one handed that the shakey-cam footage we see nowadays is inevitable.

[@Jin-Ro]

@@Roggor Good point.

[@therandomytchannel4318]

So many people were filming the Beirut blast, so many angles of that event.

[@fart63]

Most of the people filming accidents now aren’t professionals

[@wolffriendinus]

Saw this on the tv show "Destroyed in Seconds" a few years ago, still can't get over those shockwaves lol

[@Marauder623]

wolffriendinus to put it into more perspective, that camera was set up 2 miles away (i counted the seconds it took for the sound to reach them)

[@Doggeslife]

I remember when it was on the evening news. I was 28 at the time.

[@Tarheel13]

wolffriendinus lol?

[@williamjohnson1102]

So did I that was nasty and seeing the shock wave was crazy

[@larsmonsen88]

@@williamjohnson1102 Flash forward to 2020 and Beirut...

[@heeder777]

I was on the flight line at Nellis AFB that day, the area was not as populated as it is now. You could see and hear the shock waves coming across the desert. I'm guessing we were at least a 20 mile straight line from Pepcon. There is better footage I haven't seen in years of two tourists filming right off the highway, when final explosion happened the pressure actually pushed them back over their car. They were a good distance from the plant. If you sold garage doors and windows you made a fortune in Henderson over the next year.

[@DanSlotea]

heeder777 how could you hear the shockwave coming? It travels at the speed of sound so it's impossible to hear it before it arrives to you. At most you can feel it in the ground beneath you, as it travels faster there than in the air.

[@heeder777]

Dan Slotea good point but I can tell you that the sound was like a high speed wind that was in sync with the very visible wave.

[@NyuuMikuru1]

Lived near Nellis and Lk Mead Blvd, felt that shockwave twice with a whoomp. Thought at first the corner gas station blew up.

[@alonewolfhowling]

heeder777 I saw that same film. Worked in such stuff back then and knew about solid rocket fuel and its capabilities. First light then seismic then sound and force. That ring expanding out from the plant was your force wave and sound wave. You can get the feel of it when you map the distance to this exploration teams filming site.

[@AmerT-tz4qm]

You can big explosion in Yaman by Arabia Sodia fighter jet in Attan Mountain .

[@jturcios]

I remember seeing this in the news back when it happened. First shockwave I ever saw. The audio reconstruction made a huge difference especially when heard through good headphones.

[@CieraMychele]

I love how both people in both groups go, "oh man that's gonna be loud!!" Just after the big explosion

[@janeilnold5863]

It's so scary to see that destructive shockwave race across the desert. The forces are so strong, they leveled buildings, tossed cars (and people), and shattered windows miles away.

[@seymoorepoone9512]

Absolutely terrifying. Incredible stories from people in the comments who witnessed this.

[@roberthoffhines5419]

I clearly remember the original broadcast of this footage over the network news, but I remember the sound (through my 80s TV reproduction) as hard and crisp as what you reconstructed here. it made a lasting impression on me. Every time I've revisited the footage in the years since, it doesn't have the shocking, hard, harsh sonic impact I remember from the broadcasted versions. I don't know why that is, but fascinated to finally see/hear it recreated here.

[@MilesL.auto-train4013]

Less treble maybe?

[@fredferd965]

At the time of the explosion, I was working for Lockheed, doing EPA work in a facility in downtown Las Vegas not far away. Around me was a group of very bright scientists, most with doctorate degrees. When the first blast hit, all of our windows rattled. The blast wave went overhead - it was a sonic boom, and it reminded me of the time at Edwards AFB when an F-104 went overhead supersonic - sounded the same. The scientists all went to the glass windows (facing south) and looked. They saw the second blast. Someone had a stop watch - they timed the shock wave, and measured when it hit. Then they went to the chalk board and did some serious calculus (all of this out of their heads) and they said, "we don't know what it is, but it's about 7 miles away. I think they were accurate to within half a mile. NOTE - there were two facilities in the USA manufacturing Amonium Perchlorate. The news was very, very quit about the other facility (which was not involved) but it was located only a few miles away from the one that blew up. The wind was unusual that day - it was blowing from the west to the east. Hardly ever happens. The homes in Green Valley (in Henderson) were heavily damaged. My boss's garage door was blown off of its hinges. He had a neighbor lady - her parakeet was blown through the bars of his cage. And Don't even think about the Henderson Marshmello Factory - flattened to the ground.

[@Imissmusicvideos]

Those Pepcon explosions were on the magnitude of around 1 kiloton total equivalent. Fast forward to 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon where the ammonium nitrate explosion was around 2+ kt. At least Pepcon was in a remote location whereas the Beirut explosion was at the port on the edge of the city. Two fatalities at Pepcon vs 200+ in Beirut.

[@jeremymarkowski]

I still remember being in class at the jr high down the rd when that went off. The teacher was the first one out the door....

[@realvanman1]

Very nicely done! Thank you for the authentic audio!

[@parasiteenergy9249]

You did such a good job with this, very impressed. Thank you.

[@randallriley]

Wikipedia: "The largest explosion released estimated energy of approximately 1.0 kilotons of TNT according to one source." A small nuke-sized explosion.

[@mehmetsahsert3284]

I dont think so it must be the explosion in tianjin a few years ago

[@randallriley]

@@mehmetsahsert3284 The Wikipedia was referencing the largest of the series of explosions at Pepcon, not that it was the largest non-nuclear explosion ever. Just that the really big explosion at Pepcon was about 1 kiloton, which equals the explosive power of some of the "smaller" nuclear weapons.

[@Darkstalker212]

*Tianjin explosion has entered the chat*

[@CleveAneki]

@@Darkstalker212 size of an explosion is based upon energy released, not by size of the fireball, and the Tianjin explosion falls pretty far behind the PEPCON explosion

[@earlcoles5215]

Pepcon had 1000 tons of TNT worth of energy

[@MyCatInABox]

Wow, man: AWESOME job on the audio reconstruction.... really super good. You can hear everything.

[@TDurden527]

I "discovered" this video several years ago and it is one of my fav explosion vids. Thanks.

[@lawrencekeeney4317]

I worked for this company for many years. I just happened to be on a job in Mexico when this explosion happened. I was trying to call my wife about the time this explosion happened. She was not answering the phone. When I was finally able to talk with her, she was watching TV, and understood that everyone had died in this explosion. She was actually in food store in Henderson when this happened, and she said all the ceiling tiles were falling down. I was traveling in Mexico and could not reach my wife for a couple of days, so for these days I thought all my friends were dead. I believe this video is the one taken by men working on a TV transmitter tower on the mountain (very large hill) near the plant. At least the video being shown on the TV at that time was taken by them.

[@osamabinladen824]

Very interesting.

[@theenzoferrari458]

Damn. You just went about your day thinking your friends were dead and didn't do anything?

[@nasanierulastname2997]

Deserves more views. Audio reconstruction was very well done.

[@piev4166]

watching the explosion at 1:37 frame by frame is truly fascinating and terrifying at the same time

[@orion5662]

8:55 lmao that guy was like dat son of a bitch gonna be loud

[@Tha_Monsta88]

Phantom Orion recheck at 10:10 LMAO

[@patronsaintofpoison]

This was my first memory. I am a third generation Las Vegan and on this day I was two years old, with my third birthday happening in August. I remember sitting on the floor in the front room playing and after the ground shook briefly, my mother went running to the front door to see what had happened. I even used to have a baseball cap that said "HENDERSON: Its a blast!"

[@sperez98324]

The 🧢 is a harbinger of impending doom or should I say... boom? 💥 🤯

[@webgomer]

Great job - gave my 1100 watt, 18" subwoofer a good workout!

[@MrEtherShot]

Bradford Guy same had my 100 megawatt quad 36" subs triple bypass amp doing hard work 😓

[@_JoeMomma]

panda44r *11*

[@wyzapple]

A workout?? My tiny little cell phone speaker just coughed up a lung.

[@3melendr592]

Bradford Guy Sub woofer? That size moves enough air to shake buildings! Lol!

[@mattlf9120]

RIP Bradford Guy

[@niceguy4421]

Great work!! Thanks for taking the time to improve the quality, Pepcon explosion #1 in my book. :)

[@simutrains8723]

who is here after the Beirut explosion ?

[@sarahivsutterb747]

Me - lovely greetings to you and stay safe out there and take care of you and your family and stay blessed and happy and healthy in these times right now 🙋‍♀💝🤔

[@Better_Planet]

one stupid commented pepcon video and I hade to come here

[@simutrains8723]

@@Better_Planet yep that's why i was here =

[@TheVino3]

Stay tuned

[@derekdowns6275]

Great job! Audio over a pair of 16" speakers really brought it home. Video gain and color correction is spot on.

[@RagingMoon1987]

"Ooo, that's gonna be loud!" LOL, I love it.

[@dx1450]

Yeah, I'd have dropped down and put my hands over my ears, just in case.

[@Paul-vi9gh]

This is the very best footage of the disaster on the internet. Incredible.

[@amazingjournal]

A stunnning audio reconstruction. Must have been truly terrifying to be anywhere near there.

[@majorwedgie8166]

This is about the only accident I can think of where the official account of what happened actually makes sense!

[@opponoastos]

8:55 and everything turns black. If the Pepcon Explosion had happened in a big city, like the Tianjin Explosion of 2015, alot more people would have perished that day.

[@TheRealFizzbin]

Now it has happend something like that in Beirut.... shocking

[@osamabinladen824]

@@TheRealFizzbin Yup

[@strawberryelephant5440]

fizz bin The crazy thing is that the main footage of the Beirut explosion was taken about a mile away. The clip you saw here was about 2-3 miles away o_o

[@theenzoferrari458]

@@osamabinladen824 Osama bin laggin

[@darren.plateroti]

Can you imagine this explosion happening in that area of Henderson today? With how developed this area has become since 1988, so many people/places would be wiped out in an instant. Being from the city, and having been up that mountain myself, I can honestly say that looking down on it here in 2021, it is a scary thought.

[@myheadhurts1927]

A perfect example of why not to turn the camera off too soon. It is also a pretty good reason to keep a tripod with your camera.

[@PurpleCrow27]

Well done! You are a professional audio engineer. Awesome. Thanks for this. :>

[@jenniferbeyer6412]

This was a horrible day. Sad about the men who died. May they rest in peace. The factory made the fuel for the space shuttle, and when the program was put on hold due to the accident to the shuttle. The contract wasn't halted and they just kept producing the fuel and stockpiling it. Until this horrible day. Glad though that someone filmed it. The men who died deserved to be remembered forever, just like the shuttle crew. It is a awesome display. And the shock waves are terrifying. They can be tracked across the valley.

[@Steve_Hunts96]

Holy.... shit. That reconstructed audio was AMAZING

[@rickwhite4137]

At first, I misred the title. I read *Popcorn Explosion…*

[@HelipOfficial]

lol thats what i read too. xD and yeah the explosions sounds like a BIG OL Sniper rifle, or an Artillery.

[@rodneynorris5281]

Same, LMAO.

[@OGDragonflare]

Rick White hhahah me 2

[@ycaruzob]

pause: 01:07:32:12 cool brightness

[@denisemcnamara5266]

I remember this well. I was a firefighter for San Bernardino County in California at the time.

[@daleschroeder5582]

watching that sound wave go out was amazing and having someone film this to wow

[@AZCaveMan480]

WOW! That audio reconstruction of the 2nd blast scared the hell out of me!

[@SuperChuckRaney]

there is video from the firetrucks rushing out there, it blows the truck off the road. It's on you tube.

[@hudsonball4702]

For those who don't know, the first big explosion was caused by the Solid Rocket Fuel storage going up nearly all at once. The two smaller secondary explosions were two smaller barrel loads of the stuff going off. Finally the 2nd and largest explosion was caused by the main gas line across the street from the planet going off underground. It left a 1200ft wide 20ft deep crater.

[@jwalster9412]

Jeez, natural gas is so dangerous, and its used every where like its nothing.

[@deezelfairy]

Sorry but your wrong, the biggest explosion was all the perchlorate going up at once. That was a detonation, literally impossible for a gas explosion.

[@NoOne-sn2si]

The two big ones are high order detonations... Ammonium Perchlorate is similar to ammonium nitrate in that it will detonate on its own if it gets hot enough, like it being in a big hot fire. It's pretty stable if stored properly but this is a case where it wasn't stored properly... Lol! The national agencies involved that investigated sure had fishy explanations for the cause. Either way, this should have never happened...

[@JWRay-xh9wl]

If you look close enough you can see the barns behind the complex just get rippled in the second big ignition,and see cars trying to escape on the road just get hammered,what a thing to live through

[@rosco4659]

Really impressed the reconstructed audio

[@Mark-sq3xp]

I remember feeling that around Maryland Parkway and Tropicana when that happened. Amazing how powerful that explosion was.

[@hashtag415]

Filmed with a vintage 80s Koda-chrome potatocam. (still in use by Bigfoot investigators)

[@I_am16]

Lol

[@fastjoecorrigan7426]

# Hashtag lol

[@nasanierulastname2997]

1988, this was pretty good video quality

[@phapnui]

Comment with a vintage 80s meme...

[@chocolateex1907]

# Hashtag lol yes

[@enriquemorales7456]

I cant believe this was so long ago. And now there is only houses and streets where that happened

[@parkpunk2]

"who in the hell stays behind like that and for what reason?!" Heroes

[@MagicDragonKatt]

I remember this video was always played in the annual Christmas chemistry show at our university. The professor doing the demonstrations kindly pointed out that the white building to the left of the explosion was "a marshmallow factory that gets completely pulverized by the blast" Can you imagine that. Tonnes of Marshmallows vaporized. The Horror. THE HORROR.

[@PhilipReeder]

MagicDragonKatt I almost went to work there....

[@theenzoferrari458]

Lmao. Like the use of "kindly pointed out".

[@30AndHatingIt]

Funny, until I learned someone actually died there.

[@30AndHatingIt]

Having a bad day?

[@Hyzic]

Jente, in terms of pure percentage US is only around 31% of pop classified as obese, there are many other countries that are pushing near 50%.

[@solarsoltice9075]

I was a fire lookout for years. There is nothing a fire dept could do about that.

[@Cinerary]

No shit sherlock.

[@fart63]

Some things simply can’t be helped

[@thedigger4501]

that was the scariest moment in my life

[@hiroasuakika7144]

god the sheer SOUND of the two big explosions, the fact that you could SEE the shockwaves as they spread out, and the flash of the second explosion being so bright that it actually blacked out the camera at that second...just WOW

[@mrz80]

It's like watching footage of B-52s dropping bombs in Vietnam. You can see the shockwaves from the bombs going off spread thru the jungle.

[@BibboRacing96]

Incredible work on the audio

[@thaigangmei8496]

On my earphone. ..wtf second one nearly gave me an heart attack lmao

[@daniel4tash]

Same here. I had it full blast too 😂

[@FrappuccinoAlfredo]

Sounds a lot more "boomy" with the echoes. Good work!

[@Arch3an]

I've never heard an explosion this big in person before, but would there really be an echo? It doesn't look like there is anything to cause an echo.

[@rhinovirus2225]

It's not echos that are causing multiple boom sounds its multiple explosions happening almost simultaneously.

[@thevikingwarrior]

The later part of this video, with the much much better sound quality; it makes the experience so much more realistic sounding, that is sounds like you are actually there watching it!

[@kchez5586]

That shockwave is absolutely terrifying.

[@mr.erico8431]

That was a crazy day. I was in elementary school getting ready for our lunch. I remember the intensity of the booms. We looked outside and could see the mushroom cloud. I was scared because my mom worked at the Kerr-Mcgee plant down the road but I didn't know what was on fire. Also the previous week our school had a field trip at the Kiddie marshmallow factory which was next door to Pepcon. It was wild driving around town afterwards looking at all of the blown out windows and garage doors.

[@richf9608]

This is so awesome

[@NavidIsANoob]

Great work!

[@dragonridley]

Nice to finally see a version without cheesy sound effects added.

[@broden4838]

That hold- OH! Oooooh, that's gonna be loud!

[@FN_FAL_4_ever]

At 1:37, if you play it at .25 speed, note the vacuum just after detonation. Absolutely impressive power.

[@kevinwantstoshred]

Thank you for not synchronizing the audio like discovery channel would

[@catkeys6911]

0:22 When you see that pressure wave spread out along the ground, you know you've seen a major blast.

[@Altair9678]

at least camra man knowz reality...prepare for shockwAve

[@DBevill]

I was almost 1 and a half years old when this happened. I was born in September of 1986. Growing up, my parents would tell me stories about how powerful the blast was. A lot of Vegas residents thought we got bombed and would have to evacuate. If you’re from here, driving down Gibson road will always give you memories about that day. Rest In Peace to Roy Westerfield & Bruce Halker.🙏🏾

[@davidca96]

you literally see the building vaporize in the second explosion shockwave, and also realize there were fire trucks nearby that were literally thrown, as well as people driving away or standing there.

[@monomaxie]

I don't know how I feel about youtube knowing I watch explosion-disaster videos enough to get too many of them recommended

[@ravusursi893]

I worked out those guys were about 2.14 miles away from the available data. It's a good job they were given those shock waves!

[@Atonement-]

Can remember the day care lady freaking out & panicking after she heard news from somebody that they were using nuclear crap or chlorine or something bad (can also remember being 11 & annoyed being stuck in a damn day care)... man we were 9 miles away & still got rocked... shock wave registered a 4.6 on the Richter scale if I recall.....that entire area is completely developed now...all of it, to every mountain side...the shock wave did quite a bit of damage throughout....our garage door was bent, windows blown inward with glass sticking into walls (home only 3.8 miles away)... chick I went to school with, her Dad was one of the people incinerated after 1st explosion allegedly...was bad news man.

[@theenzoferrari458]

The man who stayed behind to be with Bruce who both died in the explosion, his son commented on the video. He said he was only 1 year old when his father died. Should be one of the top comments.

[@jbizzle8491]

I remember being at my aunt's house off Barrett, east of Boulder hwy. When the blast happened, the roof lifted up slightly. By the second blast you could see daylight from the roof like the blast picked it up and set it down in an odd way. Popcorn (ceiling) everywhere. Windows blown out, etc. Crazy day.

[@stevenbramschreiber2229]

I remember watching this video when I was a HazMat Tech long ago...unreal how loud that explosion was..

[@leestundra]

I was living about 5 miles away, my apartment complex was a mess. All the windows were gone, the door was blown open. Animals were everywhere freaked out. I was across town at work when this happened, it looked like a plane had crashed from where we were. When the second explosion went off, we knew it was something else.

[@theenzoferrari458]

Yeah the Russians attacking and a mass invasion of the homeland. I'd have been drawing weapons and waiting for the first platoon of Russian soldiers advancing.

[@Lachiejack99]

The explosion sounds a bit like a thunderstorm with lightning is well

[@Tattlebot]

Notice at 1:38 the auto exposure kicking in. This special effect is used by the best Japanese special effect animators to enhance explosions. For example, this can be seen in many episodes of Evangelion.

[@MrDavidr86]

DAMN!!! I have a 12' 500 watt powered sub and surround system hooked to the computer. That enhancement on the sound was EPIC!!!!

[@Rebel9668]

a 12 foot 500 watt powered sub? How do you store something like that? LOL

[@MrDavidr86]

lmbo!!

[@ElTurbinado]

Lol 12 foot sub, Marty McFly style.