ABSTRACT This article offers a new analysis of radionuclide and hydroacoustic data to support a low-yield nuclear weapon test as a plausible explanation for the still contentious 22 September 1979 Vela Incident, in which U.S. satellite Vela 6911 detected an optical signal characteristic of an atmospheric nuclear explosion over the Southern Indian or Atlantic Ocean. Based on documents not previously widely available, as well as recently declassified papers and letters, this article concludes that iodine-131 found in the thyroids of some Australian sheep would be consistent with them having grazed in the path of a potential radioactive fallout plume from a 22 September low-yield nuclear test in the Southern Indian Ocean. Further, several declassified letters and reports which describe aspects of still classified hydroacoustic reports and data favor the test scenario. The radionuclide and hydroacoustic data taken together with the analysis of the double-flash optical signal picked up by Vela 6911 that was described in a companion 2017 article (“The 22 September 1979 Vela Incident: The Detected Double-Flash”) can be traced back to sources with similar spatial and temporal origins and serve as a strong indicator for a nuclear explosion being responsible for the 22 September 1979 Vela Incident.

中文翻译：

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1979 年 9 月 22 日的船帆座事件：核爆炸的放射性核素和水声证据

摘要本文提供了对放射性核素和水声数据的新分析，以支持低当量核武器试验，作为对 1979 年 9 月 22 日仍然有争议的 Vela 事件的合理解释，在该事件中，美国卫星 Vela 6911 检测到大气核的光信号特征。在南印度洋或大西洋上空爆炸。根据以前未广泛使用的文件以及最近解密的文件和信件，本文得出结论，在一些澳大利亚绵羊的甲状腺中发现的碘 131 与它们在来自一个潜在放射性沉降羽流的路径上吃草是一致的。 9 月 22 日在南印度洋进行低当量核试验。更多，一些解密的信件和报告描述了仍然保密的水声报告和数据的各个方面，有利于测试场景。放射性核素和水声数据以及对 Vela 6911 拾取的双闪光信号的分析，在 2017 年的一篇配套文章（“1979 年 9 月 22 日的船帆座事件：检测到的双闪”）中有所描述，可以追溯到到具有相似空间和时间起源的来源，并作为核爆炸导致 1979 年 9 月 22 日 Vela 事件的有力指标。