Remembered Thunder

When I was a boy, chemistry sets were a typical American birthday gift, and chemicals of all kinds were obtainable for anyone who knew what a particular chemical could do.  Everyone of my generation, including me, has true explosion stories to share.  This display at the Chemical Heritage Foundation's museum (expanded in recent years) brought up a few such memories.  

There was the time in 1968 when the houses on my street on Long Island were shaken by an explosion about three miles away.  A very large crater in a newly created clearing (500 trees sawed off by hand at knee-height), an observation bunker, and a camera platform made of logs, were found in a wooded area.  One fellow on my block was suspected by police but no one was ever arrested. The last official remark I have said that the bomb squad believed that "experimenters, not extremists" had done the loud deed. That assessment was correct.  On my street, the truth was known by many, and I researched it again a few years back.  A detective who lived 12 miles from the blast could tell by the sound that it was made with nitroglycerin-type bomb.  The mastermind is still living.  He's a retired engineer.