Sky Thriller Atomic Draws On Real Nuclear Black Market Chase Across North Africa, Middle East

The new five-part Sky thriller "Atomic" features a high-stakes chase across North Africa and the Middle East involving two men smuggling uranium, with Game of Thrones' Alfie Allen starring. The series, while dramatized, is inspired by real events detailed in journalist William Langewiesche's 2007 non-fiction book "Atomic Bazaar," which revealed how nuclear weapons materials have slipped through government oversight and entered black market smuggling networks. Following the Soviet Union's collapse, Russian weapons sites fell into disarray, allowing staff to sell or abscond with weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, which have since infiltrated smuggling routes in Turkey and Russia's closed cities, making these materials accessible to hostile nations and terrorist groups. Despite the alarming reality uncovered by Langewiesche, the show's intense cross-border pursuit is a fictional embellishment. Meanwhile, a widely seen black ring in the U.S. sky was identified by scientists as a vortex ring—a circular smoke formation caused by explosions or pyrotechnics—debunking supernatural or apocalyptic claims. Separately, speculation about an alien spacecraft entering our solar system has been stirred by a planetary astrophysicist suggesting it could be a nuclear-powered spaceship, urging humanity to prepare for contact and unity amid global conflicts.