The Pentagon has revealed sensational details of Operation Midnight Hammer, a secret aerial strike mission conducted by the United States Air Force on June 21 against Iran, which buried a nuclear enrichment facility at Fordow. The mission, directed by US President Donald Trump, also hit nuclear installations at Natanz and Isfahan, one of the boldest military operations in decades.
Pilot Recalls “Brightest Explosion” In Fordow Strike
One of the US Air Force pilots who took part in the strike told how the detonation at Fordow was “the brightest explosion I’ve ever seen – it looked like daylight.” This was issued as the Pentagon released video and declassified information linked to the mission.
As reported by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine, the elite aircrews departed Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. “A commander said to me, ‘This is an experience in the lives of our families that they will never forget,'” Caine stated. One aircrew personnel even compared the experience to playing in the Super Bowl.
Iran Strike Was Years in the Making
Fordow was the most likely target because it is located deep beneath the earth in a mountain, defended against conventional weaponry. The US military had been waiting for Iran’s attempt to fortify the facility and had been planning for that shot.
Just days before the attack, Iran tried to seal Fordow’s ventilation shafts with concrete slabs. However, the US military had already developed a solution — the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 14,000-kg steel-encased bomb designed specifically to penetrate hardened targets.
General Caine confirmed that all six bombs hit their intended targets, with a devastating combination of overpressure and blast waves obliterating Iran’s underground infrastructure.
Family Reunions and Military Precision
Both active-duty and Missouri Air National Guard bomber crews were involved in the mission. They left on Friday, June 20, and arrived back on Sunday, June 22, to a tearful welcome at Whiteman Air Force Base. Loved ones, knowing the mission was riding on their safe return, were there to greet the airmen home.
Defense leaders celebrated the operation’s successful deployment and powerful impact as a clear demonstration of American war planning and technological dominance. Moreover, with damage analysis consistent with decades of simulation, the Pentagon has further framed the attack as an authoritative statement to those who act in secret.
