Scarce more than the landing strip, Johnston Atoll has recently gone "to the birds." For many years, Johnston was home to 1,100 military personnel and used by the U.S. Military as a chemical agents disposal site. But in 2003, control of the atoll was turned over to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, all its buildings were demolished, its airstrip marked closed, and the island became a bird refuge.

Since official records indicate that nuclear testing occurred in 1962, Jack Lovett's statements about 1952 either represent his failed memory, or Didion's incomplete research.