Paul Tibbets had performing roles in several movies, often portraying himself.
In October, 1976, Tibbets did a live performance at an air show in Harlingen, Texas. This was mentioned by all the news agencies when he died. As for example, in this BBC article
In 1976, Gen Tibbets was criticised for re-enacting the bombing at an air show in Texas.
A mushroom cloud was set off as he over flew in a B-29 Superfortress in a stunt that outraged Japan. Gen Tibbets said it was not meant as an insult but the US government formally apologised.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists also mentions this in the January 1979 issue:
In an air show at Harlingen, Texas in October of 1976, the bombing of Hiroshima was reenacted by retired Air Forge Brig. Gen. Paul. W. Tibbets. The pilot of the Enola Gay wheeled another B-29 Superfortress in the sky, passed over the runway below, and dropped a demonstration bomb which erupted in a mushroom-shaped cloud.
And the Wikipedia:
The U.S. government apologized to Japan during 1976 after Tibbets re-enacted the bombing in a restored B-29 at an air show in Texas, complete with mushroom cloud. Tibbets said that he had not meant for the reenactment to have been an insult to the Japanese
Have you ever heard of an atomic bomb being dropped on Harlingen, Texas? I don't think you have. This was a 'demonstration bomb', as the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists called it. No one claims it was an atomic bomb, yet, it made a mushroom cloud. This is proof, in a public performance, that you don't need an 'atomic bomb' to produce a mushroom cloud.
(I am searching for a picture of this cloud. I haven't found one on the internet. If I find one, I'll post it.)
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