---
born: 1918-09-09
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
died: 1991-09-15
location: United States
summary: Nuclear Intelligence Panel member who concluded the 1979 Vela satellite event
  was a South African-Israeli nuclear test and accused the White House of suppressing
  the finding.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

Louis H. Roddis, Jr. played a major role in America's postwar nuclear weapons development. He was a member of the Nuclear Intelligence Panel (NIP). Roddis concluded that the 1979 [South Africa](/places/south-africa/)n-Israeli nuclear test had taken place on a barge or on one of the islands in the South Indian Ocean archipelago. He expressed anger at [Frank Press](/people/frank-press/) and the White House for what he saw as a deliberate effort to downplay and manipulate the facts surrounding the event.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 20.