9:00 p.m.
The pregnant herd was to be given labor-inducing shots at midnight , and , if all went well , deliveries would start within a few hours . Just to be sure that nothing would shield the cows from the rays of the explosion , they were put in a corral on the south side of the barn until 9:30 p.m. , on the night of the firing . Solomon 's successor and a new bevy of hens were already roosting in the same old chicken house and egg production was normal . On the night of July 3rd , at precisely 9:00 p.m. , a sheet of light erupted from the Nevada hillside cave and the ground shook and rumbled for a few miles . It was n't a powerful blast , nor had been the original shot . Sixty miles away , thirteen Guernsey cows munched at a rick of fresh hay and chewed contentedly in the moonlight . At 3:11 a.m. , the following morning the first calf arrived , followed in rapid order by a dozen more .