A 1958 plan was developed to launch a Study of Lunar Research Flights, also known as Project A119. The project was a top-secret plan developed by the United States Air Force and involved detonating a nuclear bomb on the Moon. The idea was that the project would help in answering some of the mysteries in planetary astronomy and astrogeology (Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of celestial bodies such as planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites). The figured that if the explosive device were to detonate on the surface, and not in a lunar crater, the flash of explosive light would have been faintly visible to people on Earth with their naked eye. Not necessarily a scientific study, but rather a “stunt” meant as a show of force which would hopefully result in a possible boosting of domestic morale and belief in the capabilities of the United States. It was decided that this was a boost that was needed after the Soviet Union took an early lead in the Space Race. 
The project was never carried out, but was actually cancelled after “Air Force officials decided its risks outweighed its benefits.” A Moon landing, it was decided, would undoubtedly be a more popular achievement in the eyes of the American and international public than setting off a bomb on the Moon. If the stunt was executed, it was worried that it might have led to a potential militarization of space, which was something nobody wanted to see happen. Interestingly, there was an identical project planned by the Soviet Union. It was called Project E-4, and it was also scrapped due to fears of the warhead falling back on Soviet territory, and the potential for an international incident. These were really valid and responsible concerns, and I think it might have caused exactly what they thought it would. The idea of weapons hitting Earth from space, is really very frightening.
No one in the general public really knew about the US project, until it was revealed in 2000 by a former executive at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Leonard Reiffel, who was actually the person who had headed up the project in 1958. The effects of a nuclear explosion in vacuum and low gravity and evaluating the scientific value of the project were predicted by a young Carl Sagan and his team. Once the evaluations were decided, and the decision cancel the project made, the relevant documents were kept secret for nearly 45 years and, despite Reiffel’s revelations, the United States government has never officially acknowledged its involvement in the study. I can understand that. The project seems like a rather strange idea anyway.
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