Skull Valley: The Secret History of America’s Worst Nerve Gas Accident

Skull Valley, Utah, 1968. A shepherd bolts from his cot, unnerved by a ghostly silence. When he steps out of his sheep wagon, he is stunned by an incomprehensible sight: hundreds of dying sheep strewn across the desert landscape.

In 1968, Americans thought they lived in a peace-loving country, one that took the moral high ground in defending freedom. But political assassinations, race riots, and the Vietnam War had begun to fuel doubt in those beliefs. Then came the images of thousands of twitching, writhing sheep, poisoned by nerve agents on American soil, and the realization that the military was developing a deadly new class of weapons. When news of the disaster leaked, an even more disturbing truth was revealed: the Skull Valley incident wasn’t the only chemical weapons accident—it was simply the first one the government couldn’t keep hidden.

With the page-turning pace of a thriller, Skull Valley dives deep into the macabre history of nerve agents, poisons so powerful that a drop on the skin or a few molecules inhaled can kill within minutes, and the day that the military poisoned the American West. Award-winning writer Kris Newby brings the little-known history of these secret weapons vividly into focus through a rich cast of characters, including an FBI double agent who fed misinformation to Russia, inspiring them to invent an even more deadly nerve agent, Novichok; the victims of the Skull Valley accident, including ranchers and the indigenous Goshute tribe; the US military brass who tried to cover it up; an idealistic veterinary pathologist and irascible ranch veterinarian who discovered and exposed the leak; and the congressman who, at the expense of his own career, informed the world of the massive chemical weapons stockpiles hidden around the world.

Compulsively readable, Skull Valley is a gripping portrait of America during the Cold War arms race, an unflinching investigation into the creation of invisible weapons, and a timely warning about the devastating consequences of secrecy, hubris, and unchecked military power.

• A Gripping Tale of Secrecy and Cover-Ups: Learn how the U.S. military concealed its dark history of toxic weapons testing in the American West and buried the truth of what happened in Skull Valley.
• Page-Turning Narrative from an Acclaimed Author: From the author of Bitten, this thrilling, fast-paced work of nonfiction brings this dark chapter of history to life with vivid storytelling and unforgettable details.
• Fascinating Cast of Real-Life Characters: Follow whistleblowers, ranchers, scientists, military officials, and a spy, whose actions influenced the rise and fall of chemical weapons development in the U.S.
• Terrifying Insights into Nerve Agents: Discover how these lethal substances work—and how even the smallest exposure can kill within minutes.
• A Defining Moment in American History: Explore how the Skull Valley incident transformed U.S. weapons policy during the late 1960s, an era of political and social unrest.
• Exposé of Government Accountability: Witness the courage of those who risked their careers to reveal the truth about black-budget, Cold War military programs, bringing an end to many of these weapons of mass destruction.
• A Timely and Urgent Warning: A powerful, thought-provoking investigation into military secrecy and the lasting human and environmental costs of chemical weapons.