Sounding rockets or smoke flares may be launched just before a device explodes so that their vapor trails may be used to record the passage of the otherwise invisible shock wave.
Operation Teapot Test
The National Nuclear Security Administration refers to this image as an Operation Teapot test, so I'm not positive which event this is. The lines that you see in this and several other photos are vapor trails of sounding rockets.
Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site OfficeReaders Respond: Do You Support or Oppose Atomic Testing?
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