A MOB of manic flash dancers and a puppy ran chanting into Smith St Mall yesterday - and then froze.

The Red Cross campaigners took over Darwin's main shopping strip in the fight against nuclear weapons and warfare.

Bodies hit the deck and others shielded their faces as if a shell had crashed among them, with a two-dimensional "ban the bomb" artwork at the centre ... although the pup didn't seem to get it.

Flash mobber and Education Department worker Desmond Campbell, 27, said: "Nuclear weapons do a lot more damage than intended."

Mr Campbell, a national youth representative for the NT, said that he hoped the 200,000 signatures already on the Red Cross "Make Nuclear Weapons the Target" online referendum would help get the weapons banned.