Atom Bomb almost exploded over NC in 1961?

[roywhite]

Close Call

Not meant for policy discussion, just a wow.

It's a Reuters story based on documents uncovered by the UK Guardian.

LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. atom bomb nearly exploded in 1961 over North Carolina that would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that devastated Hiroshima, according to a declassified document published in a British newspaper on Friday.

The Guardian newspaper said the document, obtained by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, gave the first conclusive evidence that the United States came close to a disaster in January 1961.

The incident happened when two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina, after a B-52 bomber broke up in midair.

[Indoor66]

Close Call

Not meant for policy discussion, just a wow.

It's a Reuters story based on documents uncovered by the UK Guardian.

That would have ruined the whole day!

[Kimist]

Here is a slightly more detailed version of the story, and it even includes a picture of Dr. Strangelove.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-carolina-1961

K

"And have an A-1 day!"

[BD80]

Here is a slightly more detailed version of the story, and it even includes a picture of Dr. Strangelove.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-carolina-1961

K

"And have an A-1 day!"

Picture FROM Dr Strangelove.

Come on, not all that close, The B-52 failed and 3 of the 4 safety devices. Quadruple redundancy was sufficient. Why waste money on too much safety? Wait, would the fallout have reached Pittsburgh? Actually, in the 60's we wouldn't have noticed in Pittsburgh, we had a protective shield in the atmosphere from the coke ovens running 24/7.

There was a different concept of acceptable risk 50 years ago. Remember, we repeatedly shot guys to the moon back then in a tin can with the computing power of calculator that would cost $25 today.

The really sad/funny/disturbing quote:

at least 700 "significant" accidents and incidents involving 1,250 nuclear weapons were recorded between 1950 and 1968 alone.

[Kimist]

Picture FROM Dr Strangelove.

Correction duly noted.

When one is Medicare-eligible, it is indeed somewhat difficult to be perfect in all instances.

Below is a picture of the actual Dr. Strangelove.

(Now I need to go back and figure out why General Patton was sitting at the conference table with all those people, and also why King Kong was no longer atop the Empire State Building but instead astride some bomb....)

k

Strangelove.jpg

[BD80]

... (Now I need to go back and figure out why General Patton was sitting at the conference table with all those people, and also why King Kong was no longer atop the Empire State Building but instead astride some bomb....) ...

So you find GCScott's portrayal of the General to be difficult to understand? I'd always interpreted this Turgid-son in a more bombastic light.

And that's Major Kong! He must have been the last choice for the mission because ...

I can't say it, I just can't ...

there was Slim Pickens

[davekay1971]

My father-in-law is from Goldsboro. Knowing he and his family, I'm pretty sure a couple'a puny little a-bombs wouldn't have done more than help brew the moonshine and barbecue the hawg.

[Kimist]

So you find GCScott's portrayal of the General to be difficult to understand? I'd always interpreted this Turgid-son in a more bombastic light.

And that's Major Kong! He must have been the last choice for the mission because ...

I can't say it, I just can't ...

there was Slim Pickens

Good grief!!!!

Strong hint: Please consult Funk & Wagnall's definition of "sarcasm."

k

[throatybeard]

I've spent a lot of time between I-95 and the coast, and I'm not quite sure how you would distinguish whether the area had had a bomb dropped on it or not.

OK, that was rude and mean. But...

[davekay1971]

I've spent a lot of time between I-95 and the coast, and I'm not quite sure how you would distinguish whether the area had had a bomb dropped on it or not.

OK, that was rude and mean. But...

It's okay. I always think the same thing when I drive through north Jersey.

[Indoor66]

It's okay. I always think the same thing when I drive through north Jersey.

Or St. Louis in 1978 going to the Checkerdome.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I moved to Smithfield in late 1979, and I have heard brief stories about this, but never the "whole story". One of the rumors is that one of the bombs was never recovered - it's buried in a field somewhere near Goldsboro. Don't know if that's true or not, but that's the rumor. According to the story linked, there were only two bombs, both recovered. Maybe, maybe not!

The plane was on a routine flight when it began to break up over North Carolina on 23 January 1961.

As it was breaking apart, a control inside the cockpit released the two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs over Goldsboro.

One fell to the ground unarmed. But the second "assumed it was being deliberately released over an enemy target - and went through all its arming mechanisms save one, and very nearly detonated over North Carolina," Mr Schlosser told the BBC's Katty Kay.

Only one safety mechanism, a single low-voltage switch, prevented disaster, he said.

[davekay1971]

I moved to Smithfield in late 1979, and I have heard brief stories about this, but never the "whole story". One of the rumors is that one of the bombs was never recovered - it's buried in a field somewhere near Goldsboro. Don't know if that's true or not, but that's the rumor. According to the story linked, there were only two bombs, both recovered. Maybe, maybe not!
[/INDENT]

Man...if only Clancy's terrorists in Sum of All Fears had known about a bomb chilling out in Goldsboro. They wouldn't have had to go through all the trouble of bringing one into the US...

[Kimist]

I moved to Smithfield in late 1979, and I have heard brief stories about this, but never the "whole story". One of the rumors is that one of the bombs was never recovered - it's buried in a field somewhere near Goldsboro. Don't know if that's true or not, but that's the rumor. According to the story linked, there were only two bombs, both recovered. Maybe, maybe not!

There were definitely two bombs. What exactly was/was not recovered is unclear, but I do recall there was a lot of "dirt" removed from the farmlands of eastern NC looking for something!

This reference might help:
http://www2.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/jan2008/

EXCERPT:
"The missing piece contained uranium, and it was believed that it may have struck the ground so hard that it sank deep into the soft, swampy earth. Crews excavated the surrounding farmland to a depth of fifty feet, but were unable to recover the missing piece."

k

[devildeac]

It's okay. I always think the same thing when I drive through north Jersey.

What a relief you did not include south Jersey in your statement.

[Ggallagher]

I moved to Smithfield in late 1979, and I have heard brief stories about this, but never the "whole story". One of the rumors is that one of the bombs was never recovered - it's buried in a field somewhere near Goldsboro. Don't know if that's true or not, but that's the rumor. According to the story linked, there were only two bombs, both recovered. Maybe, maybe not!

The plane was on a routine flight when it began to break up over North Carolina on 23 January 1961.

The story of the un-recovered bomb near Goldsboro was documented in "15 Minutes: General Curtis LeMay and the Countdown to Nuclear Annihilation" by L. Douglas Keeney. It's a pretty fascinating book. It also mentions the bomb lost near Savannah. Made me feel REAL comfortable since I regularly work in and around both areas.

[Kimist]

"As far as I’m concerned we came damn close to having a Bay of North Carolina," ReVelle, an OSU alumnus, says more than five decades after the incident. "The nuclear explosion would have completely changed the Eastern seaboard if it had gone off."

https://statemagazine.okstate.edu/Re...uclear_Weapons

k

[BD80]

I've spent a lot of time between I-95 and the coast, and I'm not quite sure how you would distinguish whether the area had had a bomb dropped on it or not.

OK, that was rude and mean. But...

It's okay. I always think the same thing when I drive through north Jersey.

A bomb DID drop on north Jersey. Nobody noticed.

"As far as I’m concerned we came damn close to having a Bay of North Carolina," ReVelle, an OSU alumnus, says more than five decades after the incident. "The nuclear explosion would have completely changed the Eastern seaboard if it had gone off."

https://statemagazine.okstate.edu/Re...uclear_Weapons

k

Give it ten years or so for the radiation to disperse and then Duke would have been just a few minutes drive from the beach? Is it too late to have one of those "accidents?"

On a related note, chapa heeya is one of the better arguments ever forwarded in support of the use of the neutron bomb

[77devil]

"As far as I’m concerned we came damn close to having a Bay of North Carolina," ReVelle, an OSU alumnus, says more than five decades after the incident. "The nuclear explosion would have completely changed the Eastern seaboard if it had gone off."

https://statemagazine.okstate.edu/Re...uclear_Weapons

k

Great article. Thanks for the link.

[TruBlu]

A bomb DID drop on north Jersey. Nobody noticed.

Yes they did. It caused 375 million dollars worth of civic improvements. You should have seen how bad it was before . . .