With new
innovations, making of deadly nuclear weapons developed in the name of science and
technology created fear and panic. With every invention there is a fear of
mishap. And accidents do happen, but not with nukes. The consequences could be disastrous, a part of mankind would be wiped out, the area could be burnt and barren
for decades with radiation making it useless for any productive use. The
resulting damages would be far greater than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. America accidentally dropped 14 Nuclear
Bombs.
The world knows that the first nuclear bombs were
dropped on the two Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan with
devastating effect. Grave damage was done to life and property, and the radio
activity lasting for years. Generations of maimed and radiation affected people still
survive. Serious damage was done to the
area due to the nuclear bomb dropped on the two cities in 1945 by the Americans
to end the World War II. It was no longer conventional war, but the start of a
nuclear era, a far more dangerous weapon.
With new innovations, making of deadly nuclear weapons
developed in the name of science and
technology created fear and panic. With every invention there is a fear of
mishap. And accidents do happen, but not with nukes. The consequences could be disastrous, a part of mankind would be wiped out, the area could be burnt and barren
for decades with radiation making it useless for any productive use. The
resulting damages would be far greater than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And such
mishaps have happened with nukes, luckily with no serious damage. One might go
crazy thinking such accidents have happened as the luck was on our side. If not,
the unimaginable would have happened wiping off a large number of our population.
On March 11, 1958, an Air Force B-47 Stratojet was
making its way to the United Kingdom from the Hunter Air Force Base in
Savannah, Georgia. It was sent out with the intention of helping out in
Operation Snow Flurry, but it never made it. As the plane was cruising over
South Carolina, the pilots noticed that a fault light in the cockpit was
indicating a problem with the locking pin on the bomb harnesses in the cargo
bay. You see, back then, the plane was required to carry nuclear weapons at all
times just in case a war broke out with the Soviet Union. The nuclear
bomb in question was as 26-kiloton Mark 6, even more powerful than the Fat Man
bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
 |
Mk.39 thermonuclear bombs
rests in a field in Faro,
1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash.
|
On a cold morning in January, 1961 Goldsboro, North
Carolina woke up to this shock; a thermonuclear bomb sticking out of the ground. A second
unexploded bomb was buried in a crater not far away. Both nukes had literally fallen out of a crashing
B-52 bomber in the middle of the night. Had either bomb gone off, they would
have unleashed an explosion with two hundred and fifty times the destructive
power of Hiroshima. The fireball alone would’ve been more than a kilometre and
a half wide, vaporizing everything in its path. Nuclear fallout could have
blanketed much of the East Coast, reaching as far as Washington, Baltimore, or
even New York. This incident, according to recently declassified documents, was
a close call. Because at least one of the bombs had armed itself as it fell
back to earth, and its widely believed that only a single safety switch prevented
disaster. It’s sheer luck that nothing happened.
 |
| EOD personnel
recover the buried Mk.39
thermonuclear bomb that fell into a Faro
|
The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an
accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, on 23 January 1961.
A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3–4-megaton Mark 39
nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the
process. The pilot in command, Walter Scott Tulloch, ordered the crew to eject at
9,000 feet. Five crewmen successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and
landed safely, another ejected, but did not survive the landing, and two died
in the crash. Information declassified in 2013 showed that one of the
bombs came very close to detonating. . One shudders to think of the
consequences had something wrong would have happened that day.
 |
| A 26-kiloton Mark 6 bomb is
even more powerful than the Fat Man
bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Kelly Michals/Flickr |
But as harrowing as it sounds, what happened in
Goldsboro would repeat itself and can happen again. Throughout the 1960's, B-52
bombers accidentally dropped a total 14 thermonuclear bombs, and sometimes with
serious consequences. During the height of the Cold War, America kept bombers,
loaded up with thermonuclear weapons airborne at all times, twenty four hours a
day, every day of the year. At any given moment, there were at least a dozen
nuclear bombers in the air, flying one of several routes approaching the Soviet
Union. It was called Operation Chrome Dome. A program to keep nuclear bombers
on continuous airborne alert, so that if the Soviets launched a surprise
nuclear attack, America would be ready to respond. And keeping the bombers
airborne was critical. But at what cost. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
In 1957, the Soviets launched the world's first
intercontinental ballistic missile. Sticking a nuke on top of a rocket was a
game changer. Unlike a bomber which needed hours to deliver a nuclear bomb, a
missile could hit its target in under half an hour. And there would be little
warning of one coming, nor any way to stop it. Air Intelligence Briefing is secret. Americans
analyzed the Soviet guided missile test program in great depth. The Soviet
missile development program reveals that it introduces a new dimension to
surprise and forces us to reassess our own strategic position and re-evaluate
the Soviet’s ability to deal a crippling blow. By the late 1950's, American
intelligence was convinced that the West had fallen behind in nuclear missile
technology. And the Soviet’s weren't exactly shy about it either.
Khrushchev bragged openly that Soviet factories
were producing missiles out like sausages. If true, it meant the Soviets would
soon gain an enormous strategic advantage, one that could even knock out
America’s ability to respond to a Soviet nuclear attack. Because faced with a
barrage of incoming missiles, America’s bombers might not even make it off the ground
in time. And that’s where Operation Chrome Dome came in. By keeping some of
America's nuclear bombers airborne at all times, they would be well out of
harm’s way and ready to head towards the Soviet Union. Knowing this, the
Soviets might reconsider. But the program would push B-52s and their flight
crews to their limits. Bombers would be in the air for as long as 24 hours. It
was risky, and the obvious question at least someone had to be asking was, what
happens when one of these bombers loaded up with nukes crashes? It would be a
disaster of unthinkable proportion. And who would be held responsible for this catastrophe.
The answer came just three months into the program. But Goldsboro would
be just the first in a string of early accidents in which a total of six
nuclear bombs crashed back to earth, only to be recovered without much in the
way of consequences. The bombs simply hit the ground without any of their
conventional or nuclear explosives detonating. It might have even created a
false sense of confidence. Because Chrome Dome missions continued for years,
even as it became clear that the Soviets never had missile superiority to begin
with. They had created this sense of superiority through propaganda which the
west fell prey to.
The bombers were kept flying because unlike buried
missiles silos, and stealthy nuclear submarines, B-52’s patrolling Soviet
borders were a constant reminder that America was ready. But the program would
soon be seen in an entirely different light. An accident over Palomares, Spain
in 1966 sent four nukes crashing back to earth. And this time, two of them
detonated their conventional explosives. A disaster missed by a whisker.
There was no nuclear blast. But five square kilometres of Spanish countryside were contaminated with radioactive plutonium.
It was the worst nuclear accident of its time, and 17,000 tonnes of radioactive
soil had to be shipped back to the United States in an enormous cleanup effort.
Decades later, there were still traces of the contamination at site. After the
Spain incident, Operation Chrome Dome was scaled back.
But that wouldn't prevent a final accident in Thule
Greenland, when another four thermonuclear bombs came crashing back to earth.All of them
detonated their conventional explosives, spreading contamination over a large
area.One of the nuclear bombs was never recovered.And that put an immediate end
to Operation Chrome Dome. And an end to any further mishaps, making the world a
bit safer from any more nuclear accident.
The Cold
War, especially during the 1960's, was an insane time, and the legacy of
Operation Chrome Dome is hard to pin down. America accidentally dropped 14
Nuclear Bombs. But keeping bombers airborne for eight straight years also
helped maintain the delicate balance of power between America and the Soviet
Union, and it might have prevented a nuclear
war. Looking back many experts may question, was it necessary and if it was,
was it a threat to the Soviets. Did it stop the Soviets from going into a
nuclear war with Americans. It’s difficult to say.
Also read:
USS New York The Americans in Afghan War
How Cargo Ship helped win World War-2
UFO footage nobody was supposed to see
Also read:
USS New York The Americans in Afghan War
How Cargo Ship helped win World War-2
UFO footage nobody was supposed to see
MyPost
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The study also found that following a Mediterranean diet for a year could help keep the mind sharp and reduce frailty in old
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| Murudeshwar Temple, Murudeshwar, Karnataka, India |
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