Aneela Nike Post: Do you know the US Accidentally Dropped Nukes On Itself And Its Allies

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.

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

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