5 times we almost nuked ourselves by accident

[Swede]

We spent the Cold War in perpetual fear that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. would start an intentional nuclear conflict. The truth is, we came far closer to blowing ourselves up with nuclear weapons than we ever came to WWIII.

Nuclear incidents have a bunch of ominous military code names, like Broken Arrow, Faded Giant or NUCFLASH. There are actually dozens of instances like these, but here are five major ones that happened in the U.S. If we were to consider Soviet activity, the list could go on for hours. The Russians either lost a nuclear sub, lost a sub with nuclear weapons on board, had a nuclear sub's reactor melt down, or all three roughly every other week. Kompetentnyh? Nyet.

http://io9.com/5664390/5-times-we-almost-nuked-ourselves-by-accident?skyline=true&s=i

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. I was barely a year old when the Berlin wall came down

I can't imagine living through the madness of the Cold War.

[Extend a Hand]

2. you whipersnapper ;)

When I was in grade school we use to have drills in case of nuclear attack they made us all get down underneath our little desks. :rofl:

I'm sure THAT would've helped.

[Swede]

3. That was so we could kiss our asses good-bye.

:shrug:

[Vincardog]

5. WE had to go out in the hall and kneel next to the wall. I am sure that gave the pedophiles wood

[aikoaiko]

4. We keep looking for the one off of Tybee Island near Savannah, but no one can find it

It amazes me that they can't find it.

I suppose one day we will find it -- they hard way.

[old mark]

6. The government has prohibited people from looking for it, IIRC - and there was another

one that seems to have vanished on the northern Pacific coast, too...Nobody's perfect, I guess...


mark

[old mark]

7. Here's an old favorite - map of 15 lost nuclear weapons...

link;
http://www.genecurtis.com/LostNuclearBombs.htm

Imagine Palin's finger on the button....


mark

[Peter1x9]

8. That hits close to home.

I was born and grew up in Fairfield, CA. I went to the airshows at Travis AFB every summer. This article made me do some research into the Travis crash and I found more info.
It's a good thing that they had the policy of shipping the uranium cores and explosive casings on separate airplanes. If not, my dad would have been nuked along with a couple hundred-thousand other people.



Here's a link from the Travis Air Museum:
http://www.travisairmuseum.org/html/travis_crash.html

But, on that day, a Mark IV nuclear bomb was dispatched to the eastern Pacific. It would travel in two parts. One part, the dense uranium core, and the other, the high explosive outer casing, would each be carried to the area via separate aircraft, routes, and times. A B-29 bomber left Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base on August 5th, 1950, carrying the high-explosive portion of the Mark IV. ... About twenty minutes after the crash occurred, the high explosives in the bomb casing ignited. The blast, felt and heard over 30 miles away, caused severe damage to the nearby trailer park on base.