RE: What do you know today that you didn't know yesterday?
June 27, 2023 at 2:01 pm
(This post was last modified: June 27, 2023 at 2:12 pm by Anomalocaris.)
in 1962 a B-52 bomber carrying 2 hydrogen bombs broke up over Goldsboro, North Carolina. The two 4 Megaton bombs separated from the aircraft. one of the bombs free fell to the ground and broken up upon impact, the other bomb deployed its parachute like it would if dropped in earnest and landed intact on the ground.
At the time the US Air force claimed:
1. The bombs did not have a fissile core onboard and were thus incapable of nuclear explosion.
2. The arming/detonation mechanism was on the bomb and all 6 of the arming switches on both bombs remained in safe position.
3. all parts of both bombs were safely recovered and removed during post accident clean up.
implying all the safety worked, and even if it hadn’t, there was never any danger, and the accident site is clean.
In 2013 documents released under Freedom of Information act revealed all three claims were white lies.
1. Both bombs had their cores onboard, and were live and would have exploded had the arming sequence been completed.
2. There were not 6 but 4 arming switches in the arming detonation mechanism of each bomb
3. 3 out or 4 arming switches on the bomb that landed intact under its own parachute have switched to the armed position. this is believed to have been caused by voltage excursion when the aircraft broke up. Only the final arming switch prevented the 4 megaton bomb from exploding 13 miles from Goldsboro
4. Only one out of 4 arming switch from the bomb that disintegrated on impact was recovered, and it was found in the armed position.
5. High ground water table prevented much of the disintegrates bomb from being recovered, most of the thermonuclear stage of the bomb remain in situ, although the bomb core was recovered. The only protection for the buried thermonuclear stage is an unmarked 2 acre easement over the parts that the Army corp of engineers purchased.
At the time the US Air force claimed:
1. The bombs did not have a fissile core onboard and were thus incapable of nuclear explosion.
2. The arming/detonation mechanism was on the bomb and all 6 of the arming switches on both bombs remained in safe position.
3. all parts of both bombs were safely recovered and removed during post accident clean up.
implying all the safety worked, and even if it hadn’t, there was never any danger, and the accident site is clean.
In 2013 documents released under Freedom of Information act revealed all three claims were white lies.
1. Both bombs had their cores onboard, and were live and would have exploded had the arming sequence been completed.
2. There were not 6 but 4 arming switches in the arming detonation mechanism of each bomb
3. 3 out or 4 arming switches on the bomb that landed intact under its own parachute have switched to the armed position. this is believed to have been caused by voltage excursion when the aircraft broke up. Only the final arming switch prevented the 4 megaton bomb from exploding 13 miles from Goldsboro
4. Only one out of 4 arming switch from the bomb that disintegrated on impact was recovered, and it was found in the armed position.
5. High ground water table prevented much of the disintegrates bomb from being recovered, most of the thermonuclear stage of the bomb remain in situ, although the bomb core was recovered. The only protection for the buried thermonuclear stage is an unmarked 2 acre easement over the parts that the Army corp of engineers purchased.
