The Day 2 Atomic Bombs Were Dropped on North Carolina
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On January 24, 1961, at about 12:30 AM, a B-52 plane exploded in the skies over Goldsboro and Faro, NC. It was carrying two Mark 39 thermonuclear bombs which disengaged when the jet disintegrated. Apparently the right wing of the B-52 began to leak fuel causing the explosion. Three crewmen were killed and five survived.
Each of the disengaged bombs had a yield of 2 to 4 megatons. That's 250 times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The parachute on one bomb opened and it landed relatively gently and was recovered quickly. The parachute on the other bomb never opened and it crashed into a marshy area on a local farm. It was difficult to retrieve and only part of the bomb was recovered. The component that contains the nuclear material is still in the ground to this day possibly as deep as a 150 feet.
No one knows for sure how close the good people of Wayne County, North Carolina came to being part of a historic nuclear catastrophe. Government officials claim safety devices in place assured the worst would never happen. But just the thought that these jets (and how many others?) are flying our friendly skies above our heads with active bombs is unnerving.
The environmental consequences of that incident are still ongoing. The federal government purchased the swatch of land where the one bomb was not entirely recovered in an effort to prevent people from digging in the area more than five feet. The state of North Carolina tests radiation levels of the water in that area yearly. So far tests have shown radiation levels as normal.
I believe atomic bombs are monsters we created that we can't control. There's too much at stake. There's too much that could go wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
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Hi Patty - I couldn't believe this story myself. Many folks know nothing about all this. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi suziecat7, Great Hub.I did not know anything about this either. How skin tingling! That could have proven to be a massive disaster. I agree Nuclear weapons are monsters no one should use.
Lost mt comment. Basically I was saying that the world is too complacent about such threats and incidents. They kept this one quiet. I was around back then and do not remember any press.
This is news to me. Thank you from another N. Carolinian. Thanks for joining my fan club.
Thank you for this important news...one of the many things that passed unnoticed.
January 24, 1961 is a sorrowful day like August 5, 1945, where Nuclear Bomb exploded by an accident. Hundreds of children were died and affected. America the creator of Atom Bomb had tested the horrified effect of Bombs. It was pathetic and pathetic……. No more nuke ‘no more nuke your You Tube sound is so touchy.
What an amazing and sobering story. I had never heard it before and am surprised it is not more well known. I studied Strategic Studies for my undergrad degree and we never came across this. Really interesting!
wow, I never imagined, this is a powerful sotry with so mcuh information bookmarked and stumbled for traffic blessings to this all imoportant hub.
Thank you all for reading.
Dam, scary stuff Suzie. I never heard this before. I guess I was 10 when that happened. They are not supposed to detonate upon impact, but still the lost one is not so good.
A loose/lost nuke is termed a "broken arrow" in military parlance. The alleged UFO crash in Kecksburg, PA, in 1965 may have been a broken arrow. I have no proof of this, it's one of those "friend of a friend" sources, the original source being someone who was a government operative at the time the incident occurred. If you ever see anything on the Kecksburg incident, witnesses say that the U.S. military immediately established a perimeter and expelled civilians from the area. Witnesses say a large flatbed truck removed an object that was covered with tarps.
I've known of one off the coast of South Carolina for years. I just read about one in the north Pacific... never knew that one (or two) hit land in NC.
Gene and Pete - I believe there are a lot of things that go on that the general public is never made aware of - Thank you both for the comments.
suziecat7 reading a new book , 15 minutes to zero.this was a fairly common occurance during the cold war. New info for me here. Thank you.
A truer statement of fact is not possible.
Wow! Scary and sobering. If the bombs have such safety mechanisms to keep the unthinkable from happening, why didn't the jet have the same level of safety mechanisms built into it? And can we trust the government's assessment of the security of those mechanisms?
Thanks for making us all aware of this.
Does anyone know "exactly" where the bomb landed? I think my father may have been the "local farmer" because I remember an incident very, very, very similiar to this although I was only 10 yrs old at the time. Would appreciate an email if anyone know anything else about this incident. Thanks in advance.
Patty Inglish, MS Level 7 Commenter 2 years ago
Thank you for this article, about which event I knew nothing. The nuclear material of the unrecovered bomb is still decaying in the ground and perhaps entering the water supply.
This seems to be more widespread than public knowledge encompasses -- USSR nuclear subs from the same era sit in northern Russian harbors, their nuclear material still decaying into the sea around St. Petersburg.