photo #5827754

Photo showing one of two nuclear bombs accidentally dropped over North Carolina in 1961. On 24 January 1961, a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3.8-megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping a nuclear payload that had more than 250 times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb. Thankfully, neither of the bombs exploded. However, one of the bombs was judged by nuclear weapons engineers who said the bomb was only one safety switch away from detonation. The bomb that descended by parachute was found intact, and standing upright as a result of its parachute being caught in a tree. The second bomb plunged into a muddy field at around 700 miles per hour and disintegrated without detonation of its conventional explosives. The tail was discovered about 20 feet (6.1 m) below ground. Parts of the bomb were recovered, including its tritium bottle and the plutonium. The excavation of the second bomb was halted due to uncontrollable ground-water flooding. The majority of the thermonuclear stage, which contained uranium, was left undisturbed. The Army Corps of Engineers acquired a 400 feet (120 m) circular easement covering the buried component.