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The US Lost a Nuke Near Georgia. Could It Explode One Day?
A missing nuke that could resurface someday, one way or another
On February 5th, 1958, an F-86 fighter collided in midair with a B-47 bomber loaded with a Mark 15 nuclear bomb. The two planes collided during a nighttime training mission, sending the planes careening out of the sky. The F-86 pilot ejected and his plane crashed into the ground while the B-47 arrested its downward trajectory 20,000 feet above the sea. However, the bomb was weighing the ailing plane down, and the plane sought permission to jettison the nuke into the ocean. Permission was granted and the nuclear weapon was ejected into the waters around Tybee Island, Georgia.
The plane was flying from Homestead, Florida, in a simulated nuclear attack on the Soviet Union when the accident occurred. Poor visibility was thought to be to blame for the collision as it occurred at 2:00 AM over dark waters.
Without the bomb, the plane was able to make an emergency landing in Savannah. While miraculously no one died, a nuclear weapon was lost. And it remains lost to this day.
The crew reported that no explosion was seen or felt as the bomb plunged into the sea. It is likely that the heavy weapon immediately sank to the bottom. Numerous searches were launched to find the…
