What To Do When You've Lost Your Bomb
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV Cycle C
Jack Kingston is a Georgia congressman. A couple of years ago, he got wind of a 1966 memo from someone in the Pentagon that revealed the presence of a bomb -- one of ours -- on the ocean floor near Tybee Island, Georgia.
Curious, Kingston followed up. The bomb had been intentionally cut loose from an Air Force jet that was having a mechanical crisis. The bomb was described in the memo as a "complete weapon" (read: nuclear weapon). Kingston wanted to know: "What gives?"
His questions set off a minor panic in the U.S. Air Force. Pentagon functionaries scurried about seeking more information. Finally, they uncovered a 1958 memo that stated that the bomb carried a "simulated" nuclear capsule. Everyone, including Kingston, breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Yet the incident begs the further question: "Has this type of thing happened before?" Well, yes, it has.
A B-47 with two nuclear capsules disappeared in the Mediterranean on March 10, 1956. Some thought that the crew had defected to the Soviet Union. The Air Force searched the area for ten days, gave up, and came home.
In December, 1995, a plane with a MK 43 nuclear bomb with the destructive power of 62 Hiroshimas, rolled off a Navy ship and into 16,000 feet of water. The pilot, the plane, and the bomb vanished. Later research indicated that the water pressure at a depth of 16,000 feet had ruptured the bomb, and the components were scattered on the ocean floor.
In May, 1968, a submarine with two torpedoes armed with W-34 warheads, each with the explosive power of a single Hiroshima, sank near the Azores. The submarine was found in October, 1968, in 10,000 feet of water. The missiles were never found.
So there you have it. My sense of things is that bombs that are accounted for are scary enough, not to speak of bombs that have been accidentally misplaced.
Bombs tend to make people nervous. You wonder when they might go off. And if you have a bomb in your own personal history, you might as well be lugging around an iron ball-and-chain.
Of course, you might hope that the thing fell apart when it landed years ago. It might also be wise to check to make sure the bomb is harmless.
As for the Pentagon, it seems to have adopted the strategy of Saint Paul: "Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead."
In other words, try to make sure the bombs of the past are unarmed, or disarmed, or duds. Then, by all means, leave them alone, and take care of present and future business.
Curious, Kingston followed up. The bomb had been intentionally cut loose from an Air Force jet that was having a mechanical crisis. The bomb was described in the memo as a "complete weapon" (read: nuclear weapon). Kingston wanted to know: "What gives?"
His questions set off a minor panic in the U.S. Air Force. Pentagon functionaries scurried about seeking more information. Finally, they uncovered a 1958 memo that stated that the bomb carried a "simulated" nuclear capsule. Everyone, including Kingston, breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Yet the incident begs the further question: "Has this type of thing happened before?" Well, yes, it has.
A B-47 with two nuclear capsules disappeared in the Mediterranean on March 10, 1956. Some thought that the crew had defected to the Soviet Union. The Air Force searched the area for ten days, gave up, and came home.
In December, 1995, a plane with a MK 43 nuclear bomb with the destructive power of 62 Hiroshimas, rolled off a Navy ship and into 16,000 feet of water. The pilot, the plane, and the bomb vanished. Later research indicated that the water pressure at a depth of 16,000 feet had ruptured the bomb, and the components were scattered on the ocean floor.
In May, 1968, a submarine with two torpedoes armed with W-34 warheads, each with the explosive power of a single Hiroshima, sank near the Azores. The submarine was found in October, 1968, in 10,000 feet of water. The missiles were never found.
So there you have it. My sense of things is that bombs that are accounted for are scary enough, not to speak of bombs that have been accidentally misplaced.
Bombs tend to make people nervous. You wonder when they might go off. And if you have a bomb in your own personal history, you might as well be lugging around an iron ball-and-chain.
Of course, you might hope that the thing fell apart when it landed years ago. It might also be wise to check to make sure the bomb is harmless.
As for the Pentagon, it seems to have adopted the strategy of Saint Paul: "Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead."
In other words, try to make sure the bombs of the past are unarmed, or disarmed, or duds. Then, by all means, leave them alone, and take care of present and future business.
