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When And How: The U.S. Lost 8 Nuclear Weapons

mentalfloss.com — During the Cold War the United States military misplaced at least eight nuclear weapons permanently. These are the stories of what the Department of Defense calls “broken arrows”

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 25, 2008

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  • geekchic, on 02/25/2008, -1/+40Has anyone checked on eBay yet?
  • doctechnical, on 02/25/2008, -2/+31FTA: "These revelations caused a political uproar in Japan, which prohibits the United States from bringing nuclear weapons into its territory."
    Talk about a policy that's a day late and a dollar short...
  • louiedog, on 02/25/2008, -0/+28Which is all fine and good until dolphins figure out how to arm them.
  • rishubhav, on 02/25/2008, -0/+20Luckily for us kind Mr. Vladmir Putin operates a nuclear lost and found
  • Maciula, on 02/25/2008, -0/+13No Travolta on the list? Oh, right, he was stopped by Christian Slater and that Park Ranger chic.
  • Gryffydd, on 02/25/2008, -1/+13That's not too far from the Gun Free Zones at schools or shopping malls. Because someone who is going to kill a bunch of people cares about the sign on the door banning weapons....
  • dblespresso, on 02/25/2008, -0/+11Let us not forget the intelligence that we gained in the recovery of lost Russian missiles and torpedos. Plus the tale includes Howard Hughes, for a wacky twist of history.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomar_Explorer

  • yodaj007, on 02/25/2008, -1/+12"'Lost' is such a harsh word. We prefer to use the term 'oops'."
  • Railz, on 02/25/2008, -6/+16Meh. Nothing to Russia's lost thousands count of bombs (lost or sold /shrug). At least America will fess up to her problems.
  • kh99, on 02/25/2008, -1/+11They are experiencing a temporary excess of locational uncertainty.
  • SOS84, on 02/25/2008, -0/+10"STRAY #6: The Incident in Japan: This turned out to be not true; it actually happened about 80 miles off Japan’s Ryuku island chain"

    Isn't this the plot of a Godzilla movie?
  • TrevaLVF, on 02/25/2008, -3/+11Nukes accidentally dropped (except in that one case) at the bottom of the Sea? The first thoughts that came to my mind, besides treasure hunters, were continental shift and earth quakes.
  • NoCt1, on 02/25/2008, -0/+7when the dolphins get the chip to go inside it then they deserve to arm them.
  • yohnstoppable, on 02/25/2008, -0/+6Judging by the comments on that article, some of the readers wanted the Tybee Bomb to be mentioned...
  • kaelyiesta, on 02/25/2008, -1/+7"15 years later the U.S. Navy finally admitted that the accident had taken place, claiming it happened 500 miles from land the in relative safety of the high seas. This turned out to be not true; it actually happened about 80 miles off Japan’s Ryuku island chain, as the aircraft carrier was sailing to Yokosuka, Japan after a bombing mission over Vietnam."

    I don't think the US government can really take the moral high ground on this issue. Half truths and admissions after others already found out don't really count.
  • pj4533, on 02/25/2008, -0/+6Now then, Dmitri, you know how we've always talked about the possibility of something going wrong with the Bomb... The *Bomb*, Dmitri... The *hydrogen* bomb!
  • pastasauce, on 02/25/2008, -0/+6I know there was at least two on Craigslist.
  • int10h, on 02/25/2008, -0/+5Yeah, I tried to buy a nuke but the guy scammed me :(
  • elpresidente408, on 02/25/2008, -0/+5Don't forget about the Tybee bomb
  • youreh, on 02/25/2008, -0/+5i'm sure it is much easier to buy/steal one from another country than going after nukes the US government was unsuccessful at finding and/or retrieving. so i'll sleep as well as i did last night, thanks.
  • cookingboy, on 02/25/2008, -0/+5LOL, I think he was refering to Nagasaki and Hiroshima....
  • NoCt1, on 02/25/2008, -1/+6This reminds me of the time i buried you.. Wait I just did that...
  • Slagged, on 02/25/2008, -0/+5These weapons are now 40 years old. Probably dangerous to approach but zero chance of any kind of nuclear detonation happening if one was "found".
  • nigh7dagger, on 02/25/2008, -0/+4That's what she said.
  • noahhoward, on 02/25/2008, -0/+4"Be careful, Ryan, some things in here do not react too well to bullets."
  • Linkin4, on 02/25/2008, -0/+4the *****?
  • noahhoward, on 02/25/2008, -1/+5Not really, airplane crashes in bad weather in the middle of the med, wouldn't be too hard to lose it especially if you didn't get word until much later.
  • DiggsOnlyJew, on 02/26/2008, -0/+3Actually, through my highly accurate estimates, I think it's somewhere between 300 and 500. Source: my ass.
  • blakespot, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3Yes, as I recall there was an incident off the coast of Georgia - in the vicinity of Tybee Island. This lost warhead is often referred to as the "Tybee Bomb." How is this article to be taken seriously when there is no mention of the Tybee Bomb?
  • TheSwashbuckler, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3The 34th rule of acquisition: War is good for business.
  • kaelyiesta, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3"Mein Führer! I can walk!"
  • mercano, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3Unfortunately, Iraq isn't quite landlocked. They've got a small bit of coast on the Persian Gulf between Iran and Kuwait.
  • peaceninja, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3what was the name of the one right off the coast of georgia? i cant believe i didnt see it mentioned anywhere in the article.
  • bswinson, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3weather to bury = blizzard?
  • bswinson, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3So long and thanks for all the fish.
  • o0joshua0o, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3Fear not, each one has a sticker that says "If found, please return to the Department of Defense."
  • kowaleski, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3How could you make a list like this without mentioning the Tybee bomb incident?
  • CIAVT, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3It should be noted that the Tybee Bomb is missing as well.
  • dafragsta, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3Could you please not fire your gun around the thermonuclear device?
  • masamunecyrus, on 02/25/2008, -0/+3Nukes are very specifically designed not to blow up unless you purposely detonate them. I doubt an earthquake or getting crushed by the earth will do anything except for leak radioactive plutonium at the bottom of the ocean.
  • alkajazz, on 02/25/2008, -0/+2You can't let him in here! He'll see everything! He'll see the big board!
  • mattnyc99, on 02/25/2008, -1/+3Last year, U.S. bombers flew 6 nukes over middle America WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/militar ...
  • alkajazz, on 02/25/2008, -0/+2I know a guy who can get you a soviet submarine, hit me up if your "Cool"
  • EtherGnat, on 02/25/2008, -0/+2My sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads will neutralize them.
  • EarlOfLade, on 02/25/2008, -0/+2Several countries have had the same laws for a long time. Every Scandinavian country has the same. US planes or ships who are known to carry nuclear material are not allowed to enter the territorial waters of these countries.
  • inactive, on 02/25/2008, -0/+2what, not a mention of the Tybee bomb?
  • jjacksonRIAB, on 02/25/2008, -0/+2Did they smell so bad that a spy satellite found them and Russia picked them up later for use in operation дерьмо пешком?
  • PxCxG, on 02/25/2008, -2/+4I, for one, welcome our new dolphin overlords.
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