USA: a pair of Canadian divers found a nuclear bomb from 50 years ago!

An unusual find took place in the USA, where a pair of Canadian divers, while diving in a small bay of Wassaw Sound off the coast of Georgia, found a thermonuclear bomb lost by the US Air Force over 50 years ago! As you can see, we can never be sure what will happen to us underwater during a holiday trip!

Jason Sutter and Christina Murray, from London, Ontario, Canada, came to the USA for a two-week holiday. For the duration of their stay in the southern neighbour, they planned several dives, just in Georgia and Florida. As we know, each dive in a new place is usually a great experience, which we remember for a very long time, but a dive during which we make such a find, will certainly be remembered forever!

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While on a routine dive, during which the Canadian pair admired the local flora and fauna, they came across an object that clearly didn’t fit in with the rest of their surroundings. The find turned out to be long lost US government property in the form of a Mark 15 nuclear missile!

[blockquote style=”2″]”At one point I noticed a cylindrical shaped object that looked to be metal. At first I thought it was an oil barrel or something like that. After a while of digging I realised that the find was much bigger than a barrel. I also managed to uncover a fragment of the inscriptions with which the mysterious object was covered. The moment I read that it was an MK-15 nuclear bomb I totally panicked! I immediately grabbed Christina’s hand and let her know that we had to leave the place immediately. Immediately after the emergency resurfacing I grabbed the phone and called 911 (the equivalent of our 997 or 112 – ed.)” – reported an exasperated bomb finder – Jason Sutter[/blockquote].

The dispatcher who received the call immediately realised the scale of the threat. He immediately alerted all emergency services, including the coastguard and the military. Moments later, the area was sealed off and 20 boats and 1500 people were on the water securing the area. Thanks to the GPS coordinates provided by the Canadian couple, they were immediately able to locate the bomb, which had an explosive charge of 3.8 megatons.

First, an ROV was sent to the bottom to determine the condition of the bomb. Only then did NAVY Seals specialists dive on site and, after several hours of intensive work, defuse the dangerous find. As it was made public, the bomb, manufactured in 1955, was in very good condition despite its age.

The entire operation took the emergency services less than 48 hours. The result was the neutralisation of a threat that had been waiting in hiding since 1958, the consequences of which could have been catastrophic. The recovered payload was transported to Mayport Naval Station in Florida. The bomb will soon be examined for the impact and threat it may have had on the surrounding environment over the past five decades.

Why such a dangerous find at the bottom of a tiny bay? On the night of February 5, 1958, a B-47 bomber was transporting a bomb during an exercise simulating a combat mission off the coast of Georgia. At some point at an altitude of almost 11 km, it collided with an F-86 Sabre jet fighter. As a result of this crash, the fighter was destroyed and the bomber suffered severe damage.

The pilot in command, Major Howard Richardson, on orders from his superiors, disposed of the dangerous cargo before attempting to land the aircraft. He dropped the bomb in the shallow waters of Wassaw Sound, near the mouth of the Savannah River, from where he hoped to recover it without too much trouble. The disposal of the threat was successful. The crew saw no signs of an explosion after dropping the bomb, and were able to plant the machine and land it safely at the nearest US Air Force base.

Unfortunately, finding the bomb was not as easy as it seemed when it was dropped. Despite an initial intensive search, the military’s efforts were unsuccessful and the thermonuclear threat lay quietly at the bottom of the sea for 57 years.

Update: News that the bomb has been found is greatly exaggerated. The Wassau Sound Bay bomb, and 10 others “lost” during the Cold War by the US, are still believed to be missing!

Source: worldnewsdailyreport.com