The Cold War is over, but there are still plenty of remnants from its troubles across the American landscape. One major reminder of this era is the crater in Mars Bluffs, South Carolina, where the Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb in 1958. This site was one of the biggest military blunders of the entire Cold War. It’s a miracle that no one was killed.
Walter Gregg and his family were minding their own business on March 11, 1958. Suddenly, a giant explosion out of nowhere rocked the property and nearly destroyed their house. After Gregg accounted for his family members (none of whom were injured), he wondered what exactly happened.
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Unbeknownst to Gregg, on that same spring morning, a B-47 Stratojet was flying in the skies over his property. The bomber was on its way to the U.K. to take part in a war game exercise. At that time, all bombers in the air were required to carry an atomic payload. This was because of the off-chance that nuclear war broke out while they were in the air. This particular bomber carried a Mark 6 atomic bomb, like the one pictured below.
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Luckily, this particular Mark 6 bomb did not have its nuclear rod inserted. Otherwise, what happened would have been much, much worse.
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As the bomber passed over Gregg’s house, a warning light went off. Something was wrong with the bomb’s docking system. Apparently, the locking pin was not engaged properly. That’s when navigator Captain Bruce Kulka went to investigate. However, while he was trying to fix the locking pin, Kulka accidentally pressed the bomb’s emergency release.
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The weight of the 8,500 pound bomb forced the bay doors open. The bomb plummeted towards the woods of Mars Bluff. When the bomb landed, it left a 75-foot-wide, and 30-foot-deep crater in the forest near Gregg’s house. Here is what the impact site looks like today.
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Luckily, no one died in the explosion, but it did level several buildings on Gregg’s property and damage nearby houses. Just imagine how much worse it would have been if the bomb was armed with its nuclear material.
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The military paid Gregg and his family $54,000 to rebuild what was destroyed by the bomb and to keep things quiet. It was also around this time when a new rule was put in place requiring planes to make sure that their payloads were locked before take-off.
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You can still see some pieces of the original bomb dropped on Mars Bluff at a local museum.
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Via: Atlas Obscura
Talk about a big “oopsie.” I can’t believe the flight crew didn’t think to check if the bomb was secured properly before taking off. This could have kicked off World War III if the bomb was actually armed with its nuclear rod. What a simple mistake. Luckily, we’re all around now to laugh about it.
