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The History VaultCold War & Espionage

The US ACCIDENTALLY Dropped Nuclear Bombs on Its Own Soil

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In 1958, the US Air Force dropped a nuclear bomb on an American backyard — by accident. And it wasn't the only time.

The military calls it a Broken Arrow — an accidental loss or detonation of a nuclear weapon. Between 1950 and 1980, the Pentagon admitted to 32 of them.

March 11th, 1958. Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Aboard a B-47, a crew member accidentally grabs the release on a Mark 6 bomb. It drops 15,000 feet into Walter Gregg's yard — where his children and their cousin are playing. The conventional explosives detonate, tearing a 70-foot crater, leveling the house, injuring six.

Why did South Carolina survive? The bomb's nuclear core was stored separately on the plane — so a nuclear blast was impossible. The Air Force paid the Greggs 54,000 dollars. The crater is still there; it became a roadside tourist attraction.

And it wasn't the last. In 1961, two hydrogen bombs fell on North Carolina — one a single switch from detonating. Every time, a vanished city came down to one small part.

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