Nuclear Near-Miss in North Carolina

In 1962, a B-52 bomber broke apart over North Carolina and dropped two Mark 39 hydrogen

bombs near Goldsboro. Each bomb was 260 times more powerful than the one that destroyed Hiroshima.

One of the bombs went through its arming sequence, and three of the four safety mechanisms

failed. Only a single low voltage switch prevented a catastrophic detonation that could have

wiped out everything within an eight mile radius and spread deadly fallout across Washington

DC and New York. The bomb fell into a muddy field and sank deep into the ground.

The Air Force recovered most of it, but one part containing uranium remains buried there to

this day, too deep to retrieve. The military bought the land to restrict access.