Please note this does not mean the USSR wasn’t that way. Just want to clarify I’m not a tankie, lol.
ParlimentOfDoom 62 points 3 months ago
The army/airforce actively spread rumors of aliens to hide their activities.
Shellofbiomatter 26 points 3 months ago
Probably all of those, because it's really unlikely that aliens have come to earth and even less likely that an advanced civilization capable of interstellar travel, would ever get busted.
slemptastrophe 6 points 3 months ago
Agreed.
redsand 21 points 3 months ago
Military term for this is "broken arrow"
It happens more than you would think mostly by the US but also Russia. Usually they find the things pretty fast but a few are just missing and at least one I remember was underwater somewhere it couldn't safely be recovered so the area is patrolled.
FordBeeblebrox 10 points 3 months ago
Are you referring to bombs the Air Force accidentally dropped or the Navy losing nuke subs? Cause we’ve done both and no one has explained what happened to the USS Scorpion
slemptastrophe 4 points 3 months ago
I've heard that term before, but I had no idea that this was what it referred to. Fascinating.
FordBeeblebrox 11 points 3 months ago
Travolta and Slater as B2 pilots, it’s cheesy but still a great action flick
teyrnon 7 points 3 months ago
I think one of these armed hydrogen bombs they dropped on NC was never recovered. Someone said that online I didn't read it in a publication so idk.
But there was an incident in Portugal, they sent in these service members to clean up this wreckage with no safety gear and they all died of cancer and the government denied it all. Also plutonium I believe.
sturmblast 5 points 3 months ago
Probably a lot
sem 79 points 3 months ago
Source? EdIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/...
Both of the weapons began their firing sequences upon separation from the aircraft, despite safeguards meant to prevent that from occurring.
coalie 56 points 3 months ago
This also happened in South Carolina a few years earlier. Unsure when it was revealed to the public. https://en.wikipedia.org/...
ChicoSuave 37 points 3 months ago
God damn the US has so many nukes it can lose them like coins in a sofa.
idiomaddict 18 points 3 months ago
path: 0 22751344 22751470 22752815 22754417, hotness: undefined, score: 18, children: 0
nulluser 33 points 3 months ago
Continuing...
The other bomb did not get as far into its firing sequence, but became deeply embedded in a muddy field, and one of its major weapons components (the thermonuclear "secondary" stage) was regarded as irrecoverably lost after an extensive, failed effort to recover it.
Me: "IT'S STILL THERE?!?!"
Continuing...
In 1962, the landowner was paid $1,000 to grant the United States of America a perpetual 200-foot (61 m) radius circular easement over the remains of the buried second bomb.[56][57] The site of the easement, at 35°29′37″N 77°51′30″W, is visible as a disturbed area, and lies approximately 250 feet (76 m) north of an obvious circle of trees (and disused cemetery) in the middle of a plowed field visible on Google Earth.
humanspiral 16 points 3 months ago
$1,000 to grant the United States of America a perpetual 200-foot (61 m) radius circular easement
worst deal than selling Manhattan for some beeds.
VictorPrincipum 12 points 3 months ago
Thermonuclear secondary stages, A.K.A. the "Fusion" portion don't detonate unless the first stage has been propperly ignited. While Lithium Deuteride (the second stage fusion fuel) is not safe to handle (corrosive and explodes on contact with water) it's not going to cause a blast comparable to even a fision bomb.
IntrovertTurtle 10 points 3 months ago
Holy shit, that close to Raleigh?! Most of the state would have been wiped off the map twice. Maybe parts of VA and/or SC!
Edit: Apparently it would have only taken out a few cities. Hollywood is wrong again!
Tiresia 20 points 3 months ago
Raleigh would have been fine. VA and SC would have heard the explosion but nothing worse. I checked it with a nuclear blast simulator. Even the Tsar Bomba would have killed less than 5% of the population of Raleigh.
"260 times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb" sounds impressive, but most of that energy is wasted heating the nearby air rather than increasing the blast radius. This is why modern nuclear weapons use cluster munitions with smaller yields.
NocturnalMorning -8 points 3 months ago
Only "LeSs tHaN 5% oF tHe pOpULaTiOn"
PhoenixDog 21 points 3 months ago
🌏 👨🚀 🔫 👨🚀
VinegarChunks 3 points 3 months ago
I went to a beach on the Jersey Shore and saw this sign
forrgott 4 points 3 months ago
Well, sorta. Most of us fail to participate at all in voting, mainly cause we know the system is fucked and nigh impossible to "fix from within", but also have no clear idea what could be done. Other than the obvious, but not many are eager to face death, obviously...
Instigate 2 points 3 months ago
There are examples where US populations have banded together and voted in people who genuinely care about their interests (Bernie Sanders; AOC; et al). If US peoples of varying electorates actually organised and spoke with one another to endorse and vote in more of these people, change might actually occur.
The issue is threefold: the US population would rather not vote than seek out a third candidate who actually cares about them; the US does not have mandatory voting; and the concept of community has broken down and been sold to individualism so broadly that many in the US would rather vote in a candidate who harms them as long as they harm others than someone who would help them but also help others.
forrgott 1 point 2 months ago
the US population would rather not vote than seek out a third candidate who actually cares about them
The real problem is far more insidious; our first past the post voting, combined with dark money in politics, effectively makes anything more than two choices completely unrealistic. And blaming the apathy of the slave class for the machinations of the pedophile class doesn't change anything...
prettybunnys 52 points 3 months ago
It would really only be comparable if they nuked north Carolina then tried to cover it up.
It’s not shocking that the military keeps classified that sort of thing, they’d have been hard pressed to keep an actual nuclear detonation classified/hidden 🤷♂️
prettybunnys 9 points 3 months ago
Tbh the bomb exploding would be worse because you’d have the kinetic blast and death from that PLUS fallout (though on the east coast that fallout would likely be headed to Europe)
They didn’t drop the bombs by accident, there was a plane crash, the plane broke apart and the bombs began arming themselves as part of the separation process, but didn’t detonate due to the failsafes.
turmacar 17 points 3 months ago
To be clear the failsafes barely did.
Of the steps in this diagram the only one that prevented a nuclear detonation of the first bomb was the arming switch. In the swiss cheese model of accidents, out of 17 layers of protection, 16 failed. The safety mechanism that succeeded in this case had a history of failing because nuts in the plane could fall down and short the switch, arming the bomb unintentionally in flight.
The pilots who bailed out were both arrested by base MPs for 'stealing parachutes' while trying to get to the base and warn about the unsafe condition of the crash site. It probably didn't help that the first pilot to make it to base was black in NC in the 60s.
Lasherz12 9 points 3 months ago
Making a mistake with something intended to kill people vs making a mistake with something that provides a public good show different levels of intent. One of them was a city destroyer on purpose and the other was a city destroyer on accident.
prettybunnys 7 points 3 months ago
There was a plane crash. It wasn’t some “whoops we dropped ze bombs” situation.
There were catastrophic failures but still failsafes prevented the disaster.
These events aren’t comparable at all.
Three mile island is much more comparable.
chaogomu 7 points 3 months ago
Um, there were actually several instances of "woops we dropped a bomb".
Until the invention of the ICBM, there were planes carrying nukes in the air 24/7.
It's only thanks to luck that none of them exploded, as the safety systems in place today were not added until the 60s when Kennedy learned how American nukes were being handled and freaked the fuck out about it all. Justifiably so.
The Air Force had been in charge before that and fought relentlessly against adding any safety systems at all.
prettybunnys 4 points 3 months ago
Ok. But not this instance … which is my point.
prettybunnys 12 points 3 months ago
Three Mile Island is a perfect comparison.
Partial meltdown. Not hidden. Handled.
Reported to emergency officials effectively immediately.
Lasherz12 13 points 3 months ago
It wasn't handled perfectly, but the level of incompetence wasn't nearly on the same level. Venting the Xenon and dumping the tritium water wasn't exactly advised without approval but people acted on their own to do them. By far the biggest mistake was the comment from the power company spokesperson that he doesn't need to tell the public everything they do.
prettybunnys 13 points 3 months ago
Yeah, but the government came behind and made it happen.
Three Mile Island should be held up as a “why we need regulation and government oversight” example IMO.
The business wanted to save face, they were obligated to be more forthcoming by the state.
prettybunnys 7 points 3 months ago
Yeah they also might have found Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster in the reactor but they could be hiding that too.
voiceofchris 30 points 3 months ago
For us not to qualify as a backwards ass country we'd also have to pretend that three mile island wasn't one lucky accident away from doing just what Chernobyl did.
drunkpostdisaster 14 points 3 months ago
At least it was bikes and not nukes.
But speaking of nukes I don't get why they didn't continue the lie. If I was an asshole I sure as fuck would not let that go public.
AbidingOhmsLaw 4 points 3 months ago
It was 6 but one recently turned up
infinitesunrise 5 points 3 months ago
Feels like every time I end up in North Carolina or meet someone from there my conviction that humans are not inherently good or evil is challenged. I fucking hate North Carolina, with cause. It's as if the turd rival team full of bullies in a sports movie was a state.
At least Mississippi and Alabama have the excuse of being economically depressed. And the people I've meet from those places are actually pleasant.
GalacticGrapefruit 4 points 3 months ago
Asking as a non-Southerner, what the hell is up with White people from the South? I keep hearing all about how great their hospitality is, but they've been (at least the most "Howdy, y'all" good old boys and belles) just culturally the most conniving and backstabbing petty Mean Girls. They'll act sweet to your face, but you don't even have to leave earshot before they start talking shit and starting small-town rumors. What, is it some kinda local pastime to start shit without saying it to somebody's face?
dohpaz42 1 point 3 months ago
I wish I had an answer that would satisfy you. I am only realizing the depths of what you describe myself, and only because I am dating a woman from New Jersey. She is telling me all the time how culturally weird I am for how I act and talk to people (in general; I personally try my best to be authentic in my interactions).
PhoenixDog 4 points 3 months ago
There's absolutely nothing wrong with North Carolina.
As long as you exclude North Carolina.
jubilationtcornpone 21 points 3 months ago
The largest population of Marshallese people in the continental United States is in Springdale, Arkansas, just a short drive from where I live.
Why is there a large Marshallese population in Arkansas?
Well, you see, between 1946 - 1958, the US government detonated sixty-seven (yes, 67) nuclear weapons on the Marshall Islands, rendering dozens of the islands uninhabitable.
I suppose you could call it a "big whoops" except for the part a where they were fully aware of the dangers of radioactive fallout and just did it anyway.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA 6 points 3 months ago
tf didn't they drop nukes in arkansas instead? i'd rather live in the Marshall Islands
MyVeryRealName 4 points 3 months ago
They got paid 600 million USD as compensation
infinitesunrise 19 points 3 months ago
Turns out the USA has a long list of nuclear near miss and minor disasters, we just don't like to talk about them. Well There's Your Problem podcast just did a lengthy episode chronicling the more notable publicly-disclosed ones, including the ones in North Carolina. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqJR6kgwCio
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds 19 points 3 months ago
same thing happened in Spain, they dropped a couple nukes and one actually detonated but I'm such a way it didn't trigger a nuclear explosion, just fill the area with highly radioactive material.
starik 2 points 3 months ago
Yes. And when it did explode, they should have prioritized saving lives rather than preserving national reputation.
Disasters happen. How they are handled is what matters, and on that front, there was a difference between the two sides of the Cold War.
cecinestpasunbot 6 points 3 months ago
There was a difference but not in the direction you’re thinking. After the US tested a nuclear bomb in the marshal islands that led to an unexpected large fallout not only did they cover it up, they launched a secretive study to see how the fallout would affect the local inhabitants of affected islands. It’s genuinely hard to top that level of fucked up.
cecinestpasunbot 1 point 3 months ago
What the fuck is wrong with you? Most liberals I’ve seen on lemmy choose to pretend that US crimes against humanity are in the past. Rarely do I encounter someone so defensive that they openly support secret medial experimentation on native peoples. Project 4.1 happened well after the US dropped bombs on Japan. It continued for decades after. Your flimsy defense of such disgusting behavior falls apart under the slightest amount of scrutiny.
Feel free to live in a fantasy world where the US were “the good guys” but in doing so you’re tacitly endorsing the seriously despicable shit the US did to people around the world including it’s own citizens. If you do that don’t be so surprised when people start to call you a fascist.
Know_not_Scotty_does 16 points 3 months ago
Yeah... the US track record is completely blank, nothing to see here. It's a long episode but also pants shittingly terrifying...
ramenshaman 13 points 3 months ago
Accidentally dropping a nuke is wild.
black0ut 19 points 3 months ago
It wasn't even the only time. They also accidentally dropped 4 more nukes in Spain, 3 of them over land. And the bombs actually detonated (but failed to trigger a nuclear explosion), spreading radioactive material around.
ramenshaman 3 points 3 months ago
JFC
infinitesunrise 16 points 3 months ago
And we've done it several times. On domestic soil.
madasi 6 points 3 months ago
There's a whole list of codenames for different scenarios - https://en.wikipedia.org/...
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA 1 point 3 months ago
WanderWisley 10 points 3 months ago
Also one of the cores was ever found and is still lost somewhere.
SomethingBurger 2 points 3 months ago
It will probably be found in a stadium's parking lot in Seattle (this is a reference to The Sum of All Fears).
WanderWisley 1 point 3 months ago
That was a good and bad movie at the same time.
SomethingBurger 2 points 3 months ago
The book is much better.
Afaithfulnihilist 7 points 3 months ago
There's a whole list on Wikipedia of Super Fund sites that might at first give you the impression that we as a nation monitor, manage, and clean up the spills of toxic and radioactive waste that happen by industry in this country.
If you start reading about these cases you'll realize how fundamentally inadequate our legal system is to punish and prevent toxic materials from escaping into everything from our drinking water to our grain.
It's not just the scale of mistakes and mismanagement, but also the unvarnished evil that lurks in the heart of our nations executive class that intentionally buries radioactive materials and builds a school over it to cover it all up.
Not everything gets a movie made about it especially when the victims of the toxic horror are not white.
Then there are the casual everyday mismanagements that we allow to occur because the owners of those institutions have lots of influence on the government to lower standards and evade punishment.
https://youtube.com/@uscsb The USCSB is another great resource for seeing how poorly our regulatory establishment is equipped to enforce standards on industry.
Lushed_Lungfish 7 points 3 months ago
If I recall, Chernobyl wasn't actually a nuclear meltdown or explosion. It was a pressure vessel explosion.
Rato 17 points 3 months ago
Was not a nuclear explosion, sure, reactors can't really explode in the same way as bombs, but it absolutely was a meltdown. Meltdown really just means that the fuel melted, which did happen shortly after the power peak flashed the coolant to steam and blew open the core.
BradleyUffner 5 points 3 months ago
Yep, just to add, it's entirely possible to have a melt down without any explosion at all. As you said, It just means the fuel melted through the reactor vessel. It can even happen without the fuel going prompt-critical.
Rivalarrival 3 points 3 months ago
path: 0 22757628 22761190, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 1
FordBeeblebrox 1 point 3 months ago
Coolant flow stopped and they pushed the rods in rather than out, compounding the heat buildup. It was a pressure cooker explosion, followed by fissile material melting. It didn’t melt down on its own, it was guided.
FordBeeblebrox 2 points 3 months ago
You are correct, it was a rapid increase in heat that blew the lid and spread radioactive material everywhere, but the was no nuclear detonation.
Brunbrun6766 7 points 3 months ago
Wholesome opossum lady isn't a tankie?? Thank God.
DeathByBigSad 3 points 3 months ago
Norweigians be laughing...
But who really has the last laugh are the aliens watching this Human Zoo Exhibit right now
Tiger_Man_ 2 points 3 months ago
he has very polish name and surname
gEEkManMike 2 points 3 months ago
And the SL-1 incident.
its_kim_love 2 points 3 months ago
That same time period around 2013 we also discovered that several armed nuclear bombs were flown across the US under the mistaken idea that they were dummy bombs.
humanspiral 2 points 3 months ago
Nuclear power plants are more dangerous than intentional nuclear bomb strikes because the most destruction from a nuclear bomb is an "air burst" that happens to avoid poisoning the ground for centuries. Chernobyl has a 30km exlusion radius, and was 10x more radiation than Fukushima for a 20km radius. Hiroshima could be settled again after the fires burnt out, and no long term health effects from those who weren't initially poisoned by radiation.
It is ground burst nuclear weapons or reactors that permanently sow the land with salt. Missing bombs, or accidentally dropped bombs, are that risk for someone who might use it after finding it.
IronpigsWizard -1 points 3 months ago
The majority of planet earth does not know what, "tankie" means anyway.
minkymunkey_7_7 0 points 3 months ago
Someone who likes tanks? Water tanks, army tanks, gas tanks, milk tanks? Like a fetish or something?
Edit: so can someone just tell me what is a tankie, you downvoting smug flipper cunts?
Devadander -6 points 3 months ago
So a complete non-issue and no release of radioactive material? How are these remotely the same?
jjj 16 points 3 months ago
https://piefed.blahaj.zone/comment/3791025
A near miss and a disaster are worlds apart in terms of consequence, but very close in terms of what went wrong.
prettybunnys 4 points 3 months ago
Sure. But we have comparable events.
Three Mile Island is an actually comparable event.
The other is a military accident. There could have been no coverup if the bombs went off.
politicalmemes
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Welcome to politcal memes!
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politicalmemes
@lemmy.world
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Welcome to politcal memes!
These are our rules:
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Jokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.
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Follow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.
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You know how you hear stories sometimes about shadowy government agencies converging on an area for no apparent reason, and then leaving just as fast as they came? People usually assume it's aliens, but I wonder how many of those incidents have been stupid shit like this.
save