Posted on 02/09/2024 7:28:17 AM PST by Twotone
A rusted Cold War missile was discovered in a deceased man's garage in Washington state, The Seattle Times reported.
What seemed like an ordinary rocket caught the attention of the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, prompting them to alert the Bellevue Police.
The museum was made aware of the missile when someone called to offer to donate the rocket, purchased at an estate sale, said reports
A bomb squad identified the relic as a Douglas AIR-2 Genie. The unguided air-to-air rocket was designed to carry a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead.
Fortunately, the lack of warhead and rocket fuel rendered the missile harmless, with no explosive hazard.
Bellevue Police Department spokesman Seth Tyler quipped that the rocket was essentially a "gas tank for rocket fuel," per the BBC.
The police's bomb squad was dispatched to the man's residence. On X, Bellevue Police humorously noted, "And we think it's gonna be a long, long time before we get another call like this again," referencing Elton John's Rocket Man.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
“What seemed like an ordinary rocket caught the attention of the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, prompting them to alert the Bellevue Police.”
Note to self... don’t try to donate anything unusual to the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio unless you enjoy having your home overrun by the police.
It was a crazy world with the US probably doing more insane things than the Rooskies who had to catch up to us as we tried to catch up to the non-existent "missile gap"
But these were to take down incoming Russian nuclear bombers, so it was a rationally insane idea - you had to think about it before realizing it was a screwball idea rather than recognize that it was bat-shit crazy out of the box.
air to air nuclear rocket. think about that.
Yet, thousands were manufacture with ordinary explosives.
Much ado about nothing.
The museum will put it on display for a few months and then it’ll be forgotten somewhere in storage.
It reminds me of the guy currently in the Oval Office, corroded and capable of a lot of damage.
It looks like a miniature V2…
It had a range of 6 miles and a 1.5kt yield and was intended for use against bomber formations.
It's not like it was a dogfighting missile you'd loose at 500 yards. :)
“… The unguided air-to-air rocket was designed to carry a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead.…”
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I think all rockets designed to carry tactical nuclear weapons should be UNguided. What could possibly go wrong? /sarc
You never know what one could pickup on facebook marketplace!
Correction: The F106s at McChord carried the AIM4 Falcon, not the AIM9 Sidewinder.
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