You guys thought you were armed for the apocalypse…..

[7.62willdo]

Cold War-era rocket designed to carry nukes discovered in Washington state garage

Bellevue Police Department officers discovered a McDonnell Douglas AIR-2 Genie sitting in the garage of a deceased Washington state resident. The model was produced until 1962.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Maggot]

Beat me to it.

 

[Ronws]

Usually, a garage find yields a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

My friend, Lee, back in 1969 he was fresh out of the Navy and was rummaging through a junkyard and saw something he liked.

The kid left in charge of the place had no idea what it was. But, for $50 bucks and a bit of time with some tools to clean it and crank start it, Lee rode away on an H-D 1954 Panhead.

I think this rocket that can carry nukes kind of overshadows that maybe? I still think I would have more use with the old 80 inch panhead. Every once in a while, take the valve cover off, adjust the nuts on the tappets, good to go.

 

[Marinevet1]

Usually, a garage find yields a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

My friend, Lee, back in 1969 he was fresh out of the Navy and was rummaging through a junkyard and saw something he liked.

The kid left in charge of the place had no idea what it was. But, for $50 bucks and a bit of time with some tools to clean it and crank start it, Lee rode away on an H-D 1954 Panhead.

I think this rocket that can carry nukes kind of overshadows that maybe? I still think I would have more use with the old 80 inch panhead. Every once in a while, take the valve cover off, adjust the nuts on the tappets, good to go.

1954 Harley Pan........74 Cubic Inches

 

[longshooter]

I still think I would have more use with the old 80 inch panhead. Every once in a while, take the valve cover off, adjust the nuts on the tappets, good to go.

Huh?

 

[TexPatriot]

Usually, a garage find yields a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

My friend, Lee, back in 1969 he was fresh out of the Navy and was rummaging through a junkyard and saw something he liked.

The kid left in charge of the place had no idea what it was. But, for $50 bucks and a bit of time with some tools to clean it and crank start it, Lee rode away on an H-D 1954 Panhead.

I think this rocket that can carry nukes kind of overshadows that maybe? I still think I would have more use with the old 80 inch panhead. Every once in a while, take the valve cover off, adjust the nuts on the tappets, good to go.

Buddy of mine had a similar experiece. He was given an old knuckle that appeared to be seized up tight. He took it apart, put it back together, put some fresh oil in it and attempted to see if the motor would at least turn.

It fired off on the first kick. He said it scared the crap out of him.

 

[hlee]

Beat me to it.

History suggests there is still time…

 

[TxWelder35]

No can read. Somebody copy pasta

 

[TexPatriot]

He should have turned it in at the next police guns for cash program.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Here's a link that doesn't have a paywall.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10271027/inert-cold-war-missile-seattle-suburb-garage/

And as to the details of the story, it can't be hyped up much further. So then they also go and add 'perspective' to the photos to make the rocket look REALLY big, in comparison to the staged surroundings.

 

[OkieMike]

Made to carry a 1.5 kT warhead. A peewee.

If memory serves, they figured that fertilizer explosion in Beirut a while back had that approximate yield.

Cool find.

Mike

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Police added, “Because the item was inert and the military did not request it back, police left the item with the neighbour to be restored for display in a museum.”

Wow! Somebody with some common sense. I figured they would confiscate it and destroy it.

 

[whatsupdoc]

So they found a empty metal can with fins.

 

[Redmanss]

Made to carry a 1.5 kT warhead. A peewee.

If memory serves, they figured that fertilizer explosion in Beirut a while back had that approximate yield.

Cool find.

Mike

It was an Air to Air missile, 1.5 kT with a 300m lethality radius and significant shockwave damage outside that for bomber intercept. It wasn't supposed to be a "one and done", instead used with numerous devices to counter an inbound bomber flight. For the times, it was a significant deterrent. Test detonation was called "Plumbbob John", they had 5 USAF directly below with the device fired at 18,500ft with a pretty neat video of the test.

 

[Maggot]

It was an Air to Air missile, 1.5 kT with a 300m lethality radius and significant shockwave damage outside that for bomber intercept. It wasn't supposed to be a "one and done", instead used with numerous devices to counter an inbound bomber flight. For the times, it was a significant deterrent. Test detonation was called "Plumbbom John", they had 5 USAF directly below with the device fired at 18,500ft with a pretty neat video of the test.

Gotta wonder how many of those men died of some form of cancer.

 

[Redmanss]

Gotta wonder how many of those men died of some form of cancer.

Mortality among Military Participants at the 1957 PLUMBBOB Nuclear Weapons Test Series and on Leukemia among Participants at the SMOKY Test

Health effects following low doses of ionizing radiation are uncertain. Military veterans at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) during the SMOKY atmospheric nuclear weapons test in 1957 were reported to be at increased risk for leukemia in 1979, but this increase ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Blue Sky Country]

It was an Air to Air missile, 1.5 kT with a 300m lethality radius and significant shockwave damage outside that for bomber intercept. It wasn't supposed to be a "one and done", instead used with numerous devices to counter an inbound bomber flight. For the times, it was a significant deterrent. Test detonation was called "Plumbbom John", they had 5 USAF directly below with the device fired at 18,500ft with a pretty neat video of the test.

A warhead/delivery platform designed for an era where bombers flew in formation and when you saw one, you saw the whole assault wave. 1.5 KT may sound anemic in terms of mainstream nukes, but one of these going off in the middle of a flight of bombers and the whole wave would be obliterated from the sky. And if special circumstances occur, I don't see much difficulty for the brass to repurpose the warheads to take out ships or cave systems...

 

[Ronws]

1954 Harley Pan........74 Cubic Inches

You're right, my bad.

Edited to add: I have more than one book on H-D history and fouled it up. But true story, my friend, Lee, did rescue a '54 Panhead from a junkyard.

 

[Threadcutter308]

Police added, “Because the item was inert and the military did not request it back, police left the item with the neighbour to be restored for display in a museum.”

Wow! Somebody with some common sense. I figured they would confiscate it and destroy it.

Yeah, but that's typical of the "media" around here. Hype up a nothing burger and ignore anything that is actually "newsworthy".

Useless as tits on a boar.

 

[Redmanss]

A warhead/delivery platform designed for an era where bombers flew in formation and when you saw one, you saw the whole assault wave. 1.5 KT may sound anemic in terms of mainstream nukes, but one of these going off in the middle of a flight of bombers and the whole wave would be obliterated from the sky. And if special circumstances occur, I don't see much difficulty for the brass to repurpose the warheads to take out ships or cave systems...

Agree with the first, but the bolded not really. It was a dumb missile, point and hope, with a 4.5 second burn time to Mach 3+ that at the end of the burn initiated the timed detonation to ensure the firing aircraft would be clear of the blast. Damage on impact with the ground would likely prevent detonation of the device, and targeting with it timing both direction and distance at the same time would have made an actual hit near impossible. The real usage was for bomber intercept over US land and population centers, hence the low yield.

There were more than efficient devices for land engagement, from tactical nukes for troop engagements to the big bitches for main underground command centers and ship fleets.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

Agree with the first, but the bolded not really. It was a dumb missile, point and hope, with a 4.5 second burn time to Mach 3+ that at the end of the burn initiated the timed detonation to ensure the firing aircraft would be clear of the blast. Damage on impact with the ground would likely prevent detonation of the device, and targeting with it timing both direction and distance at the same time would have made an actual hit near impossible. The real usage was for bomber intercept over US land and population centers, hence the low yield.

There were more than efficient devices for land engagement, from tactical nukes for troop engagements to the big bitches for main underground command centers and ship fleets.

The sheer amount of brainpower that had been deployed during the Cold War is on a scale that is unimaginable... And ultimately paved the way for the Moon missions all the way to the James Webb Telescope. Those missiles are just the tip of the concepts iceberg that made it into production. Imagine the concept weapons platforms that have not moved beyond the drawing board and were shelved. There has got to be designs for huge missile-intercepting heat ray projectors and even more exotic quark and meson type beam weapons that were shelved because the energy output required to make these things feasible just did not exist yet...

 

[hlee]

The sheer amount of brainpower that had been deployed during the Cold War is on a scale that is unimaginable... And ultimately paved the way for the Moon missions all the way to the James Webb Telescope. Those missiles are just the tip of the concepts iceberg that made it into production. Imagine the concept weapons platforms that have not moved beyond the drawing board and were shelved. There has got to be designs for huge missile-intercepting heat ray projectors and even more exotic quark and meson type beam weapons that were shelved because the energy output required to make these things feasible just did not exist yet...

And, then there was “Rods from God.”

 

[babyguppy]

FIFY - And, then there IS “Rods from God.”