Chrome Dome – Why Pilots Flew Nukes Around for 8 Years

08-03-21

Made by robots, for robots. Only read if you're weird.

A man can't like pickles we're not starting our episode that line S N A context in the episode all right, Sorr SARS, we'll start the I like pickles, I'm just saying I've. I've eaten the jar pickles every night and honestly, I feel like my face, is a little tighter. Like my double change on, like I feel like it's working, hey man at have you ever heard of operation, chrome, Dome, Grom, Dome, see when you use it as a verb. It feels really wrong, like entities, nothing funnier to be than stilled water, freaking from Dome, Weird Guy, that little girl yeah drop her from an airport and we're back you. We should all go to like couples therapy together. Things, operation, chrome, Dome, yeah, operation, Croye, yeah, really yeah, it's where so. Google came out with these chrome books, right yeah, and so what I've been doing is just smacking people over the head with chrome books. Yeah, that's is that it's chrome omen, someone get Ruedi, don't know it just sounds really not appropriate. It's got. Chrome Dome, see what you use it as a verb. It feels really wrong it's. He is we doing this week at crum. Do it just feels not right at all operation, chrome, Don? I'm convinced that this is like. I'm convinced at this point that the military names their operations after nicknames they give to people in the military that a Orono's go. You came with braces one day and that's what they call him, my God here so no braces. I don't like it. It makes me cos very. Unlike I mean the two thousand and twenty mask thing that was your year. You know to be an adult with ten it yeah. I just I automatically. Let's say let's say I need a lawyer. Okay, I hire a lawyer that lawyer shows up to court as an adult with braces yeah. I immediately assumed that I'm going to spend forty years in jail, yeah like yeah for a oad parking ticket, just put me in prison. Honestly, honestly, your honor all the charges I brought against me. I know that I didn't do them, but I will I will plead guilty just to get away from this guy be near this. I I'm wearing a sweater, so he's gonna snag it on his teeth. Kayite me away from this crow I'll tell you: what did you have prices? Yeah? Did you really yeah? You think my teeth are this beautiful on accident? Some people are yeah, I'm not natural. This isn't all natural. I it's is a modified mouth over here. This is a manipulated mouth. I'll. Tell you what yeah got some shiny naturals over there see my girl she's all natural snaggle tooth babe. My teeth are real though I'm like yours, yeah mine, are all fake. All the an that's. What I'm saying Tim has dentures tempters yeah. Okay, we want t talk about my teeth, so semper he got insecure real fast. Did you see that you see that on he Gokocht even on your camera copier? What is it see that? Oh, what happened here to I'll have a tooth there. What's anthing on the side, you know what it looks like. You know that no yeah missing two teeth on Bossie didn't brew in Yes, so I did have adulte so they pulled on and the dentist. I was seventeen. The dentist said whoops. They could put in fake teeth yeah and my parents asked how much that was, and they were like here's what happened. So I an there's back O that I go save my parents were like hey. This is really expensive and we're not going to put that much more money into your mouth want to t, and so they said four years in college, they literally they were like there you're about to turn eighteen t. So if you want on you can pay for them or later down the line, you can pay for them. Whatever you want- and I was seventeen so I was like- I don't want to pay for that, and even if I wanted to, I couldn't afford it, so I didn't put them in and so I've just not had teeth there. Since I was seventeen, so at your adult teeth, just didn't grow in we've literally never talked about. This is bizarre to me yea. I just never had a dult. Do you know our ten year? Friendship Anniversaries next year, Oh weird, and I'm just finding out that that you have civil war jaw all right just now, finding out yeah you, you look like you're the way your teeth, O o, like you, be in a museum and be like. Oh yeah, it's how teeth! LOOK BACK TEN YEAH! It's why I haven't got my wiston teeth, foot pulled because I've got room for them to come in to shift my all my moders in so they've just slowly been shifting. My dentist thinks I should put new teeth in, but honestly I've adapted to it and it's kind of Nice like I just got. There's it's kind of great, because I mean like all you dinner on an that, was a really good dinner and, like an hour later, I'm like Oh, more dinner. No, they it's like hardened up my gums. There it used to be really tender. It would hurt yeah. Thank you at Havin, my parents. Well, you know how I hardened my gums. You know I harden my gums Batas. I just smack up against rock every day. Then I would well. I started with bags of sand right and then I graduated and then I just took four on center block. I Gosh tag it my parents, so I don't want o like Im sent hard o this. I Maciel extended my years of aerly, listen to this podcast yeah, because every time I've made fun of your parents yeah they're fans. My parents are okay. Is that so hard for you yeah? Well, my parents are patron supporters. So if we think about whose parents are doing the most, it just kind of seems like you know so he's what happened, and I got all my tea. So O repartant love them. You know, that's really the question isn't it. I had braces for like twelve years, and the reason is because I had the braces and it was like a program was like you have mom from it. Then you take im off th second time around whenever at the end of the time they asked me to bite down. I thought that what was good, Oh, I know. Yeah, you told me where you like, adjusted your mouth to go. I thought what was good as to have your teeth line up perfectly. I thought that's what they were trying to do now and I wanted my braces off. So I just lied and I would just bite down straight down and they were so perplexed. They were every time they were like wow and I thought they were amazed and you were like these people have never seen teeth so good, and so they just kept extending the program to try to fix my bite. Yeah E, like a river band for extra year, you to where the River Mans right until. Finally, when I was like sixteen or Seventeen, I ran as yes, yeah yeah. I asked them. I was like I was like I was like hey. So what's the goal here, what are you guys trying to do? And then I cussed been perfect for four years like putting the thing off, I mean, and they were like they're like we're trying to make your bite like your bites lining up pertly, you don't want that. We want either an over under bite and you were like- and I was like- Oh hold on. I literally was like Oh yeah so about that here is my actual bite and then they took my braces off they're like we can do this today they were like they're like Oh and I was like I'm sorry, I've been lying to you and then I we don't care. We squeeze like four grand extra grand out of your picks, exactly yeah they're like actually like. Can you here here? Let me see your bite again and there slipping you. A fifty l see your body yeah you. Yes, things O my parents were not entertained, Sortita y and they were like. You can keep gaps in your teeth now so they're like you can pay for it, since you did that, that's what had I anyways operation, crove and really, if I can use past for it for a moment, isn't that what we do with the Lord we've spent a lot of our effort, trying to prove that we're straight and narrow, and he over bite yeah and he's just trying to fix her over bite. You know because you're biting off more than you can chew. Let's go a prayer. If you would like to know the Lord, you can make a first all you can make a donation forsa before we force of all we're going to pass the plate, which we are going to do at our ice cream social at we already pass the place with a tim right. Nowhere you doing to that. I your head again: freaking chrome, Dome, Weird Guy Okay. So what is? Operation? Chrome done? An it's not about adults with braces, so the s in the United States of America, everybody's freaked out, because the USS is gonna Lover, Ussun Yeah, the USS ended up it's the height of the Cold War and the s were a particularly tense moment in the Cold War, because the USS figured out intercontinental ballistic missiles and so that for the first time right, they could send a missilee overseas to some others. You know that the bill ogam La Events, they invented the blastic missile. No, I'm saying that, like the reason the Bileam la events were so huge is because the Russia tested those bombs and those La events were two days later, and so it became kind of like a. They really could, because I mean what city is going to target New York in Los Angeles, a exactly so interesting yeah. So one of the ways they marketed that the bill of gram revivals was the they hand as not they really did. They were like they've got missiles that can reach la now. Are you prepared to die where you know? That's crazy, that why that anyway, I know anyway, I know you did it. That's why I said it yeah things I learned last night gosh slip. We got it like ten times, but there's nothing funnier to me than spilled water. Just all over me, yeah tried so hard to hold it together too. So the US didn't have this technology yet, and so what that meant is it would take us hours to get a plane over to Russia if they shot a missile and their missiles would take thirty minutes to get to us and our intelligence at the time. We believe they had about two hundred of these, and so they could wipe out America O efore. We could get a plan across the ocean to even respond, and so fear was high, and so the US had to make a plan to respond in the event that they used. One of these missiles, operation, crome Dome, was born as change angles and cut that out to save you to save you embarrassment this as also cut a part where Tim's got weird teeth. Can you put that out? It's an image thing: it's a plan. It's a play, bask around my mouth, ancient I'll put in my mouth, just hey man have you ever heard of. We got to get some good, be roll to age. Here we go ye onter. If you can take my mouth and put it over a tin just put that in there. Okay, great okay, so chrome dome. Here's I'm on a guest, then legitimately yeah. Is it similar to the Iron Dome that Israel has where it's basically a system that identifies missiles that are flying over and then shoots those? No because Israel has that yeah, no different, pretty crazy stuff. So their response was a throw chrome books, I'm just guessing here. So here's what they did. They said: okay, our missiles theyre you don't they're, not missed with their bombs, and so a plane has to take them over there, and they said: We've got a bunch of B, Fifty two bombers. So what we're going to do is we're just always going to have a B. Fifty two bomber flying pretty close to Russia and so chrome dome, ran from sixty to sixty eight and at that time, for eight years, they've just got they've always got a for eight years. They had at least twelve B fifty two bombers loaded with nuclear bombs at all times, flying somewhere in route to Russia, but never crossing the line, but just basically circling the say where go. What's that sound is beef it to bomb ow? THAT'S THE CROMOMETER CRUMB! Dom! U Imagine that's your daily job, though, is just for eight years, maybe dropping above yeah. I dont, like you say. Let's say you serve four years in the air force right yeah, that's your job as a drive rig, and so then, after you know now, you're. However old you are, which is one thousand nine hundred and sixty eight rise or born in like the S, maybe lates, right, yeah and now you're in your is right and then your grand kids are like you were a war hero and all you did was just you were basically a sky trucker freaking running around goust. You know, saying, like you didn't I mean that's all you did so they had a couple routes that they took. The the main route was that Russia never knew. Oh No, they knew that was kind of the point. o Russia got the cross the air space and they go hello, Gary Right and then there and the non yeah all right. All right, we'll see to morrow space yeah, pretty Muche S had a couple of routes. They would depart from central us somewhere in central us. Okay fly up over the North East, around Canada, up towards Greenland, around Alaska and then back down the west coast and to wherever they came from. That was the one route huh okay, so they would go north east yeah and then over to Alaska over yeah up to Greenland and then over Canada to Alaska, say up to where Greenland you hear it right: Greenland, Greenland, what ice las we be saying wrong there, Greenland, it's land, it's La and D N! I smell end. Are you dumb, Greenland? I as a serious question? Are you an idiot, Leland ice land? That's how it's spelled: man, Greenland, Iceland, yeah! That's how Lazy People Talk Disneyland? No, it's great! No! That's how that's how people? That's, how you say all right! Hey! You know what that was a moment of conviction. God was like don't or Green Land, thank you and around Alaska and then back agayacatl right and then back into the US. The other route, the southern route de an rush, almost touch yeah thither like that they would fly over they'd wave it baby. Sarah Palin and I fly back, Hey Sarah. She grew up. You know, on the stone mobiles looking at the admiring the crumb down, she's like look at those sky tries and so the southern route they crossed the Atlantic and then just kind of circled, the Mediterranean and then came back okay and then the western route they left from the Pasich and then kind of just flew around Alaska a couple times and then came back. So it was all somewhere in route to Russia was where these were at all times was kind of the idea. So that way, right something happened. They could break from their pattern and then just got Russia sure bomb them and most of them at any, given time had at least two third on nuclear bombs, but sometimes six tutamen bombs on board that were armed and ready to be ready to go jobbed, and so here's the thing about when you're doing anything for twenty four hours straight for eight years, get lazy, yeah, something's going to go wrong. For example, this is very similar to like those churches that do the twenty four hours of prayer. For like eight years yeah, I don't know if you've ever gone at those, but they get some bad worship waters in there. There's some o MIS pretty rough, that's kind of what happened with operation cromometer. There was a few prologistic Al problems that they had to figure out that ended up becoming kind of legist nightmares later down the road, the biggest one being is work, keeping twelve B fifty two bombers airborne for eight years. How are we going to do that, and so occasionally they would land swap out crews, they would take back off, but most of the time these would be running about a twenty four hour route, where they'd be flying around for twenty four hours and that's a long time for a plane and a lot of fuel, and so they would typically have to re feel twice in this flight and then that's like refueling wall flying yeah, which I wasn't a new concept at this pride. But it wasn't a science by any means the prevailing method. At this point for mid air re feelings was a the refueling tanker would fly near by, and they would basically have a lasso of like a fuel hose in a last tone. They would just kind of chuck it to the other plane again, one dude from Texas on top of the play, just yearn straight on down a I mean these are sky truckers, they don't care right. They have no fear. I mean it's it's a little bit like I mean you know the culture right, they're out there, just s throwing their their lasses Roun yeah, but this wasn't as now. They do it where, like the plane, comes up and they just look like two flies mating right. Two horse flies just reproducing yeah. That's pretty accurate because Pookas what they they tried to. They tested a bunch of methods. They ended up settling they have like a big boom pole. That's like stationary giants, draw yeah, essentially a big straw, and he that flies over and they basically have to get the perfect spot and then that just kind of latches on and then it refuels. The problem with this was the by twos. They were jets, but the tankers they were still double piston aircraft, so they just weren't as fast, and they also couldn't fly nearly as high. So the B fifty two had to drop down into significantly lower air space, which meant they were now in the clouds which meant they were going to hit turbulence. Oh yeah and the tankers were going to also hit two minutes, so you got these two things that are flying very close to each other, that are very large that are hitting turby Lens Hatiti yeah, and so that was the big worry with this. The other big issue is the top speed for these tankers is lower than the lowest speed for the bfore would have to get so slow that they actually would open their landing gear like it was. The landing operation was how so they had to travel, but there are like fifteen thousand feet, refueling this, and so it was a very dangerous operation and you're doing this. But why okay? Why wouldn't? It is land and well because I, with these routes, they didn't have places they could stop in land on most of these routes, and so it was just. It was a logistical problem and also they wanted to. The fear was that they had so many of these missiles that they could launch all of them at once to all of their military installations, and so, if any of those were on the ground, they'd be destroyed, they wanted to make sure that they always had them in the air. So that way they could avoid the box. You know rare, and so but here's the thing for each of these flight. Imagine being one of those Prala and you see the bomb like through the clouds yeah like you're, like you're sitting here, trying to focus on like okay, late and you're down, okay they're coming day day, seven hundred and thirty of what was that you see that you see that all right, one of those I think Tom to long s been talking about those things at call those Dat. I tell you what I don't know what it was, but I guess we'll probably find out in an undisclosed report sixty years from now so yeah. So things went wrong, so things got pretty bad, so yeah, so things things went wrong a few times. Okay, first time was in one thousand nine hundred and sixty one and it's a there only a year into it, yeah and Goldsborough North Carolina on January, twenty. Third, one of these B, Fifty two they called the Strato fortress okay, which is kind of cool. They were carrying four mega ton, Mark Thirty, nine, three, four Megaton, so three of them that were four Mega: Tens: okay, okay, Mark Thirty, nine nuclear bombs, so twelve mega tons of bomb yeah, twelve megatons worth of Bob, which, if you've seen our CASA. Bravo, that was a fifteen megaton yeah. So this is pretty close to that that the they're caring well this for a reason, I can't find like the actual reason of what happened, but the plane just broke up apart in midair. Oh, no, probably, if I had to guess probably it was like the refenge incident, where they're refiling and like they probably hit each other but so broke apart in mid air, all the pilots ejected and these bombs also ejected, because everything got ejected. You know the plan ICOS it have a kill, switch on it like does it have an engaged switch where you have to do something for it or are those live there? These are live bombs that are safety's on it. Okay, that's all these are live bombs, though they fell into the salt and see yeah very similar concept, except for this was the town of Goldsboro North Carolina where people woke up on the morning of January, twenty fourth to just find nukes sticking out of the ground, all around town, with the largely still intact, with the parachute attached to the back of it. Just like the fully deployed to parashot yeah, just stick it out of the ground. These are like fifteen foot, bombs, sticking out of the ground and one of them had. Actually. This is the scariest part of this incident. To me is one of the blot one of the one of the bombs had plunged itself twenty feet into the ground and and even though the didn't go off yeah. So what happened with all these? What is the either dinneen te or just their TNT pay load detonated. So it was just a blast, but not a blast. You know it's like a blast, but like not a blast, you don't you know it's a lot like my fourteenth birthday party. You know it was a blast. It wasn't like a black. You know, and I think that's why Alex didn't kiss me that day, if I avet think aabout it, it was a blast. You know, but it was a it's like. You know, yeah my next birthday party, it's like whenever you proposed to breathe. It was a blast, but it wasn't a blast. You know because she got real mad, that you left and yeah. That was your fault, literally, not my fault, literally, your faults, whatever we don't have to tell a story about how you propose. So we don't to tell a story about how you got too nervous and I had to compose for you. I understand I belike I stood at the: U O there and she's like she's like what are you guys doing like I'm standing right next to you and you're like down on one knee and I'm like Jim, and I'm like there for emotional support. I like pass out. I come on, come on Tim grow, some teeth right or just hey brick. I mean I got a break, a Meamei God an break man, Oh God, I'm like all right. Let's I did you do this. For me cartel's say: Let's say that this is real right. Let's say that, I'm like away! Let's say that I'm hiding somewhere trying to watch this happen, trying to make sure I go some mothy right, you're telling me that you forget her name. You say hey brick, but you somehow remember mine to scream out for my help right sand, she's just staying there, you think she's. Still there you I mean we have even pulled the ring out. Yet he on one knee back is like she's. Just there and then I casually walk up and I'm like hey bre e Tim really likes you and he wants to know if you like him to check yes or no yeah. That's exactly what happened. Oh Wow! So do I remember it very fondly they. They ended up recovering all of these bombs, except for the one that dug twenty feet under ground. They took some pieces of it and they buried it, and then they buried the shot yeah. They took some pieces of it and after taking a few pieces off, they said to do this more W D would jeopardize it yeah, and so they said we're just going to bury it. So there's just a live nuke underground weir in Goldsborough North Carolina. Let's go okay, dig it up yeah, it's underneath the golden crown and that's one of their main selling points. So, like you, an Ed this Golden Corral, one we've got unlimited food and also there's a new country. Here, it's like all on the sign out we'll blow you away. Oh it's a bomb. I have a bomb. Half a blast. Have your fourteen birthday party here at Golden? Go you'll have a blast, but hopefully not a blast hey. This is a probably a good opportunity to pitch our our live event that we're going to be doing. It's called the ice cream social. It's at the Golden Corral, man ever new in a misry pro we should do. It is gonna, be a brass. We should do a meeting. We should do meat and greets at golden corrals across the potater stands for all seven of our fans. You know we just go and do meetings, that's hilarious. We can grow. Our fans come on into the Bin, Trout, yeah, it's pretty funny. That is pretty funny yeah. So they took a couple pieces and they just let the rest of it in there and they buried it. I knew they would do that yeah, that's what the government does when they like mess up, that's what they did with dia it's what they did with this bomb. It's the government do t yeah there just like whoops bury it. Just that's what barbarian I almost made a joke. Okay, the next one happened in Yuba City, California, another time where this on the city, Guba, Yuba city, ubas yeah, so it's like it. This was back when Skabash really big and I ba Yuba city, where Ubay okay, what inside do you think that was trumpet can see that? CAN YOU TRUMPET? Did you play trumpet? You look like you play Trumpet Alex? Well, I have to get close to make the sound. It can't make the sound with my hand that far away what is is flaking bird called you're telling me that I you were marching an you. Tell e that without your hand, up to your mouth that trumpet impersonation would sound worse. I can do it on my hand. I E I can do a good trumpet a at's here now. DO IT SO Scott Trumpet Baby Poll. I got this I'm under pressure. I don't like it here we go. I can usually do this pretty well when you're, not here. Honestly, it's really good a walk on my house and I'm just like hold on it. Just sounds weird: Maybe it's because I have head Fono's, not bad. I actually have a trumpet tape underneath here. Okay, that would be pretty cool if I did that. So in Yuba city there was another crash and they dropped another bomb, Dinna Detana same kind of similar story, and then there was also savage mountain crash in Georgia or returning from Georgia. Returning to Georgia, Free Edison, savage mountain it at was Jesus, Oh Gosh, savage mountain, to figure out where this was. I this just confused the heck out of me for a second there. Oh it's in Maryland Savage Mountain Maryland. Okay, so their routes were pretty weird yeah. They were all over the place. I mean it was pretty much this situation where it's like. We always have a bomber, and it's really interesting that they only accidentally drop bombs on the United States. They seem like Russia was like. We don't even need to use our missiles. I mean they're bombing themselves, yeah yeah yeah, it's pretty pretty crazy, so yeah. So this was another similar thing. There was, I think, another issue with refueling. They ended up crashing and dropping these bombs in some swamp on the mountain. Thus live live nukes. You know in a merite buried him yeah, they just bared up in the mountain. That's where stranger things came from that little girl yeah dropped her from an airplane. That's our eleven gale feet into the ground and and t t e, the military piles landed and they were like. Oh my gosh, her heads made out of chrome R. She comed home. You remember when stranger things came out. We live together. Then right, Yep, Yep a Ye. What a good time and yeah you watched it without me, so I watched it without Bertie o a y that makes sense yeah. We should all go to like couples therapy together. I so the Tholl air base crash fool. Full Air Base crash happened in the twenty font of January, one thousand nine hundred and sixty eight. So now we're thigh years into this right. It sounds like the end. This sounds like the last draw. The US has drop bombs on themselves. For years now, yeah, not one has come from Russia. Not One has come from Russia, all of them from the US, all of them from the Chrome Dome, all of them from the Crumenam and the US has had some issues. Obviously, with this this program, there's one big one which we'll talk about in a second. We didn't talk about the big one, yet you're telling me that there's an issue bigger than dropping bombs in ourselves. Obviously this is what you're doing right now. Is it everyone's made mistakes? Everyone makes mistakes, you know is best who hasn't accent, dropped a nuke on American soil, like we've all best fair we had far in when you really think about it. You know and honestly haven't we all moked ourselves if you'd like to give to our ministry to you can join on patron like WHO's. Our patron right now go call McKenzie Brown, Mackenzie Brown. You know McKenzie Brown, so dace of twenty five as a month, and I believe that God is going to bless her tenfold till in fold Tilono for her seat of sode. What text Tilini don't know she's a patron sport or twenty five? That's crazy! You know thanks for doing that, we were very wonderful. I think we are, I mean color me grateful I'll, tell you what and we're having a blast. All thanks and I mean she's. You know she's able to get an ad free experience, so she doesn't have to watch advertisements like this way and we're back you back with more ways. The government hurt us so again the US is up there flying their bombs around and here's a punk rock lyricist thought of. I tell you that we wondered if the government herd us, but all they did was hurt us come on. I come on. I hate that man. I hate that okay, so this time they're in their Green Lind, is that how you said Green Land Route? I hate that they're in the green land or at LAC shouts, do you're so wrong, a they're in their greenland route and somehow a fire breaks out on board. Third, fifty two: You talk about Greenland like it's a place in candy land sounds like you're, just like they're in the green land. Ye welcome the Greenland. Well, I was a woful house, an and okay. So a fire breaks out on word five breaks on on Bard, because you know they had the whole like smoking, non smoking on plans for a minute there, you think, or a non smoking section on Tissie t restaurants. Every section was the smoking section. We agree because they had like smoking in a like. I remember growing up. We always sat in the Non Smoking Section, yeah Mexican Villa Yeah. I remember they had a smoking sections, yeah easy and it's still warm cigarettes yeah, and that was before they figured out. It wasn't good to smoke on Joan. We were that we were alive at a point whenever you would go in the first question, the hostess would ask you is certy of a shirt to put on, and the second question was smoking or non smoking. That's crazy that we were alive for them. Do you smoke? It's like that's a weird man. That's a tough personal range question to just ask me yeah. Clearly, I'm missing two teeth. The answers. Yes, yeah sit me over there bro. Whenever you smoke. Do you like put cigarettes? This is, I love that I've implying that you smoke and you just didn't even disagree. I was like whatever you smoking, you were like Huh. Just to s got two cigarettes hanging a row. Just yeah go ahead. Now it's actually Lyconia, like I'll put my straw in there shot yeah. I we really my Straw in there and then I know I open a real seen you do this. I don't like it. I'm literally questioning in the last ten years of my life right now go ahead, so the fire re out and they crash in Greenland. They couldn't put the fire out, there's no fire stinguisher. Now their only thing they could do was well got a nose dive of this thing down into green land as the crash and this time the news they nuke. Oh really like parsley new. You know it's like it's like a nuke, but not a nuke. You know yeah, but it was significant and it's I mean it's Greenland, so there's nothing there, but still there are significant radioactive materials left at the crash site. Now I think they're why the oceans rising? Maybe here's the thing there are is a lot of uranium plutonium Meyrick, a marise, I think, is in tritium there. Luckily, some of the plutonium and the Chit has a half life of only twelve years. Okay on, on the other end, some of the uranium has a high half life of four point: five billion years. So it's going to be radioactive for a while and listen till our grandkids are here at least L I at least at the very minalte, very least. Yes, it's going to be radiative for Lanta. Greenland was not mad or not. They were mad, they were not ever like. They were like actually yeah. It's fine like we don't use that it's just ice. No, no! No! Sorry! Sorry! You hit Blue Lane, we're greenland, that's blue land up there newcome they hate, they hate the blue, Landan, the blue, Blue Land, O nights, blue legions, okay, so go ahead. This is the second significant crash, and this was in the US said. Probably shouldn't do this anymore yeah, but before this there was another significant crash called the so the Greenland one was the was the tip. was there there, like we've done this to ourselves, a lot that was the nuke and the ice cap ye when they were like we can feel that was. The lastthis is the last nuke, okay and so yeah. They said the one before that yeah, the one before that was the Pala Maris crash, O one thousand nine hundred and sixty six okay, and so, like I mean every year, they're having incidents yeah, I mean they just keep dropping bos places, and this one was. They got one of those boards back of the air ces like days with the Otari, a nuclear bomb on accident, a really somber place at the air base, they're just like yeah. So this one happened over the Mediterranean on the coast, the supposed to have an ice cream bay. If we reached a hundred days, I've really been looking for it. I azyr messed it up four point: five billion years until our next ICE GRAM party, I won't even see it mad. Well, this one was a a refueling maneuver okay and they actually hit some turbulent. They hit each other, the two jetat each other. Okay as they broke apart, mid air and the bombs just kind of fell out and they landed in Spain and they did a partial explosion in Spain was like Whoa, not cool seems like O. Listen. We try to stay out of this stuff, but yeah I mean we know you and Russia have been doing this thing for a little bit where you're like just this was not cool. Like I mean we, this year's been a blast. We don't want to be a black. You know, Oh man yeah, so they dropped. They were like me. Still Film, Cheeta Girls. There I like we need a break. All right. Give us like forty years is for well do again: Ouresai sty six. Someone was like. I got this idea that Sheeta girls, yeah Spain was like well, you just move all right, so we can't do that right. Now, we're not going to let you do that. Forty years and forty years have your grandkid come back to me. Yeah. This guy is sitting right next to the days without a night, and they did a cheat a girl's movie in Spain right next to the the days without a nuclear accident. There's another sin: that's a and the guy crosses at the zero and he's like he's like four point: five billion years to ice on party for the guys like, but hey atune me on up crumb on you, a cigarette yeah both on the side. Oh my Gosh! So yes, okay, what are you doing next weekend? I mean nothing, nothing, nothing as probably going to fly that route. Again. I heard about this really cool festival in Indiana, a freaking love it broad we should fly by. We sthat looks more dangerous than what we're doing yeah. So these so Spain, along with a lot of other countries in the world. We, I hey, don't fly over US in other countries like. Why are we next yeah they're, like hey, just keep dropping those on yourself? Okay, that that's for you and you will love what you guys do in your house. That's up to you. Okay, pretty much! The rest of the world was like stop it, except for Greenland. Apparently they said Yeah just find I as and then Russia was like. Why are you hitting yourself what you O so well, then it came out around the same time that this last sixty eight one happened that Russia had been lying about their interconnects. They didn't have them and well they had something similar, but it wasn't. It couldn't go as far and as fast as they said yeah and it's obviously so then the US was like well, I guess we don't need to do this anymore, so I just stop. Lay in the plane bring her home Oration Amos. It's over, Oh man, an then we get the cheat of girls earlier pains like no yeah, you still tear the consequences of your action is what setting boundaries looks like we've got a national timer. You know you go to you go to Spain and, like all next to all like the architecture and the fountains and stuff, they just got a digital clock to to count down like the freaking countdown clock at Times Square on a eve, Yep, happy, they're, dropping a ball, they're dropping a ball very slowly for years. It's the cheater girl's ball. If you look at the left side of your bus, you will see the Cheeta girls bout. Oh my Gosh! Oh my gosh yeah! So that's why I cut that out. They were like all right, all right, lres. They stop doing that, but yeah there's a few of those bombs have never been recovered. We're just pretending it never happened, apparently makes sense yeah. So it's that is or we're going to go, find him. I, I really do think you and I should like take a year off of whatever your job is and we should go just do a till and road trip. We can go to marijuana, Mecca yeah. You know we can go to slab city. Okay, we can go to the police in Alabama that sells the excess baggage the baggage claim place. You remember that I remember we can go to where the other places we've mentioned. Wherever this bomb is twenty feet in the ground yeah I do, we can yeah, we can go to la where a battle took place. Oh yeah yeah, that's true, I mean yeah. I just like quit your job leave your wife and let's get the road buddy. She doesn't listen to this. It's true. She doesn't have patience for this. No one does no one's listening at this point of the episode all right cool. Do you want to run away with me as it the road so there's a sign in Eureka North Carolina right now, okay, you're weak in North Carolina go ahead and I just says: There's a bomb just as keep digging. That's all I say just as I have a bomb. No, it says nuclear mishap and is as B fifty two transporting two nuclear bombs crash: Jay Y R E thousand nine hundred and sixty one widespread disaster averted. Three cumen died, though so three human died, though he cried. Thirty is I I I O it is so it is the word though. Three Groma died, though, on the official sign. Nothing happened. Three crewman died, though comma, though that is, the three cuman died, though populations a okay. So let me this rat nuclear mishap plane crash nothing bad happened. Three crewman died, though population two thousand days until Cheeta girls are here l digital side, but it's broke white. It's now counting the other way because it came out like twenty years ago, so we and spray paint a day sancity the girls cave like that was our high point. The very bottom is says: fiddler. It is a


Few things are more dangerous than extended distance flights. Yet, occasionally, brave pilots will attempt to fly extreme distances in one go. A single flight around the world is dangerous business. A flight around the world is child’s play compared to flying around for 8 years, straight, with nuclear bombs on board. That is exactly what the United States Military did from 1960 to 1968. It was the height of the cold war, and fear of the looming nuclear apocalypse birthed one of the most ambitious defense strategies ever composed. Operation Chrome Dome put a handful of pilots in the sky 24/7 for 8 years straight while carrying a nuclear payload, just in case. Needless to say, this was incredibly dangerous and nearly ended in disaster multiple times. With a name like Chrome Dome, you know this is a wild story.

Operation Chrome Dome

During the cold war, the United States and Soviet Russia stood at an absolute stalemate with one another. Each took turns demonstrating their military and technological might to drive the other nation into fear. With each proverbial flex, the other flexed back or entered a frenzied state of panic. It truly is a miracle that these nations didn’t destroy the world during the cold war. Unfortunately, operation Chrome Dome is one of the many examples of a cold war-driven plan with disastrous ramifications.

The Mission

Early in the Cold War, the Russians developed the world’s first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The stunning military technology gave Russia the ability to launch a missile from mainland Russia to the continental US in under an hour. However, the United States was still operating with nuclear bombs dropped by bomber planes. In the event of an attack, it would take the US hours to respond due to the distance needed to travel by plane to drop their bombs. So, the US devised a plan to keep nuclear bombs airborne, and en route to Russia 24/7, this was Operation Chrome Dome.

So, how did they do it? The military loaded up B-52 bombers with a nuclear payload and set them out on one of three flightpaths, around the Mediterranean sea, around the continental United States, and around Greenland. The B-52s refueled while airborne, which was a hazardous maneuver. Before the route was complete, a new B-52 would join the route so there would be no lag time between when one plane landed and another took off. Flight crews typically spent 24 hours in the air at this time.

Flight path of the operation chrome dome b-52 bombers
Flight Paths of the B-52 bombers during operation Chrome Dome
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Chrome Dome Was a Disaster

There were several immense dangers with the strategy employed by Operation Chrome Dome. First, non-stop 24-hour flights are dangerous today. At that time, the dangers were even greater. Such a long flight posed various risks, including engine failure, pilot fatigue, and loss of fuel. Speaking of fuel, the next great danger was the refueling maneuver conceived for this program. Today mid-air refueling is down to a science, albeit a dangerous science. At the time of Operation Chrome Dome, mid-air refueling had never been done before. The military created a system for airborne refueling due to this mission. The maneuver requires two planes flying extremely close to one another and stretching a crane arm from one to the other. The opportunities for failure during this process were many. Lastly, these planes had numerous live nuclear bombs on board. The dangers of that need no further explanation.

The Incidents

On multiple occasions, these B-52 bombers crashed. Most commonly due to collisions during refueling or engine failure. Luckily, none of these crashes led to the nuclear payload’s detonation, and only a couple crashed in populated areas. However, there were a couple of very close calls.

The Palomares Incident is likely the most significant of the crashes. After a mid-air collision during refueling, the B-52’s fuel line erupted in flames. The plane broke apart and dropped three thermonuclear bombs. One of the bombs fell safely into the Mediterranean sea without detonation. However, the other two fell onto the shores of a fishing village on the coast of Spain named Palomares. These two bombs, however, did detonate their non-nuclear payload. Since the entire nuclear payload didn’t detonate, the blast was relatively small. The explosions did unleash radioactive plutonium in the area, though. Spain was obviously quite unhappy with this incident, and the Palomares crash would lead to the cancellation of Operation Chrome Dome.

Conclusion

During the height of the Cold War, Operation Chrome Dome was put into place to defend the Us against the imminent threat of Soviet Russia’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Whether the mission was the best method to protect the US is not clear. What is clear is that this operation was insane and ended poorly. Multiple crashes cost US pilots their lives and nearly caused monumental loss of life and damage to property both in the US and abroad. However, there are many more interesting storylines when it comes to Operation Chrome Dome. To learn more, watch or listen to this episode of the Things I Learned Last Night Podcast.

Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning, and laughing a whole lot while you do, then you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!

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Sources

Operation Chrome Dome – Wikipedia

Palomares B-52 Crash – Wikipedia


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