A Bomb Accidentally Fell On A North Carolina Family’s Backyard, And Miraculously, There Were No Casualties
Back in 1958, the United States Air Force accidentally dropped a Mark 6 nuclear bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina, disrupting the small, sleepy town. Luckily, no one was killed. The shocking explosion would forever be remembered as the Mars Bluff incident.
So, how exactly does a bomb end up falling out of the sky onto American soil like it’s no big deal?
The incident began with a routine mission. That day, a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber was on the way to an overseas base in Europe after taking off from the Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia. An unarmed Mark 6 nuclear bomb was onboard, which was common cargo at the height of the Cold War.
During this time, an arms race occurred between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The nations developed weapons that were tested quickly, and sometimes, accidents like the one in Mars Bluff happened.
The crew consisted of members of the 375th Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Wing. They were skilled at handling bombs, but they were feeling pressured on this training mission because they were being timed.
The bombardier, Captain Bruce Kulka, was inspecting the bomb bay when he accidentally pulled the emergency release pin, causing the bomb to drop through the bomb bay’s doors and fall 15,000 to 20,000 feet to the ground. Kulka nearly fell out of the plane, but he managed to pull himself to safety.
The bomb landed in the backyard of a resident named Walter Gregg, destroying a playhouse that he had built for his children.
The kids were playing just 200 feet away when the bomb landed. The impact created a massive crater that was about 70 feet wide and 35 feet deep.
Gregg, his wife, and children had their world turned upside down that day. They sustained some injuries, and their house was obliterated. Several buildings nearby were damaged as well. Miraculously, no one was killed.
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Gregg later recounted the event, saying, “It was like the end of the world. One moment, everything was normal, and the next, our home was gone, replaced by a smoking crater.”
The bomb was not armed with its nuclear core. What had detonated upon impact was the conventional high explosives it contained.
If a full-scale nuclear blast had taken place, the result would’ve been catastrophic. Eyewitness accounts described the explosion as a loud roar, followed by a plume of smoke and debris shooting through the air.
Within a few hours, military officials were on the scene. They surrounded the property and prevented the Gregg family from returning to their home, partly to maintain secrecy and partly due to concerns about radioactive contamination.
“Local people responded first, and that’s why the story made it out to the media,” said Stephen Motte, curator at the Florence County Museum.
“The Air Force did not want to tell this story. It was the Cold War, tensions were high, and people were certainly fearing the worst.”
After their ordeal, the Gregg family took the government to court to receive compensation and were awarded $54,000.
News of the incident spread rapidly and drew national attention. The public was concerned about the safety of nuclear weapons and military protocols.
The Air Force conducted an investigation into the accident, confirming that human error led to the disastrous situation.
As a result, the military changed the way they ran their training exercises, implementing stricter safety protocols and reinforced training for handling nuclear weapons.
The Mars Bluff incident was a wakeup call, highlighting just how risky it is to transport nuclear arsenals. So, they stopped carrying nuclear bombs during training missions.
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