In January 1961, a B-52 Stratofortress carrying two thermonuclear Mark-39 nuclear weapons experienced a fuel leak, and began to break apart mid-air over Goldsboro, North Carolina. As the pilots lost control of the aircraft, it becomes unclear exactly what happened to both bombs as multiple accounts have come to surface. It was originally thought that one […]
Russia’s Nuclear Threats Prompt Memories Of Cuban Missile Crisis
Senior Policy Director John Erath spoke with Newsy on the 60th anniversary of the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis about comparisons to then and now, when tensions are as high as they were then.
Timeline: The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day nuclear crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Learn more.
The Soviet False Alarm Incident and Able Archer 83
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviets designed an early-warning radar system meant to track fast-moving threats to increase the chance of reprisal. On September 26, 1983, however, the system, code-named Oko, malfunctioned. At around midnight, Oko’s alarms rang out, alerting the base of one incoming nuclear missile. The screen read, “LAUNCH,” which […]
The Norwegian Rocket Incident (The Black Brant Scare)
On January 25, 1995, Russian officers at the Olenegorsk Radar Station in the northwestern region of Russia detected the “launch” of what appeared to be a 4-stage missile off Norway’s northern coast. Although the officers were not able immediately identify the missile, the altitude and distance traveled appeared to align closely with the U.S. submarine-launched […]