1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the show Ridiculous Historians. Happy new Year. 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: By the way, we are taking a little bit of 3 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: time off here and we wanted to give you some 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: of our favorite classic episodes. We called this one the 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,760 Speaker 1: Atomic Whoops, which is still a hilarious title. 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 2: And it's hilarious. We've been in the spirit of reflection 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 2: in this new year. Can you believe we've been doing 8 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 2: this show for like, what more than five years? 9 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 3: At this point, I think we're coming up on six years. 10 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 3: I mean no, this was gonna be surprising to you 11 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 3: because I think in April it'll be three years of 12 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 3: me on the show. I don't believe it. It makes 13 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 3: no sense. 14 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: But you haven't only get rid. 15 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 3: Of me yet. 16 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 2: I we would never You're the soul of the show. 17 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,919 Speaker 1: The time lies by. And also it's what's great about this, 18 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,639 Speaker 1: what I think we're all thankful for, is that if 19 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: you had if you had told us at the very 20 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: beginning of this show the way our bosses did, that 21 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: we'd only be doing this for six weeks, we would 22 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: have said, that's a lot of time. But here we are, 23 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: my friends, Max Doll, all our fellow Ridiculous Historians, we 24 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: are having such a time we have so many adventures 25 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: ahead and we are seeing so much ridiculous history. This 26 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: story is about the time South Carolina was bombed not 27 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: by enemy forces but by Uncle Sam. 28 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 3: Yeah speaking, I think that don't make sense. 29 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 2: The greg family of mars Bluff, South Carolina, was very 30 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 2: much a where the Cold War was happening. They, however, 31 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 2: did not realize that they were going to be kind 32 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 2: of at the center of it. The ground zero, if 33 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 2: you will, the X marks the spot and the cartoons 34 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 2: where the bombs doth. 35 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 3: Fall by accident. But boy, it was it a doozy 36 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 3: and a real whoopsie for the US Air Force. Come 37 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 3: dive in with us. 38 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: Let's find out why we call it This episode the 39 00:01:53,760 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: Atomic Whoops. Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio Boom 40 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: or Not to Boom. Welcome to the show, ladies and gentlemen. 41 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: My name is Ben. 42 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 3: Ben. You startled me. 43 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, nol. It was not my intention to startle you. 44 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 3: You startled me so much that I forgot to announce 45 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 3: my name. But you did it for me, so thank 46 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 3: you for that. You know how you did that though 47 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 3: you dropped a bomb on me. 48 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: Ben, you dropped the bomb on me, all right, just 49 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: go beat be And of course we would be remiss 50 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: if we did not shout out our super producer, good 51 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: friend Casey Pegram who is who is sipping the coffee 52 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,239 Speaker 1: and gave us a cheerful a cheerful nod and toast 53 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: a good day, A good day. Yeah. And we're at 54 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,519 Speaker 1: the very end of the year as we record this. 55 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 3: Right yeah, yeah, I mean the magic of podcast post 56 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 3: production will be giving you this episode later, but it 57 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 3: is in fact very close to the end of the 58 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 3: year as we sit and record this right now. 59 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, And here in the podcast world, as we 60 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: approach the end of the year, in vacation times and stuff, 61 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: things can get a little hectic. So both of us 62 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: are a little bit punchy and filled with some nervous 63 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: energy as we're finishing everything up this week, right. 64 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 3: Totally, And we can relate to this idea of multitasking 65 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 3: and having to really scramble to get things done. And 66 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 3: such was the case during the Cold War when America 67 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 3: was gripped by paranoia surrounding a potential nuclear war with Russia, 68 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 3: and part of that involved the clandestine transportation of atomic 69 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 3: bombs over American soil. And again with that theme of 70 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 3: multi ti asking and scrambling. Sometimes, you know, I mistakes 71 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 3: are made. 72 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,559 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, Oh gosh, what an infamous understatement. Yes, sometimes 73 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: mistakes were made. Multitasking is tricky. And when you feel 74 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: like you are juggling something while you're driving something, while 75 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: you're also doing a very difficult math in your head, 76 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: maybe you begin to feel a little bit like something 77 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: approaching a pilot. 78 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 3: And imagine if one of those things you're juggling was 79 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 3: a seventy six hundred pound or three point four metric 80 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 3: ton nuclear warhead. 81 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: Once upon a time, friends and neighbors. In January of 82 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,559 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three, the greg family moved into a home 83 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: in a rural part of eastern South Carolina, and it 84 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: was on land that their family had owned for a century. 85 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 3: Would you describe it as idyllic? 86 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, boucolic. Even they had no idea that five 87 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 1: years later they I would earn a very strange, distinctive, 88 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: and dangerous honor by becoming the first and only American 89 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: family to survive the first and only atomic bomb dropped 90 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: on American soil by Americans. 91 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 3: Our pal Laurie L. Dove wrote this great article for 92 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 3: how stuff works. She did not bury the leave. The 93 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,679 Speaker 3: title of the article is the US Air Force dropped 94 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 3: an atomic bomb on South Carolina in nineteen fifty eight, 95 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,799 Speaker 3: and that, friends, is the subject of today's story. 96 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: And we want to be clear it is an accidental bombing. 97 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: It wasn't as if the Air Force said, you know 98 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,159 Speaker 1: who's really bugging us? The Greg family. 99 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 3: So on March eleventh of nineteen fifty eight, two of 100 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 3: the children of Walter Greg Helen, aged six, and Francis, 101 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 3: age nine, were playing with their nine year old cousin, 102 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 3: Ella Davies. They were just paling around. They had a 103 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 3: nice little playhouse in the backyard near a garden patch, 104 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 3: and there Walter, along with their brother, Walter Junior. We're 105 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 3: working on some projects in a nearby tool shed. 106 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: Yes, a lovely day. Yeah, what could go wrong? You 107 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: can almost hear the light music in the background right 108 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: but elsewhere high in the air. At four nineteen pm, 109 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: a member of the crew of the US Air Force 110 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: B forty seven E bomber futs things up. A little 111 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: mistakes were made, and the crew member accidentally released a 112 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: nuclear weapon that landed on the girl's playhouse while they 113 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: were about two hundred feet away and the family's nearby garden, 114 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: creating a massive crater that was at a circumference of 115 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: about fifty feet oh and was more than thirty feet 116 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: deep out of nowhere. Just but you know, a more 117 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: dramatic sound, Yeah, significantly more dramatic. This created like a 118 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 1: shock wave that's cracked windows, was and shook homes in 119 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: the nearby community of Mars Bluff, And it flattened this 120 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: playhouse just to nothing, And there were chickens that were 121 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: described as having been vaporized. 122 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 3: And it basically just put a herding on their entire property. 123 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 3: All of the buildings, their outbuildings became uninhabitable. It literally 124 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 3: changed the slope of their land such that the foundation 125 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 3: of the home was no longer secure. And it injured 126 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 3: at least somewhat everyone around, right. 127 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, luckily it was not a fatal injury for everyone. 128 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: But it's difficult, although we laugh about it out, it's 129 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: difficult to fathom the amount of emotional distress this would cause. Right, So, 130 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: before we dive into detail about the specs and stats 131 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: of this bomb, look at what was happening that day, Right, 132 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: How did this crew get up in the air where 133 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: they where were they coming from? Where were they going? 134 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: Earlier that day, the crew was part of a training 135 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: exercise that would require the bomb to be loaded into 136 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: an airplane and flown from Savannah, Georgia, across the Atlantic 137 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: to England. This was a mock mission. Think of it 138 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: like a training exercise. 139 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,679 Speaker 3: The operation snow Flurry is what it was called. 140 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: And so Captain Earl Koehler, who is the pilot, Captain 141 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: Charles Woodruff who was the co pilot, Captain Bruce Kolka, 142 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 1: the navigator, bombadier and crew chief Sergeant Robert Scriptalk had 143 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: arrived at Hunter Air Force Base just outside of Savannah 144 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: to fly in this operation Scriptalk. 145 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 3: That is a fascinating sounding name. 146 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,559 Speaker 1: If it was just just Scriptalk instead of Robert Scriptalk, 147 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 1: it sounds like a character in a sci fi fantasy film. 148 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 3: You're like Star Trekers. 149 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: Scriptoc, lord of the Igneous rock people. 150 00:08:58,760 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 3: I love it. 151 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: In this world. He's an Air Force pilot. So as Noel, 152 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: as you said, what was the name of the operation again, 153 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: Operation snow Flurry, Operation snow Flurry. They carefully load the 154 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: bomb onto the plane, takes an hour. They put it 155 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: into a shackle mechanism. That's designed to keep it in place, 156 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: but they had a difficult time with a steel locking pin. 157 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, they actually noticed that there was like a light, 158 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 3: a fault light that started to glow, and that told 159 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 3: them that the bomb's locking pin had not properly been engaged. 160 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 3: So Navigator Captain Bruce Kulka went to take a look. 161 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: So while Captain Navigator Captain Bruce Kolka is investigating this 162 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: light and finding the source of the fault, he accidentally 163 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: hit the emergency release pin as he reached around the 164 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: bomb to pull himself up. The device hit the bomb 165 00:09:59,000 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: bay doors. 166 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:01,679 Speaker 3: It wasn't really a pin, it was like a like 167 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 3: a like a lever. 168 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, And he when he did this, when 169 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: he hit this, it forced the doors open. And can 170 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: you imagine, noll, the look on this guy's face as 171 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,199 Speaker 1: he watched it leave the plane. 172 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, the way I've seen it is he 173 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 3: was kind of crawling on top of the bomb, sort 174 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 3: of had himself positioned like arms and legs spread, trying 175 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 3: to get to this pin. And then when he sort 176 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 3: of lost his footing, he reached out and grabbed this 177 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 3: release lever, and all hell broke loose, and yeah, he 178 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 3: Apparently as that bomb fell out from under him. 179 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: He was left. 180 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 3: He watched it, but he was left suspending himself from 181 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 3: that handle and whatever else he had a foothold and 182 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 3: a grasp on there and just watching, looking straight down 183 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,079 Speaker 3: as that bomb hit those bay doors. Eventually the weight 184 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 3: forced them open and then it was bombs away. 185 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,319 Speaker 1: And we're very lucky that he didn't fall out as well, right, 186 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,719 Speaker 1: because he's as you said, he's standing there picture a 187 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: letter X, just hanging out with nothing between the ground 188 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: and himself except for a very dangerous drop through naked air. 189 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 3: So back to the idyllic Greg family homestead, the children 190 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 3: are playing, the boys and the father are at work 191 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 3: in the shed for nineteen pm, right, and they look 192 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:36,319 Speaker 3: and they see this bomber flying overhead. But that would 193 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,079 Speaker 3: not have been an unusual sight at the. 194 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,319 Speaker 1: Time, especially not in the nineteen fifties. 195 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 3: Exactly, because these kinds of runs were pretty common. So 196 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 3: when this chaos went down, mister Greg was quoted as 197 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 3: saying he thought that the plane had crashed. Can you 198 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 3: imagine just the chaos that would have ensued, and just 199 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 3: not being able to fully wrap your head around what 200 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 3: had happened, and just trying to figure out the possibilities 201 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 3: in certain the first one the go to would not 202 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 3: be Oh, the Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb 203 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 3: on my kid's playhouse. 204 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: Right, And so, as we said, all five members of 205 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: the family were injured, as was the cousin Ella, but 206 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: they had no idea what was happening. Wasn't until later 207 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: that night, where they were crashing at the house of 208 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: their family doctor, that they learned it had been a 209 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: bomb dropped by us, by the US Air Force. 210 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 3: Now here's the thing. The most serious injury sustained in 211 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 3: this event was the cousin, who I think got somewhere 212 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 3: in the neighborhood of thirty one Stitches. And you may ask, 213 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 3: but Ben Noel, this was a nuclear warhead that was 214 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 3: dropped on this family's house. Where's the mushroom cloud? 215 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: What about the radiation? 216 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 3: Where's the nuclear fallout? 217 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: Why does Mars Bluff still exist? 218 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 3: Where are the ghouls? Why is this not you know, 219 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,200 Speaker 3: like mad Max Overnight. 220 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: Especially considering that this Mark six bomb was actually larger 221 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: than its predace cess or the Mark four or fat 222 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: Man used in World War Two. 223 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 3: And the look of this thing is is is pretty cartoonish. 224 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 3: It looks like kind of something that you would see 225 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 3: in a Looney Tunes cartoon act printed on the side, 226 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 3: or it makes me think of that scene in Doctor 227 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,959 Speaker 3: Strangelove where Slim Pickens rides the bomb cowboy style. 228 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: Which could could have got close to doing exactly. 229 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 3: Very very interesting and the same time period that's being 230 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 3: described in that that paranoid cold war fear. But here's 231 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 3: the thing. We did kind of bury the lead here 232 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 3: a little bit. It turns out that in order to 233 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 3: transport these weapons, they would be what's called safet in 234 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:48,839 Speaker 3: other words, they still had explosives in them, but they 235 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 3: did not have that nuclear payload, that core of plutonium. 236 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: And thank god, because as we said at the top, 237 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: this was a mock mission. This was timed to see 238 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: how how long the operation would take where it to 239 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: happen in a genuine conflict. So they did safe it. 240 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: But safeing it is not the same thing as just 241 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: making it a dummy bomb. It did possess explosive power, 242 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: it did explode, It did not, thank sweet Pete, contain 243 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: any sort of nuclear payload. 244 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, that part was actually transported separately, which you know, 245 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 3: good on you Air Force, smart smart smart going and 246 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 3: you know, this thing did lead to updated security measures 247 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 3: where it was absolutely required that these locking pins be 248 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 3: in place at all times, even during takeoff and landing. 249 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 3: I would think especially during David. I mean that's when 250 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 3: I get dislodged, and you know they'd yell at us 251 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 3: about our overhead luggage bins that may shift during takeoff 252 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 3: and landing. Watch out. I would think it'd be pretty 253 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 3: important to have that locking pin make sure that that 254 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 3: bomb didn't shift during tankoff and landing. 255 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: And in this mission in snow flurry, they actually jury 256 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: rigged it a bit because they used a hammer to 257 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: bang the pin in place. 258 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 3: But imagine banging a nuclear warhead with a hammer. 259 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: This is interesting because it may seem ridiculous to us now, 260 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: but we have the benefit of hindsight in. 261 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 3: A very real way. 262 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: The technology behind nuclear weapon detonation changed as a result 263 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: of this in a very very important fashion. So back 264 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: in the fifties, in this time, one thing that's so 265 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: scary about knocking this thing around with a hammer is 266 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: that nuclear weapons had a trigger that compressed the uranium 267 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: plutonium core to set off the chain reaction of a 268 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: nuclear explosion, and things like this. Mark six that got 269 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 1: dropped on the greg family homestead could be set off 270 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: or triggered by concussion, which means anything from shooting it 271 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: with a bullet, knocking on the ground, dropping it on 272 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: a playhouse, dropping it on a playhouse. And so the 273 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: bomb's trigger did explode when it hit the ground and 274 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: hit the ground of the Gregs. The ground of the Gregs, 275 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: I'm feeling that one if the nuclear components had been there, 276 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: it would have been a massive catastrophe. We're talking hundreds 277 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: of thousands of people would have died. 278 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 3: Because you know, I hadn't heard of this story until 279 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 3: we looked into it for the show. I would bet 280 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 3: that many of you listeners have not heard of this, 281 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 3: the US accidentally dropping an atomic bomb on an unsuspecting 282 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 3: family in the South. And that's because at the end 283 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 3: of the day, nobody died. There was no atomic fallout, right, 284 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 3: It was not a catastrophe of epic proportions. 285 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: It did, however, become one of the driving forces for 286 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: very important change, which is that today nuclear weapons are 287 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: going to be set off not by concussion, but by 288 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: a specific type of electrical impulse. Within days of this 289 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: accidental bomb drop, the Air Force published new regulations. I 290 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: think you already mentioned right, Oh yeah, where they said, 291 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: hey guys, let's make sure that we don't, you know, 292 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,360 Speaker 1: act we want to drop bombs where we are supposed 293 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: to drop them. 294 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,880 Speaker 3: No more of this willy nilly, you know, pin hammering business. 295 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: But what about the Gregs? What about I feel like 296 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:20,160 Speaker 1: we've we've talked about the near miss, right that occurred, 297 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 1: but what about the actual greg families. Poor cousin Ella, Well, 298 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: they never returned to that home out there, and then 299 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: Mars Bluff they received about fifty four thousand dollars in 300 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: damages from the Air Force. 301 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, which by today's standards would be in the neighborhood 302 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 3: of half a million. 303 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,199 Speaker 1: Bucks, which is not too bad. But you also we 304 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: have to think, you know, they own that land. It 305 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: was in their family for one hundred years. There's some 306 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 1: things that you can't really put a price one. 307 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 3: And they moved to a nice little cozy bungalow in 308 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 3: nearby Florence, South Carolina, and this became. 309 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: Of course, we don't know if Walter Gregg was the 310 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: kind of guy to hang out in a bar, but 311 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: we do know he was a church member for all 312 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: of his life. Wherever he was hanging out and spending 313 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 1: his free time. You know, this was his go to 314 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: story when people are spinning tales. You know, he pointed 315 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,439 Speaker 1: it out, not too many people can say they've had 316 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 1: a nuclear bomb dropped on them. Oh and also he 317 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: was a former paratrooper, so he's familiar with aspects of 318 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,640 Speaker 1: military aviation. And he also spent most of his non 319 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: military life working as a conductor for the railroads. 320 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 3: And he finishes that quote with and not too many 321 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 3: people would want to And I would side with Walter 322 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 3: on that point. To this day, you can actually go 323 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 3: visit this site. There's a historical marker which is beautiful, 324 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 3: embarrassing historical marker. It says atomic bomb accident at Mars Bluff, 325 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,199 Speaker 3: March eleventh, nineteen fifty eight. The bomb landed in the 326 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 3: woods behind the asbestos sided home of the railroad conductor 327 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 3: Walter Bill Greg born nineteen twenty one. Greg, his wife, 328 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 3: their three children, and a niece were injured by the concussion, 329 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 3: which destroyed the house and outbuildings and did slight damage 330 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 3: to build things within a five mile radius. 331 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: And that's when we say slight damage, think of like 332 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 1: the windows break exactly exactly, so One of my favorite 333 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: parts of this story is there's something that I picture 334 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 1: is a very Wes Anderson moment. It's that the Gregs 335 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: and the Air Force crew they got in touch with 336 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 1: each other, and the crew would hang out with them 337 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: because they felt so bad, you know, and write them letters. 338 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,359 Speaker 1: And to me, I just picture something in a lost 339 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: Wes Anderson film where you know, there's this immaculately decorated 340 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:54,679 Speaker 1: and choreographed room, right, it's perfectly set, everything's just so, 341 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: and then Captain Kolka Navigator walks in and says, hello, 342 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,400 Speaker 1: this is the anniversary of the time that I accidentally 343 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 1: drop the bomb on you. And then Walter greg says, yes, Captain, 344 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,439 Speaker 1: I'm aware. It's like I have brought you this gift. 345 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 3: And then they then they eat a nice Thanksgiving style 346 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 3: meal together. 347 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:19,120 Speaker 1: It's like I brought you a gift, and it's like, well, 348 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:20,679 Speaker 1: I hope it isn't another bomb. 349 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 3: And speaking of bombs, there is also you can go 350 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 3: to where the crater is and it's still there. It 351 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 3: looks kind of like a crappy pond, you know, because 352 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 3: it's basically just you know, it's obviously filled in over time, 353 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 3: but it's still there. It just tends to be full 354 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 3: of standing water, and there's a plywood silver spray painted. 355 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 3: It looks like plywood actual size bomb. It's like a 356 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 3: silhouette yea MK six seventy six hundred pounds. And there's 357 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,680 Speaker 3: like an Instagram photo on the How Stuff Works article 358 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 3: where the girl standing next to it and saying I've 359 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 3: been wondering for years where exactly the atomic bombs I 360 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 3: was and finally found it. 361 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: We do want to say that it is on it. 362 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: You can visit it. However, the site is located on 363 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: private property. The Gregs did sell the land, yeah and 364 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: seventy seven right, Yeah, and it's currently on private property. 365 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: There's no public access road. So we don't want Ridiculous 366 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:19,120 Speaker 1: History to be known as a show that encourages trespassing. 367 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,200 Speaker 1: So do check with the do check with the locals 368 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: before you go on an expedition. 369 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 3: And be careful how to get a snake bit or 370 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 3: get a tick or something. There's probably some tall grass 371 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 3: around there, but yeah, to get to it, you have 372 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 3: to go through this abandoned lot that used to have 373 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,160 Speaker 3: a trailer park and walk through a totally overgrown path 374 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 3: and then you come upon this crappy pond that was 375 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 3: created by the one and only time that an atomic 376 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 3: bomb was dropped on American soil by American forces. 377 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: And so this got me thinking. As I was always 378 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: reading this, I was remembering this poem by Elizabeth Bishop 379 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: called one Art, which is the art of losing isn't 380 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: hard to master. That's the first line, and it goes on, 381 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: I don't want to ruin It's it's worth reading. 382 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 3: No poetry spoilers, ben no poetry spoilers in ridiculous system. 383 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: Right, no trespassing, No poetry spoilers. But it's a poem 384 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: essentially about how easy it is to lose things. And 385 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 1: it also inspired me to think about the other times 386 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,439 Speaker 1: that nuclear weapons around the world have been lost. And 387 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: it turns out that since nineteen fifty there have been 388 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: thirty two nuclear weapon accidents the accidental launching, firing, detonating 389 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,199 Speaker 1: after loss of weapon. I mean around the world, you know, 390 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: in Canada, in England, and the strangest thing that happens 391 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: is in a few cases the exact location is unknown. 392 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,880 Speaker 1: There was an incident in March tenth of nineteen fifty six, 393 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: just a couple of years before this incident in the Carolinas, 394 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,959 Speaker 1: where a B forty seven and carrying two nuclear capsules 395 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: on a flight from Tampa, Florida to an overseas base 396 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: was reported missing. It didn't make contact in the Mediterranean 397 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,439 Speaker 1: when it was supposed to for second refueling, and no 398 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: one ever found the plane. It's just out there somewhere 399 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: in the ocean. 400 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 3: Hikes. 401 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, so at least thirty two of these broken Arrow 402 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,480 Speaker 1: events occur, which is why that John Travolta movie is 403 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: called Broken Arrow? 404 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 3: Who else gon bring you a broken row? Who else? 405 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 3: Don't bring you a bottle of rey? 406 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: And if you were the Gregs, what would you have 407 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 1: done when you found out that this occurred? Personally, I 408 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 1: don't play the lottery, but I would think my probability 409 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: odds are pretty cool right now. 410 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,639 Speaker 3: Or it could be like a final destination kind of 411 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,120 Speaker 3: scenario where it's like, you know, the Reaper was robbed 412 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 3: and then I'd be looking for like any number of 413 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,479 Speaker 3: things to kill me in my basic surroundings. 414 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 1: Which those movies got strangered, stranger, more and more like intricate. 415 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 3: I feel they had to double down with the goldberg 416 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:08,199 Speaker 3: ness of it all. You know, there we go. 417 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: That's the Craig phrase. So I guess we're done here right? 418 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 4: No? 419 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 3: Wait, what is that? 420 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 1: Do you hear it too? 421 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:23,719 Speaker 4: Oh? 422 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I hear it. 423 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,200 Speaker 1: Now wait, Casey, why are you laughing? 424 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:30,200 Speaker 2: Oh? 425 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 3: No, here comes It's time. Gentlemen. 426 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: Yep, I'm back. It's the quist Quister Jonathan Strickland. Yep, 427 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: we thought the show was over. 428 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,760 Speaker 5: No, no, it has only just begun, my friends, For 429 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 5: it is time to test your ability to tell fact 430 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 5: from fantasy. 431 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:52,919 Speaker 3: Okay, then let's get on with this. 432 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: So this is the segment of the show where in 433 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: our nemesis, the evil Quister Jonathan Strickland co in to 434 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:04,640 Speaker 1: test our ability both to discern fact for fiction, as 435 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: he said, and also to see whether we can work 436 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: together to figure it out, and also to slowly wear. 437 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 3: Us down over time until we crack. 438 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 5: And for those who did not hear the previous installment, 439 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 5: here are the general rules that hold sway from one 440 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 5: incident to the next, which is, you have three minutes. 441 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:27,640 Speaker 3: What is this accent you're doing? 442 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: Three, I'm trying something else. Three. 443 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 5: I'll probably have a different one every time. I'm on 444 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 5: three minutes. Three minutes, gentlemen, three you say three in 445 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 5: order for you can talk with one another. You can 446 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 5: address me with any questions. If I have any more information, 447 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 5: I will give it to you based upon the way 448 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:46,879 Speaker 5: you ask the question. 449 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: I may not give you all. 450 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 5: The information you wish, but you have those three minutes 451 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 5: to make your determination, at the end of which you 452 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 5: must then tell me whether or not the scenario I 453 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 5: present to you was fact or fantasy. 454 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 1: And I also. 455 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:05,920 Speaker 5: Create an arbitrary rule every time, and it will change 456 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 5: every single time. So last time you had to proceed 457 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 5: every question with a phrase. This time you have to 458 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 5: end every question to me with the words tick tick tick. 459 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,360 Speaker 1: Boom, three ticks than a boom, three. 460 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 5: Ticks followed by a boom. And as soon as I 461 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 5: finished giving you your scenario, you will start the timer 462 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 5: of three months, the enormous Grandfather Timer. As we have 463 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 5: previously established, we. 464 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: Spent our whole budget on that thing. 465 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 5: You know, I know it's I really had this whole 466 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 5: like like sketch for a costume and a mask, and 467 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 5: instead I'm just I'm just hearing a plaid shirt. 468 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 3: It is. It's an audio podcast, though you could be 469 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:51,640 Speaker 3: wearing anything. Just use your imaginations work, okay, all right, 470 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 3: So all right, So we do this. 471 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm hanging. I'm hanging on the edge of the 472 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,919 Speaker 1: second hand right, I'm going to do a pull up 473 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:00,200 Speaker 1: and start the timer when it. 474 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 5: Excellent, So here is your scenario. In October twenty seventeen, 475 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 5: the Royal Navy was called out to detonate an unexploded 476 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 5: World War One era bomb which previously had been used 477 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 5: by a family as a door stop. 478 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: Start the timer, Okay, okay, So it's a World War 479 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: One era bomb which and a door stop. 480 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 3: So clearly not the size of our giant warhead they 481 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 3: were talking about today. Sounds more like maybe the size 482 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 3: of like a like a propane tank or something. Maybe, yeah, yeah, 483 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 3: what kind of bombs are they using in world? 484 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,160 Speaker 1: Definitely not nuclear? 485 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 3: No, no, uh all right. 486 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 1: The quister, could you repeat the salient points one more time? 487 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: Tick tick tick boom. Yes. 488 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 5: October twenty seventeen, Royal Navy is called out to a 489 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:06,880 Speaker 5: fun farm in Devon, England, to detonate an unexploded bomb 490 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 5: of the World War One era that had previously been 491 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 5: used as a doorstop. 492 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm going to say true, I think true. I think 493 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: we're gonna I think we're gonna call this one early. 494 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:19,640 Speaker 3: I think maybe we will. 495 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 1: All right, are we official on it? Yes? 496 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:23,879 Speaker 3: Lock in the answer, locked in. 497 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: We think it's true. 498 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,919 Speaker 5: Gentlemen, you are two for two. 499 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: Yes. 500 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 5: As it turns out, there was a farm in Devon, England, 501 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 5: and the while it had been previously used as a doorstop, 502 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 5: what had actually happened was that they found this bomb 503 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 5: inside a wall. It had been placed on purpose inside 504 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,920 Speaker 5: the wall when the wall was constructed. The grandparents of 505 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 5: the owners of the farm said, oh, we used to 506 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 5: use it as a doorstop. It was a corroded twenty 507 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 5: five pound unexploded ordinance from the UK. Chances are it 508 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 5: was actually fired into the farm area by accident from 509 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 5: a nearby firing range. 510 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:12,880 Speaker 3: So that's what I was gonna ask. Is this sort 511 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 3: of like a mortar round? Almost along those lines? 512 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: Okay, twenty five shell? 513 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 3: Got it? 514 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 5: Yes, very well done, Very well done. So you've gotten 515 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 5: one fantasy correct, one fact correct? What will next time bring? 516 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,480 Speaker 5: Who's to say it's except me? I have like the 517 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 5: next three written, so I I. 518 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: Yes, Okay, you know what the quist does his homework. 519 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 3: You know, you can say a lot about Jonathan, but 520 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 3: he definitely does. 521 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 1: Got to respect the craft, you know, got to respect it, 522 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: got to respect the quiz. Well, Jonathan, you know, thank 523 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: you so much for coming aboard the show. 524 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 3: Thank him. 525 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 1: Okay, Jonathan and I acknowledge that you are here. 526 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 5: I mean we can't we can't really deny it. I, 527 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 5: as we've also previously established, I have no way of 528 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 5: getting out of this room without someone from outside opening 529 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 5: the door for me. 530 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: Again, we spent a lot of the budget on our 531 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: gigantic Grandfather Timer, and you know that we just didn't 532 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: allocate the right money for locks. 533 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 5: It's fine, I'll just sit in the corner. 534 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 3: Now, get the hens, foul demon. 535 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 5: I'm just back here. I'm sorry. 536 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 3: It's okay, you can stay. 537 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 5: I'm getting a call, all right. 538 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 3: Hey, yeah it feels great. 539 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 5: Okay, yeah, sure, no, I'll you know, I'll have lunch 540 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 5: with you. 541 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 3: We're recording so well, Jonathan makes his lunch plans. Would 542 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 3: we would like to so, while Jonathan's making his lunch plans, 543 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 3: we would like to thank you listeners for joining us 544 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 3: for another episode of Ridiculous History, another of Jonathan's diabolical 545 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 3: quiz segments, which you know I could, I could, I 546 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 3: could take her leave. I'm having a good time. 547 00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: I'm having I'm having a great time with it. I 548 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: mean we're technically we're winners. 549 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 3: Now, that's true. Let us know if you're having a 550 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 3: good time, right I said ridiculous at HowStuffWorks dot com. 551 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 3: You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram 552 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 3: right where we are Ridiculous History, and. 553 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: You can also, of course find our nemesis, Jonathan on 554 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: his own show, tech Stuff, which is available wherever you 555 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 1: find your favorite podcast. So be well, have a fantastic week, 556 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,280 Speaker 1: throw us a review if you'd like. We'd love to 557 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: hear from you, and stay tuned for another episode of 558 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,120 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History. 559 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 4: Guys, I'm on the phone. 560 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 561 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.