Cold war dark secrets: When US B-52 bomber dropped 4 deadly Nuclear bombs on…, Hiroshima atom bomb was…, the county was…

Why US dropped hydrogen bombs on Spain: During the times when there was a Cold War going on between USSR and the United States of America, the US maintained a constant first-strike capability, under which it instructed its air bombers to carry nuclear weapons around the clock. This strategy of the US proved to be a very high-risk strategy as it led to many accidents across the globe. The Pentagon has acknowledged that over 30 incidents involving crashes or fires that resulted in nuclear contamination or the loss of nuclear weapons—events known as “Broken Arrows.”

US dropped bombs on Spain

One of the most widely known accidents that occurred during the Cold war was in 1966, where a B-52 bomber returning to North Carolina, Spain collided mid-air with a KC-135 tanker during a refueling maneuver. As a result of the accident, the tanker exploded, killing of  all four of its crew, while the B-52 was torn apart, as per a report by History.com.

If reports are to be believed, the bomber carried four hydrogen bombs; although none were armed, two detonated their conventional explosives on impact, contaminating the area with radioactive plutonium. A third was recovered intact from a dry riverbed. The fourth bomb was lost at sea, prompting an extensive search operation.

Victims share horrific stories

“This was not the first accident involving nuclear weapons. In fact, the Pentagon has listed at least nine accidents involving planes carrying hydrogen bombs. But this was the first accident on foreign soil that could have caused civilian casualties and devastated Europe. This incident attracted the attention of the whole world”, BBC correspondent Chris Brasher revealed while he was reporting from the scene in 1968.

“We were completely terrified. The children started crying. I was shaken with fear. A stone hit me in the stomach and I felt like my life was going out. I felt like death amidst the children’s cries”, BBC quoted a Spanish farmer as saying.

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