A defunct, rusting rocket that could once have carried a nuclear warhead was found in the cluttered garage of a recently deceased Washington homeowner.
The discovery of the military-grade rocket prompted an urgent visit last Thursday from the local police bomb squad – who quickly determined the remnants of the missile were inert and posed no danger to the surrounding area.
A neighbor of the deceased homeowner told police that the deceased man had originally purchased the malfunctioning appliance at a yard sale, Bellevue police said in a news release.
Police were alerted to the rocket when the National Museum of the US Air Force in Ohio contacted them last Wednesday after the neighbor offered to donate it, police said.
Police officials determined the chunk of metal was a Douglas AIR-2 Genie, which is an unguided air-to-air rocket intended to carry a 1.5-kiloton W25 warhead since the Cold War.
The discovery of the rocket was flagged off by the local police bomb squad – who quickly determined the remnants of the missile were inert. AP
“Bomb squad members confirmed that the object was inert and did not contain rocket fuel – essentially meaning the item was a non-explosive artifact,” Bellevue police said.
Because the missile was no longer usable and the military was not interested in taking it, the historic piece was left to a neighbor who had plans to restore it for display in a museum, authorities said.
The Douglas AIR-2 Genie was first tested in 1956 and entered service at the beginning of the following year, according to the Air Force museum.
Since the missile was no longer usable and the military was not interested in taking it, it was left with a neighbor. AP
In July 1957, Jin was shot from 18,000 feet from a fighter jet and detonated over Yucca Flats in Nevada — the first and only test of its kind by the US.
The rare relic so shocked the local police department in Bellevue – a West Coast city of about 150,000 people – that they decided to share photos of the strange find on social media.
“And we think it will be a long time before we get another call like this,” the department tweeted in a nod to Elton John’s hit single “Rocket Man.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
