On 9 February 1966, ITN's John Edwards reported on the United States military's ongoing search for a missing hydrogen bomb, or H bomb, in the usually-quiet Spanish town of Palomares. The thermonuclear device went missing on 17 January 1966, when an American B-52G bomber of the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAG) crashed while refuelling mid-air over Spain's Mediterranean coast. Three of the four bombs the plane was carrying crashed into the coastal turf, their in-built safety devices ensuring that nuclear armageddon was averted (though the resulting non-nuclear explosions did spread radioactive plutonium over an area of two square kilometres). The fourth H bomb, however, could not be located, leading to a months-long search for the weapon of mass destruction.
#NuclearBomb #NuclearBombs #HydrogenBomb #HBomb #Nuke #ColdWar #1960s #USNavy #1966 #Palomares #PalomaresIncident
To license the footage featured in this clip, follow the link below:
*&sort=oldest&license=rf%2Crr
To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below:
🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) -
🎥 Follow us on Twitter -
🎥 Like us on Facebook -
🎥 Check out our TikTok -