USA
Police discover old nuclear missile in garage
The Douglas AIR-2 Genie nuclear missile – also known by its former name MB-1 – did not contain a warhead
© Bellevue Police Department
In Washington state, police discovered a privately owned nuclear missile. However, a bomb squad called in gave the all-clear.
The police officers on duty in the US city of Bellevue probably initially asked themselves whether they had really understood it correctly: A caller reported that a Rocket is located in the garage of a private property. And in fact, members of the local patrol police and the explosive squad called in discovered a so-called Douglas AIR-2 Genie, a weapon designed to carry a nuclear warhead.
Nuclear missile donated to the museum
It all started with an offer to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. A Bellevue resident wanted to donate a rocket that had belonged to his deceased neighbor to the museum, the Bellevue Police Department reported on its website.
The man stated that his neighbor originally purchased the equipment to be donated at an estate sale. The museum then contacted the Bellevue police department and reported the call. So the officers went to the specified location and took a bomb squad with them.
The professionals identified the object as a Douglas AIR-2 Genie, also known by its former name MB-1. An unguided so-called air-to-air missile designed to transport a W25 nuclear warhead with a potential yield of one and a half kilotons. However, no warhead was attached, officials said.
With this reassuring realization it was clear: the – former – nuclear missile is now just an artifact without any risk of explosion. Since the military didn’t want the rocket back either, the police gave it to the neighbor, who could now try again to put it in a museum.
Source: Bellevue Police Department