The American B52 crashed in 1968 R. over Greenland with four unarmed nuclear bombs on board. Despite intensive searches, the remains of one of them have never been found – BBC correspondent Gordon Corera established. His material was broadcast by BBC2 television in the program “Newsnight” late Monday evening. According to Corera, none of the bombs exploded, although conventional explosives exploded in the collision with the ground, which were suspended from them. After the disaster, a large-scale clearance operation was carried out, by removing tons of contaminated ice that may contain radioactive debris. The remains of one of the bombs, with a serial number 78252, It was not found despite the submarine being sent for action. It could be, that a lost bomb, containing uranium and plutonium, burned a hole in the ice sheet, fell to the bottom of the sea and is still under the ice today. The search was stopped due to the lack of results. – The Pentagon says, that all four bombs were destroyed, which is technically true, because neither of them survived complete, but there is a dark side to it, about which the participants of the search campaign and people who know the details talk about – says Corera. The local population talks about the deformation of the bodies of seals and walruses in the vicinity of the disaster and the negative effects on the health of the population. Four people were diagnosed with radiation sickness, two of them died. A case has been brought against the Danish government. The plane crashed 21 January 1968 R. as a result of a fire on board B52, while flying over the Greenlandic area of Thule, where the Americans in the early years 50. built an air and radar base.
The plane crashed into thousands of tiny pieces while attempting an emergency landing. The crew survived. According to the Pentagon, the Russians, deciding to attack the US, they would need to eliminate a strategically key Thule base in advance. A Russian attack on the base would trigger a nuclear retaliatory attack on Moscow by the United States. For this reason in the years 60. The Americans kept nuclear-powered B52 bombers in the air over Greenland at all times (the so-called. Chrome Dome missions). The BBC reporter reached, among others. to pilots of a crashed machine, he talked with the participants of the rescue operation and local residents. He obtained access to official US documents under the Free Access to Information Act, some still not fully declassified. Greenland is a Danish province with a wide range of internal autonomy. The shipment of nuclear weapons over this territory was kept secret.
