Lost: One Nuclear Weapon. No Reward

The Air Force has made it plain it does not want back its 7,600-lb. hydrogen bomb, missing off the Georgia coast since 1958. And it says the bomb--dropped when the B-47 carrying it was hit by an F-86 fighter during an exercise--poses no threat, since it does not contain the capsule required to detonate a nuclear explosion, and is unlikely to spread toxic material. The B-47's pilot, retired Colonel Howard Richardson, supports that account; he tells TIME he did not personally inspect the bomb, but that he was briefed that the capsule was not on board. Others aren't convinced. Retired Colonel...

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