Washington held off any announcement, waiting for Spain to make the first statement. Spain held off, nervously uncertain of what to say. Finally, last weeksome 44 days after the eventthe two countries officially announced what the whole world had been discussing for the past six weeks: that the U.S. had indeed misplaced one H-bomb.
The nuke was one of four that fell over southern Spain Jan. 17, when a U.S. Air Force B-52 collided with a refueling tanker. The first three bombs and four crew memberswere quickly recovered. The fourth bomb was still missing. Though the bombs were unarmed and protected...