As of: February 4, 2024, 1:11 p.m
By: Julia Stanton
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A remnant of the Cold War is causing a stir in the USA: a man there recently found a nuclear missile in his home.
Bellevue - Something incredible happened to a man in Washington state: After the death of his neighbor, he discovered an old rocket in his garage.
But it was not an ordinary rocket, as he initially assumed, but a nuclear missile.
After its discovery, the man, who wished to remain anonymous, contacted the Air Force Museum in Ohio and offered to donate the rocket.
This had originally belonged to his deceased neighbor.
What the man didn't know, however, was that the museum informed the local police, who then paid him a visit.
“He was kind enough to let us take a look at the rocket,” police spokesman Seth Tyler told the
BBC
.
Nuclear missile in shed: Police inspect weapon closely
According to Bomb Disposal Squad technicians, the missile is a Douglas AIR-2 Genie, an unguided air-to-air missile designed to carry a nuclear warhead.
The police wrote this in a
press release
.
The nuclear missile is harmless because there were no explosives attached.
© Screenshot X/ @BvuePD
Nuclear rockets sound dangerous, but in this case they are not: There were no explosives attached to the rocket and the fuel tanks were also empty.
Therefore there was never any risk of an explosion.
According to Tyler, the device is “basically just a gas tank for rocket fuel.”
“Our bomb disposal officer asked me why we were issuing a press release about a rusted piece of metal,” he added.
The item was classified as an “artifact with no risk of explosion.”
After unusual discovery: man is allowed to keep nuclear missile
Nevertheless, such a find is unusual: “We believe that it will be a very long time before we receive a call like this again,” wrote the Bellevue police on the platform X (Twitter).
In their post they allude to the well-known Elton John song “Rocket Man”, in German “Rocket Man”.
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The Genie missile was the first nuclear-equipped airborne weapon used by the U.S. military during the Cold War.
Their production was suspended in 1962.
Since the item is inactive and the military did not demand it back, the man was even allowed to keep the rocket.
A recent snapshot of a toilet in Munich revealed a strange plant - which is probably a delicacy.
(jus)