Bomb squad rush to get Cold War-era rocket capable of carrying nuclear warhead

09 February 2024 , 10:43

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Police were left bemused by the military rocket being in a garage (Image: Bellevue Police Dept)

Cops were given a bizarre shock when they were asked to take a look at an old Cold War artefact found in the garage of a man who had recently died. Upon arriving at the home in Washington they found an inactive and rusted rocket that once could have carried a nuclear warhead amongst the clutter the man had left behind.

The presence of the military-grade rocket meant that an urgent visit from the local police bomb squad was needed, but they quickly found that there was no risk attached to the remnants of the missile. Officers found out that the missile was bought as part of an estate sale by the deceased owner, according to a neighbour.

The propulsion cone can clearly be seen at one end of the rocket (Bellevue Police Dept)

The defunct military kit became known to police in Bellevue, a West Coast city of about 150,000 people, after the National Museum of the US Air Force in Ohio contacted them following an offer from the neighbour to donate it. Cops said the scrap metal was once a Douglas AIR-2 Genie, which is an unguided air-to-air rocket rated to carry a 1.5 kiloton W25 warhead dating back to the Cold War.

Police said in a statement: "Bomb squad members confirmed that the object was inert and contained no rocket fuel – essentially meaning that the item was an artefact with no explosive hazard. Because the missile was no longer usable and the military had no interest in taking possession of it, the historical piece was left with the neighbour who has plans for it to be restored for display at a museum."

According to the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation, the unguided air-to-air rocket was used by the US and Canada during a period of the Cold War when interception of Soviet strategic bombers was a major military concern. The Douglas AIR-2 Genie was developed in 1954, with around 1,000 rockets produced from 1957 until production ceased in 1962. It was first tested in 1956 and went into service at the start of the following year, according to the museum. The rocket was designed for air-to-air use to counter the threat of large bomber fleets attacking the US, its 300m lethal blast radius seemingly negating the need for accuracy.

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In July 1957, a Genie was fired from 18,000 feet from a fighter jet and detonated over Yucca Flats in Nevada — the first and only test detonation of a US nuclear-tipped air-to-air rocket. The cops later quipped in a social-media post: "And we think it’s gonna be a long, long time before we get another call like this again," referencing Elton John’s hit single Rocket Man.

Paul Donald