On the night of a Sept 18, 1980 a fuel leak occurred followed by a subsequent enormous explosion in the early morning hours of the 19th at a Titan II nuclear missile silo in Damascus, Arkansas. The incident, which took place at Missile Complex 374-7, involved an LGM-25C Titan II ICBM loaded with a 9-megaton W-53 nuclear warhead.
In this gripping episode, we hear the harrowing account of Greg Devlin, a former US Air Force technician who barely survived a catastrophic explosion at a Titan II nuclear missile silo in 1980.
He shares his journey from enlisting in the Air Force, the challenges he faced, and the fateful night that changed his life forever.
Greg vividly describes how he and his colleagues struggle to contain a potentially cataclysmic situation. With gripping detail, he shares the moment the explosion occurred, the physical and emotional toll it took on him, and the surreal experiences that followed.
Greg's story is one of survival against all odds. He reflects on the aftermath of the explosion and his long road to recovery, which included numerous surgeries and the enduring effects of the hazardous materials he was exposed to.
The fuel leak was caused by a technician that accidentally dropped a large socket "down the missile shaft—66 feet—bounced off the shaft mount ring, and hit the side of the missile, puncturing its hull. Fuel vapor started to fill the silo." That led to a massive explosion that killed one person, injured 21, destroyed the missile and silo, and hurled the 9-Mt warhead through the 750-ton silo doors. Serious pucker factor!
Aftermath:
![[Image: 5iTTKFQ.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/5iTTKFQ.jpg)
The docu he mentions is this one:
![[Image: Z407oUI.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/Z407oUI.jpg)
In this gripping episode, we hear the harrowing account of Greg Devlin, a former US Air Force technician who barely survived a catastrophic explosion at a Titan II nuclear missile silo in 1980.
He shares his journey from enlisting in the Air Force, the challenges he faced, and the fateful night that changed his life forever.
Greg vividly describes how he and his colleagues struggle to contain a potentially cataclysmic situation. With gripping detail, he shares the moment the explosion occurred, the physical and emotional toll it took on him, and the surreal experiences that followed.
Greg's story is one of survival against all odds. He reflects on the aftermath of the explosion and his long road to recovery, which included numerous surgeries and the enduring effects of the hazardous materials he was exposed to.
The fuel leak was caused by a technician that accidentally dropped a large socket "down the missile shaft—66 feet—bounced off the shaft mount ring, and hit the side of the missile, puncturing its hull. Fuel vapor started to fill the silo." That led to a massive explosion that killed one person, injured 21, destroyed the missile and silo, and hurled the 9-Mt warhead through the 750-ton silo doors. Serious pucker factor!
Aftermath:
The docu he mentions is this one:
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." – Thomas Sowell
