Not to scare you or anything, but US Air Force officers have left the blast doors to nuclear-tipped missiles open at least twice in the past year. These are the guys who help guard the launch codes who are also tasked with watching over the arsenal. Leaving the missiles available and unattended is a very, very big no-no.
Unnamed officials recently broke the news about the blast doors to the Associated Press, adding that the doors were probably left open many more times even though officers were only caught twice. These officers aren’t supposed to make any mistakes. The fact that they did is a big problem, because those doors are there to keep bad people like terrorists from gaining access to these incredibly deadly weapons. In the AP’s own words, “The blast door violations are another sign of serious trouble in the handling of the nation’s nuclear arsenal.”
For now, four US Air Force officers have been disciplined for their negligence. And again, not to scare you, but this is just the negligence that we know about. The military’s mistakes — like that drone that crashed by a highway in Florida for example — are scary enough when they’re revealed to the public. What’s kept secret is undoubtedly much more frightening. [AP]
Picture: Flickr / jurvetson