I'm sure your imagination can come up with something that could go wrong with an unguided rocket with a 6 mile range and a nuclear warhead.
Kinda like that nuke that got dropped off North Carolina that had like 6 fail safes and all but one failed.
Well, as a mission ready F-106 pilot in the day, and qualified via the Nuclear Surety Program, I’ll take exception to your statement. There were endless, stringent fail safes, involved before even taking off with the Genie. It was carried internally. Therefore, it couldn’t “fall off” the aircraft. We were dead serious about carrying and employing the “Great White Hope” against Russian bomber formations coming over the polar cap to bomb our cities and bases (with our families there). We were the last line of defense.
If I remember correctly, the North Carolina incident involved a B-52 and tanker midair, in flight breakup, and the B-52’s internally carried nuke(s) falling out of the wreckage. I’m sure someone will quickly chime in the the particulars here.
Point being, the comparison is apples to lug nuts with a dose of imagination thrown in.
