The 1961 atomic bombing accident of North Carolina. "The US Air Force came dramatically close to detonating an atom bomb over North Carolina that would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that devastated Hiroshima. Two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina on the 23rd of January 1961. The bombs fell to earth after a B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air, and one of the devices behaved precisely as a nuclear weapon was designed to behave in warfare: its parachute opened, its trigger mechanisms engaged, and only ONE low-voltage switch prevented untold carnage.Of the four safety mechanisms designed to prevent unintended detonation, three failed to operate properly. When the bomb hit the ground, a firing signal was sent to the nuclear core of the device, and it was only that final, highly vulnerable switch that averted calamity."