Nuclear Armed B-52 bomber: What Actually Occured

On August 30th, 2007, a B-52 bomber with nuclear weapons loaded onto the wings took off from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and flew 3 1/2 hours to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

The Pentagon received a "bent spear" call from officers at Minot Air Force Base, originally believed to be a joke, which revealed that the officers could not account for 6 nuclear weapons.

When the plane, whose crew members were reportedly unaware that they had nuclear weapons, landed at Barksfield Air Force Base, the armed nuclear warheads remained on the bomber for approximately ten hours, while the officers who discovered the weapons worked to convince their superiors that they too were not kidding.

The story was leaked to the Military Times by three officers from Barksdale Air Force Base, who remained anonymous for obvious reasons.

One important aspect of this story that remains unclear is how many nuclear warheads were loaded on the plane's wings. The Military Times, BBC, and Global Security Newswire originally reported that 5 nuclear weapons were found at Barksdale Air Force Base. The "Bent Spear" call to the Pentagon from the officers at Minot Air Force Base reported that 6 nuclear warheads were missing.

One thing that makes this a little less concerning is the update from the Military Times that the officers who provided this information have updated the story to say 6 nukes were found, but we don't yet have a consensus in the media that we are not missing a nuclear weapon somewhere in middle America.