Be thankful these black swans didn't fly

October 24, 2008 4:34 PM

Seven Close calls in the Nuclear Age Previously
posted by lalochezia (13 comments total)

[Citation Needed]
posted by Science! at 4:43 PM on October 24, 2008 [3 favorites]

What gets to me is that almost all these bombs are still there, ready, waiting. And in the US they're often manned by apocalyptic Christians. Yet people never seem to worry about this any more....
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 4:53 PM on October 24, 2008

via cstross - 25 years ago today, this man saved my life. And yours.
posted by Jakey at 4:55 PM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

lupus_yonderboy - Tell me when, Lord.
posted by Jakey at 4:59 PM on October 24, 2008

All military? C'mon.
posted by Mblue at 5:26 PM on October 24, 2008

CAN'T SLEEP. RADIOACTIVE MUTANT ZOMBIE CLOWNS WILL EAT ME.
posted by loquacious at 5:37 PM on October 24, 2008

Wow - these are fantastic - I have a deeply morbid fascination with atomic trivia.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:48 PM on October 24, 2008

Has Stephen Colbert covered #4?
posted by brundlefly at 6:50 PM on October 24, 2008 [2 favorites]

Bingo, lupus. Folks who were suggesting an offer of military aid to Georgia during their Russian war seemed to have no idea how bad that plan could go.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:19 PM on October 24, 2008

And these are only what was declassified or happened with a sizable audience.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:58 PM on October 24, 2008

If someone had written an episode like #4 into a movie, it would have been derided as ridiculous. And yet, here we (still, by the skins of our teeth) are.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:50 AM on October 25, 2008

With all these close calls, we're sure to get it right all wrong one of these days.
posted by Rykey at 11:23 AM on October 25, 2008

Adding one to the list, Well boys I reckon this is it.

That #4 one about the bear made my eyes bulge. yikes.
posted by nickyskye at 12:26 PM on October 25, 2008