Has a "lost nuke" jettisoned sometime in the 1950s been discovered off the coast of Canada?
The Canadian Department of National Defense will be investigating around the waters of Prince Rupert in British Columbia as news of an inactive nuclear weapon's discovery emerged from a recent diving trip.
Apparently, a diver found a mysterious object near Banks Island and considered whether the strangely-shaped object was a nuke or a "UFO."
The Lost Nuke?
Sean Smyrichinsky was diving for sea cucumbers with his crew when he found a curious object.
In an interview with CBC, he described how the object "resembled a bagel cut in half," and around it, bowls were "molded."
When he came out of the water, Smyrichinsky recalled telling his crew that he had found a "UFO."
"I was thinking UFO, but probably not a UFO, right?" he said.
He then began asking around about the incident and his friends told him the story of a United States Air Force bomber that crashed off British Columbia in 1950.
The U.S. Air Force bomber, which was named Convair B-36B, crashed in the area supposedly carrying a Mark IV nuclear weapon on board.
Because of this, Smyrichinsky began searching for photos of the nuke online. He told CBC that the inactive lost nuke "looked very much like" what he saw underwater.
Smyrichinsky's suspicions were heightened when he read that the Convair B-63B crashed 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of where he found the mysterious object.
The 1950 Crash
On Feb. 13, 1950, a Convair B-63B was flying from Alaska to Texas when the plane's engine began losing power.
Robert Dorr, who wrote about the bomber group, said the crew radioed in, saying that an engine was feathered and two lost power.
At 8,000 feet, before the crew parachuted out of the plane, they threw a dummy nuclear weapon on the sea. The Mark IV nuke, which was filled with uranium, lead and TNT has been missing ever since.
A Dummy Weapon
The Canadian Armed Forces confirmed that the location of the mysterious object does coincide with the site of the 1950 crash.
Major Steve Neta said records suggest that the lost object from the crash was a dummy capsule, and so there is little chance that the object Smyrichinsky found is a nuclear weapon.
Nevertheless, Neta said they still want to make sure that the object is not a nuke so they will conduct further investigations.
In the meantime, the Royal Canadian Navy has deployed a ship to the area where the 1950 crash occurred to determine whether the object was a weapon of mass destruction.
