Last week I got an e-mail including a news article telling me that an atomic bomb had been found in the marshes and creeks near Savannah, GA. What kind of fool would fall for that?
Well, I did, for one, but there were reasons for my gullibility.
For one thing, it is a known fact that an atomic bomb was, indeed, dropped into that area lo, these many decades ago. It happened when one of our bombers had a problem and was about to make an emergency landing at the nearby military base. It was decided that the bomb (deactivated, of course) should be dropped before the landing, and it was.
My first knowledge of this came on January 6, 1997, when I was one of a group of area authors participating in a book selling and signing event in South Georgia. One of the authors had set out to write a book about the missing bomb nearby. We learned that he had sought info from the guvmint and been rebuffed. Not only would they not help, the guvmint suggested that he not write such a book at all.
Over the years, I have often wondered about that bomb—and when it would be found. Thus, when this notice came last week, skepticism wasn’t in my thoughts. I fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Another reason I was so accepting: The notice came to me from a truly credible source, a fellow who had provided much aviation info over the years and was himself the past leader of a big and successful company in the aviation industry. He sent the news article and I believed it—partly because he sent it and partly because I’d known all along that they’d find that bomb someday.
Someday it will be found, but it didn’t happen last week. Within minutes my source wrote to say the story was false.
I was so disappointed. Oh, well, maybe I’ll live long enough to see it found someday.
