What are some things that were discovered by accident?

I've heard stories in the US Air Force about airmen dying from microwave antennas. The stories say they were in a really cold place, usually North Dakota, or maybe somewhere in the Arctic, and would step in front of the antennas to warm up a little. An airman, the story goes, decided to set up a chair in front of such an antenna and passed out. Only to be found completely cooked the next day.

Other interesting stories I've heard;

  • Paul Harvey's (a radio personality) son worked on aircraft at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. This was during the cold war. There were nukes on this plane, the story goes, and with his son being an SP, he was never allowed to leave the plane while on duty, for any SP guarding a plane with nukes, for that matter. Apparently, the temperatures were so cold that night that they called everyone into a hangar but didn't do a headcount. He never left his post. Supposedly, he climbed into the wheel well to get out of the wind. He was found frozen to death the next morning.

  • Someone, unsealing B-52 fuel tanks for maintenance, was working around one of the tanks without a mask. He passed out and fell into a tank. The story says they didn't check the tank before resealing it. The airman was listed as AWOL until the plane started having sputtering problems with the engines. Supposedly they unsealed all of the tanks and found his bones clogging up the fuel pumps.

  • This is factual; During the cold war, the B-1B crews flying out never knew if what they were doing was real world, the ones launching from the alert pad (with nukes). They would offer the crew chief a seat in the instructor seat between OSO and DSO because there'd be no home to come back to if they were launching for an attack, something they wouldn't have known until they were in the air.

  • Possibly factual; During the cold war, airman were allowed more leeway on fun and games. Supposedly, they'd turn on the defensive radar (jamming equipment, which is really powerful) to mess with airmen walking in front or behind the aircraft. Supposedly they'd suddenly become very red like they'd been sunburned.

  • Possibly factual; Along the leeway line of possibilities during the Cold War, airmen, supposedly, were able to smoke pot at a blast fence while on the flightline.

There's a lot more stories I heard, saw, did, during my time in the AF, but I'll leave it there. Those old SAC (Strategic Air Command) guys, people who were in the AF during the Cold War, always had the best stories.

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