MILITARY MIGHT WANT TO LOOK AGAIN FOR MISSING BOMB

A 7,600-pound nuclear bomb dumped more than four decades ago by a crippled Air Force plane is lost beneath the shallow waters and sand off the Georgia coast.

The government is considering whether to renew a search for it.

The bomb is somewhere near Tybee Island, about 12 miles east of Savannah, Ga. It is in Wassaw Sound, which was the site of the 1996 Olympic sailing competition.

Experts say there is no danger of the bomb going off since it lacks a key plutonium capsule needed to cause a nuclear explosion. But it still contains radioactive uranium and the explosive power of 400 pounds of TNT. If it were to be struck by a ship, some of the uranium could be released.

The military spent weeks looking for the bomb in 1958 after it was lost when a bomber on a training mission collided with a fighter jet that had to drop the bomb in order to land safely. Tides and strong weather may have moved it farther out to sea.

Talk of the missing bomb had been considered a myth by some Savannah residents, who, according to their congressman, like talking about local myths and legends. But now, to the surprise of many, it has become an unbelievable story of truth.

Perhaps the military should try to locate the bomb again, if for no other reason, to put to rest the minds of those who might unnecessarily worry about it being detonated.