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Up next, the story of a forgotten nuclear mishap in Arkansas that could have blown the state off the map. Here to tell the story as former newsman Randy Dixon, Director of News, Archives and Media at the Center for Arkansas's Oral and Visual History at the University of Arkansas. Take it away, Randy. It was a normal day. We were in the newsroom.
I worked the night schedule.
So we got word that there was a fuel leak. At a silo, and we would hear things about the silos because there were. close to a dozen. Arkansas. And this one was outside of Damascus, which is near Conway.
and it's about a 45 minute drive from Little Rock.
So we heard about this fuel leak.
So a reporter and I hop in the car and we drive up there and It's the regular military have the roadblocks up, flashing lights, and we get our video and our pictures and we needed to get something back. For the next morning, an ABC, Good Morning America, had called saying they wanted a report.
So we left and we started working on This story for Good Morning America.
Well, it was about two o'clock in the morning. We're still working on the story, and there were no cell phones. because this was 1980. And We hear on the two-way radio, the reporter who had replaced us was. You could tell in the voice he was panicked.
And he said, It blew up. And we said, you know, repeat. And he said, The ra-da-da-da blew up.
So we knew that Well, that story we were working on was no longer valid. and it turned into a giant story.
Well, there was a leak, which is what we first covered. And they had workmen in there in suits And One of the airmen dropped a wrench. And it dropped down the silo and started to bounce off the sides and it. Hit the side. of the missile.
And punctured it. And a spark causes it to blow up. And It was You know, the doors were closed and they are designed to take a nuclear blast, but from the outside. This was a huge explosion on the inside, and it just. pop the doors off.
Sort of like I guess squeeze in a bottle and it pops the top off of it. That's what happened with The silo. 'Cause the missile there was nothing left of the missile. It was just that warhead. They came flying out.
At the time, we didn't realize exactly how big of a story Because The Air Force wouldn't confirm that there was a nuclear warhead. On top of that missile, because sometimes there was, sometimes there wasn't. And we also didn't know that It had been blown. out of the silo and had gone into a ditch. on the side of the highway.
And it wasn't until later That um We heard that it happened, and we could have been obliterated. That size. Warhead. would have pretty much destroyed the entire state. And even now to this day, you would not be able, because of the radiation, you wouldn't be able to come anywhere near Arkansas.
because of that explosion. But what we found out a week later, I was sitting on the assignment desk on the weekend. And we got a phone call from a guy who was sounding very nervous, very... Um Guarded. And he was what we call a scanner freak.
He was a guy that would listen to scanners and he could tune them all in.
Well, he said that he had a recording. He had found the Air Force Frequency and had recorded the radio traffic from that night.
So I talked to him and He seemed legitimate.
So I met him in a little diner. in a town called Fordyce. Which is in South Arkansas, and he handed me. D never told me his name. Um and handed me just an envelope, slid it across the table and hightailed it out of the diner.
and I had a cassette tape. Command post, uh This is Command One. If we can't get in touch with the chopper, we're going to move out with these guys, George Conway. That's Roger, uh Let me try to get Dolph Charlie one again. Break, uh, command post at Delta Charlie 1.
Hi, you guys, this is Delta Charlie 1 and I can't you land right here on the road. Roger, sir, thank you. Uh Roger, own scene commander. The team went to the unit. They, um Now they're on their way out to give them a full report.
Team Commander Command Post. What unit are you talking about, sir? Let's not talk about them. Feature traffic, please. Say, let's not talk about that.
That's a Roger, sir. Um I wish I had uh something secure. But right now, uh Our people tell us that um a forklift can go in and uh And do its job. and return and without any difficulty. And that's the EOD people talking.
And uh The um it's laying in a ditch beside, you know, it's it's not even up close. It blew it out and it's laying in the ditch. It's all exposed. Yeah, doubt so. Quality news.
Go ahead and get it from the It's in a ditch, and the commanding officer says to cover it up with a part. They've located what they want to locate, and right now. Uh with where it's laying out there, we're just concerned about the airplane flying over taking pictures. Uh should we go cover it with a tarp? At that point, I realized that We could have all been killed.
Mm. We played that on the air. ABC wouldn't run it. because they were afraid of the recording being made of the Air Force. And I believe there is an FCC law now that does not allow rebroadcast of of certain radio traffic.
But it was it was a big story for Months. because there were investigations and we had to wait three days. At the gate outside, we had someone stationed out there. To get that one shot of the flatbed truck pulling out with the warhead on top of it because they were taking it down to Texas. And that was when CNN first went on the air.
And they've draw brought a giant Flatbed. With a satellite dish. And they were on 24 hours a day from there. And that that was the birth of CNN. That story.
And a terrific job on the storytelling, editing, and production by our own Monty Montgomery. And a special thanks to Randy Dixon, Director of News, Archives, and Media at the Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. at the University of Arkansas. And by the way, we do our show in Oxford, Mississippi. And that's home of old miss.
So it's a fellow SEC school doing the storytelling. The story of how a nuke almost blew up the state of Arkansas. and started CNN. Here. on our American story.
Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs.
Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at let's get real about skincancer.com. If you want all of your data in one place, if you want a single home for all of your entities. If you want to spend more time working and less time searching, you need the Intuit ERP. I know because I'm Damon John and I run my growing business on Intuit Enterprise Suite, the AI native ERP that's powerful, painless, and proven. Learn more at intuit.com slash ERP.
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So follow the speed limit. Enjoy the drive. Maybe bring some snacks for the kids. and know that along the way, you're getting quality time with your family. Paid for by Nitza.
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