Cluck Cluck Boom: Secret Plan to Build Nuclear Landmine Unveiled

[matthyaouw]

A once secret plan to build a nuclear landmine 'run' by live chickens has gone on public display for the first time at The National Archives, Kew, as part of the acclaimed Secret State Exhibition.

...

Scientists working on the project realized that the bomb could fail in winter if vital components become too cold, so they explored ways of keeping the inner workings warm. One proposal put forward consisted of filling the casing of the nuke with live chickens, who would give off sufficient heat, prior to suffocating or starving to death, to keep the delicate explosive mechanism from freezing. Despite the potential importance of chickens to the project, the mine was codenamed 'Blue Peacock'.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/21.htm

A little close to April fool's day for my liking, but National Archives insist it isn't a hoax.

I'll bet that someone read this and thought "oh those poor chickens!"

 

[hypatia]

So the bomb goes off and we get pummled with fryed chicken? That should sting a bit eh?

 

[matthyaouw]

I'm more concerned about the cereal grains for the chickens. Like bullets they'd be.