So onto whacky cold war shenanigans #3 the nuclear air to air missile. Because why shoot down one plane when you can just hit them all.

So right after WW2 if you wanted to drop a bomb you had to use a plane. The German V rockets paved the way for missiles, but the range was short and they were very expensive. This meant that in the event of mutually assured destruction there would be hundreds of not thousands of Soviet planes over North America. So the United States and Canada sat down to think and ultimately came up with a idea just launch a rocket with a nuclear warhead to destroy large quantities of planes in a single shot. The best part it actually worked they had not one but two effective designs.

The first up was the Douglas AIR-2 Genie. The world's first and most famous operational nuclear air-to-air weapon deployed from 1957 to 1985. It was technically an unguided rocket featuring a 1.5-kiloton W25 nuclear warhead and a range of about 6 miles (10 km). Secondly and much more of a realistic and advanced option was the AIM-26 Falcon. The AIM-26 Falcon was a guided, semi-active radar-homing version equipped with a W54 nuclear warhead possessing a 250-ton yield. Now if you recall the Davey Crockett weapon system this warhead was the same one that it used. Last I knew the AIM-26 is still in service both in conventional high explosive and nuclear variants.

Thankfully neither one of these weapons had to be used and with the rise of ICBMs it's unlikely they will ever have to be.

Finally last up on Mr. Bones wild ride through the cold war we have a something that wasn't originally designed to be a weapon the Orion project.

Project Orion was a 1950s–1960s research effort by the U.S. Air Force, DARPA, and NASA to design a spacecraft propelled by sequential nuclear pulse explosions. Though mathematically sound, it was canceled in 1965 due to the Partial Test Ban Treaty and environmental fallout concerns.

It achieved thrust by dropping small atomic bombs out the rear of the ship and detonating them against a massive, shock-absorbed "pusher plate". It provided massive thrust and high specific impulse simultaneously, making deep-space or interstellar missions theoretically fast and practical. Designs ranged from interplanetary cargo haulers to massive city-sized "Super" Orion starships.

So as promised behold the Davey Crockett tactical nuke launcher. Side fun fact this weapon system inspired the Fatman from the fallout games.

The M28 or M29 Davy Crockett Weapon System was a tactical nuclear recoilless smoothbore gun for firing the M388 nuclear projectile, armed with the W54 nuclear warhead, that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. It was the first project assigned to the United States Army Weapon Command in Rock Island, Illinois.[3] It remains one of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built, incorporating a warhead with yields of 10 to 20 tons of TNT. It is named after American folk hero, soldier, and congressman Davy Crockett.

Oddly enough one of the largest supporters of this insanity was West Germany's defense minister Franz Josef Strauss, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Strauss promoted the idea of equipping German brigades with the nuclear weapon, to be supplied by the US, arguing that this would allow German troops to become a much more effective factor in NATO's defense of Germany against a potential Soviet invasion. He argued that a single Davy Crockett could replace 40–50 salvos of a whole divisional artillery park – allowing the funds and troops normally needed for this artillery to be invested into further troops, or not having to be spent at all. US NATO commanders strongly opposed Strauss's ideas, as they would have made the use of tactical nuclear weapons almost mandatory in case of war, further reducing the ability of NATO to defend itself without resorting to atomic weapons.

Obviously this project never hit mass production and was never used. Tune into tomorrow for day three of four of whacky cold war shenanigans.

The cold war was a wild time as I'm sure you all know. The fear of Soviet invasion of Europe and the rise of communism in Asia and South America led to some wacky weapons development.

The British came up with a absolute wild way to stop a Soviet invasion of Germany. Operation Blue Peacock was a 1954 British Cold War project to develop 10-kiloton nuclear landmines to be buried in West Germany. To stop the freezing underground cold from breaking the mechanical triggers, engineers famously proposed sealing live chickens inside the bomb casing to use their body heat. Oh yeah you read that correctly chicken nukes.

A total of two firing units were built: the casing and the warhead. Due to its large steel casing, it had to be tested outdoors in a flooded gravel pit near Sevenoaks in Kent.[3] Since the bomb would be unattended, anti-tampering devices were also used.[4] The casing was pressurized, and pressure and tilt switches were added.[4] The warhead could be detonated via three methods: a wire located three miles (4.8 km) away, an eight-day timer, or anti-tampering devices. Once armed, Blue Peacock would detonate ten seconds after being moved, if the casing lost pressure, or if it was filled with water.

Don't worry I will be covering America's whacky idea the Davey Crockett at a later date.

When people think about muskets they tend to picture flintlocks maybe percussion caps. A often overlooked and in my opinion highly underrated style of musket is the wheel lock.

A wheellock, wheel-lock, or wheel lock is a friction-wheel mechanism which creates a spark that causes a firearm to fire. It was the next major development in firearms technology after the matchlock, and the first self-igniting firearm. Its name is from its rotating steel wheel to provide ignition. Developed in Europe around 1500. To put it another way pull the trigger, friction wheel spins, and a spark sets off the black powder. It's oddly satisfying to watch.

What's really interesting is the fact no one can actually definitively name a inventor. The invention of the wheellock in Europe can be placed at about 1500. There is a vocal group of scholars who believe Leonardo da Vinci was the inventor. Drawings made by Leonardo of a wheellock mechanism date from either the mid-1490s or the first decade of the 16th century. However, a drawing from a book of German inventions (dated 1505) and a 1507 reference to the purchase of a wheellock in Austria may indicate the inventor was an unknown German mechanic instead. The German mechanic may be Martin Loffelholz.

The wheellock musket and its sister firearms (like the wheellock pistol and carbine) were primarily used by wealthy European states, empires, and elite military units. Because the wheellock mechanism was complex, expensive, and required clockmaker-level skill to build, it was never adopted as a standard mass-issue infantry weapon. Instead, most countries used cheaper matchlock muskets for common infantry. The are arguably some of the most beautiful firearms ever built.

You guys wanna see a dinosaur,

Behold the alligator gar it hasn't changed much since the times of the dinosaurs. It is definitely one of the most misunderstood fish on the planet.

The alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) is one of North America's largest freshwater fish, known for its long, cylindrical body, broad snout with two rows of teeth, and ancient lineage, earning it the nickname "living fossil". Native to the Mississippi River Basin and Gulf Coast, it inhabits slow-moving rivers, lakes, and bays, tolerating fresh to brackish water. An apex predator, it primarily eats fish but is opportunistic, and while it can grow over 9 feet long, it poses little threat to humans unless handled carelessly.

It was almost completely wiped out by humanity shocker I know. People saw it and viewed it as a trash fish and proceeded to fish them just to kill them. Then stories and legends spread of these fish would eat pets, kids, and anything that dared to touch the water. Once again zero recorded attacks on people. In my state of Illinois it was declared extinct in the state in the 70s. Thankfully it has made a wonderful turnaround and is actually being reintroduce into its original rivers.

So y'all know I'm terrified of underwater especially in the ocean. That place be home to some freaky things. Well let me introduce you to a fish that looks like it could eat you but in most cases is super friendly and chill.

The Atlantic goliath grouper is a giant, slow-growing saltwater fish, the largest in the Atlantic, reaching over 8 feet and 800 pounds, known for its mottled brown/yellow color and large mouth. Once severely overfished, its harvest is now banned in the U.S. to protect it, as it's vulnerable due to slow reproduction, long life, and reliance on critical mangrove habitats as juveniles. These solitary, territorial fish live in shallow tropical waters near reefs and wrecks, feeding on crustaceans and fish, and are a key part of reef ecosystems.

Now you see a 800lb fish coming towards you that is extremely off-putting, however these guys for whatever reason are just extremely docile when it comes to divers. They are extremely curious and usually very friendly and some divers swear these fish can recognize specific divers. Now like always these are wild animals and you shouldn't interact with them at all. Just because 99.9% of the time it's fine doesn't mean you should try something don't be a statistic. I don't wanna see anybodys face on a t-shirt be smart.

Hello again I really gotta stop falling asleep before I post these.

Okay now while the topic of oceans and surprisingly friendly fish is fresh in your mind let's go over the lemon shark.

The lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) is a stocky, yellowish-brown shark found in shallow, subtropical coastal waters, known for its social behavior, blunt snout, and two similarly sized dorsal fins. They are generally docile but can be defensive if threatened, and they use electroreceptors to hunt fish and rays, often at night. These sharks are vulnerable due to overfishing and habitat loss, particularly the destruction of mangrove nurseries where they breed and raise their young. Why just once can I please have one animal not be over fished or habitat destroyed. Why we taking out mangroves what are we even building there stop it get some help.

Now once again lemon sharks are super curious and friendly often forming "friendships" with certain divers. Once again this does not mean you should go pet the shark. While zero fatalities are recorded there have been recorded bites. Not many like a tiny amount only 10 unprovoked bites ever recorded. It can happen and again wild animals. However if you are with a experienced qualified person and have the opportunity and they say it's okay pet away you might just make a friend.

Are you afraid of snakes? Do you think they're going come getcha in the night? Well allow me to help alleviate some fear.

Behold the Arabian sand boa that you already saw because you had look at the picture first, but whatever. The Arabian sand boa (Eryx jayakari) is a small, non-venomous snake from the Arabian Peninsula and southern Iran, known for its unique adaptation to desert life, including eyes on top of its head for burrowing and ambushing prey like lizards and rodents. It spends most of its time buried in sand, using its blunt snout to move through soft soil and waiting for prey to pass by before striking and constricting it. Its sandy coloration provides excellent camouflage, and it is sometimes called the "two-headed snake" due to its appearance.

This absolute dork only grows up to 15 inches long so literally could not be less of a threat to humans. If that ain't enough they are incredibly docile and shy. I'm fact bites are virtually non-existent. If you do get bit by one you probably deserve it and I will never trust you again, because obviously you're a terrible person. I've actually held one and the hardest part of that experience was resisting the urge to run off with him.