UNEXPLODED · public companion
Seven miles became very close
When an explosion across the estuary struck the author's house with a heavy thump, the masts outside his window stopped being background scenery.
Chapter 04 · A shockwave · a window · the meaning of distance
Seven miles became very close
When an explosion across the estuary struck the author's house with a heavy thump, the masts outside his window stopped being background scenery.
Somebody dropped a piano
That was the author's first thought when the shock arrived at his Sheerness home. The blast had come from Highlands Farm in Essex, roughly seven miles away. Richard Montgomery lies much closer.
"Remote" is not a number
The wreck has been called remote while surrounded by a prohibited area, round-the-clock radar, annual surveys and restricted airspace reaching more than thirteen thousand feet. An unlikely event can still demand extraordinary precautions.
The chain beneath every answer
Condition, initiation, probability and consequence are different questions. Chapter 9 follows the chain through ageing fuzes, unpublished models and the price of knowing more. A 2017 Dstl report identified testing as the route to greatest confidence.
Evidence records
Chapters 9 and 12 develop the technical record and the limits of public modelling.