53 Years After A B-29 Bomber Plunged Into Lake Mead, Experts Made An Eerie Discovery In The Deep
A B-29 bomber is on a top-secret mission in the skies above Lake Mead in Nevada. But before the crew can succeed, something goes wrong, and the plane plummets into the glittering water below. As the aircraft skims the surface, the impact tears off several engines – leaving a wreck that will never fly again. Then, half a century later, a team of divers discover something remarkable lurking in the depths.
In 1947 – two years after the end of WWII – a B-29 was drafted into the sidelines of another conflict. Headed by a physicist from California called Dr. Carl Anderson, Project Apollo sought to refine ballistic missiles as America began to face off against the Soviet Union. Experts knew at this point that the technology was there. But how could they deliver it with deadly precision?
On July 21, 1948, one of the last B-29s ever built took off from southern California as part of Anderson’s ambitious project. Heavily classified, the mission would see the pilot perform a risky series of maneuvers over the waters of Lake Mead. But the operation was cut short when disaster struck – putting an end to the aircraft’s fascinating career.
For more than 50 years, little was known about what had happened to the B-29 that crashed into Lake Mead. But then, an illicit scavenging operation revealed something mysterious deep beneath the surface. Eventually, divers reached the location almost 300 feet down – and were amazed by what they found.
But how did one of the most iconic aircrafts of World War II end up on a top-secret mission in California in the first place? And what about the plane itself? Well, these bombers – also known as Superfortresses – were developed by the United States military during the early years of World War II. Previously, the Air Force had flown Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. But experts knew that an upgrade was needed.
