Here’s a local bombshell — the Bellevue Police Department (BPD) recently found remnants of a Cold War-era nuclear missile in a Bellevue resident’s backyard.
Don’t worry — it’s safe.
The old missile belonged to a man in Bellevue who died recently. His neighbor was handling the man’s estate and called an Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio about the unusual artifact hanging out in the garage.
Out of precaution, the museum called BPD and a bomb squad went to the deceased Bellevue man’s residence. Authorities then identified the missile as a Douglas AIR-2 Genie — the world’s first nuclear-armed rocket built in 1957 to shoot down airborne targets.
Thankfully, there was no nuclear warhead attached or rocket fuel in the missile. This was “just a rusted piece of metal,” said one BPD officer.
The US military didn’t want it back, so it’s now left up to the man’s neighbor to decide its donation destination.