told BBC News on Friday that the device was “just basically a gas tank for rocket fuel”. He called the event “not serious at all”. “In fact, our bomb squad member asked me why we were releasing a news release on a rusted piece of metal,” he said.

Saved you a click

Seems weird to call it an “inert nuclear missile” when the entire payload component with the “nuclear” trait was not included.

For any TL;DR folks: it was just the rocket without the warhead. Basically an empty fuel tank with a nozzle.

I don’t blame the museum for calling the bomb squad. The fuel they put in those things is some real nasty toxic shit that if there were any trace left would be problematic. The whole “nuclear” part is the media being intentionally clickbaity.

Tin foil hat engaged: This is exactly the news story I’d have the papers run if it’d had a warhead and too many people were aware of the missile’s existence for convenient disappearances to be an option. Make it safe, spin a story to reassure the public, breathe a sigh of relief that it didn’t turn out differently.

Then get back to guarding the secret prison facility holding the aliens who shot JFK.

“Oh… is that what that is?”

This has to be one of the craziest weapons ever made. An unguided, nuclear, air-to-air rocket.

Surprising he still wants to donate it to the museum after they grassed him up.