Project of the Day: ‘Buzz One Four’

Elevator Pitch: “Buzz One Four” is a documentary film being made by Matt McCormick that chronicles the ill fated flight of a Cold War Air Force bomber loaded with two thermonuclear bombs that crashed less than 100 miles from Washington DC in 1964. While the event has remained classified and details are suppressed by the military, it is a story the filmmaker is intimately familiar with because the pilot of the plane was his grandfather. Details of this ‘Broken Arrow’ event can make one wonder if we were in greater danger of nuking ourselves than being attacked by the Russians.

About the film: It’s true, my grandfather nearly blew-up the eastern seaboard. He was a career bomber pilot who re-enlisted after WW II. Returning from a top-secret Strategic Air Command mission in January 1964, the B-52 he was flying tore apart in mid-air due to heavy winds. Two thermonuclear bombs were on board, that combined were over 1000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. But what is really crazy is that this sort of thing happened all the time, and the Air Force could have likely prevented it- total “Dr. Strangelove” sort of stuff (my grandfather playing Slim Pickens’ role).

Production Status: Aproximately 50% through production and looking for funding.

For more information and to support this project: Kickstarter Page

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