This story is about a particular event that took place during the nuclear testing of Operation Plumbbob. Officially, the steel plate that popped off was never seen from again, but the calculations point to there being enough energy in that metal cap to escape the earth's atmosphere, and it's been an urban legend/mystery ever since. Tumblr finds some interesting and fun history stuff, like the first soldier to take way too many military grade amphetamines.
manhole
By spacetime10
From the submitter:
In the down & out, post apocalyptic city of East St. Louis Illinois, anything metallic that is not welded in place is fair game for scrappers, including man-hole covers. The city, being without the financial means to replace the missing covers, inserts used tires in their place to alert drivers of the open holes littering the streets.
