The US military once blasted airships with nukes on balloons to see if they could drop nuclear bombs on submarines and survive

• In 1957, the US military tested whether or not airships could withstand a nuclear blast.
• Airships were popular in naval combat and briefly considered for the delivery of nuclear weapons. 
• In the 1950s, the military tried to nuclearize almost anything it could, a nuclear history expert said.

Almost seven decades ago, the US military wanted to see if its airships — more commonly called blimps — could be potential carriers of nuclear weapons for anti-submarine warfare, so it blasted a few of them with nukes to find out.

The tests were a part of Operation Plumbbob's 24 above-ground nuclear tests from May to October 1957.