09/18/2026
Friday FACT or FICTION
The second fastest man-made object is a manhole cover.
FACT!
In 1957, the US government started Operation Plumbbob, where they tested a series of nuclear weapons in Nevada. During the Pascal-B test in August of 1957, they tested the second underground test and sealed the shaft with a 2000lb manhole. When it detonated, the manhole was thrown into the air with a velocity 6 times the escape velocity of earth or around 150,000mph. It held the record for the fastest man-made object up until NASA's Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 and has hit 430,000mph on the way to the sun.