Testing the US Military’s Worst Idea

As someone from the military. I assure you, this is not their worst idea.

I like to imagine that Adam Savage just materializes whenever something fun like this is happening in the desert

rod swinging wildly back and forth on the helicopter everyone: "wow I can't believe that missed the target."

This might be one of the most unproffseional carried out experiments ive ever seen

This is about as good a test for rods from god as me sitting on my roof dropping marbles onto army men in my front yard.

I'm shocked at how little thought went into properly testing this idea, especially when compared to the amount of money and number of people involved.

Imagine going through all of this work, spent all that money, and got all of these people together to make this video and not thinking of putting stabilizing fins on the object you are dropping from 500m

This was a fun watch but the fact they watched the weight swing around and yet just kept thinking they were missing cause they weren't lined up was infuriating

My favourite part is where Adam Savage appears out of nowhere, as if desert explosion tests just summon him 😂

Wish there was a point in the experiment that the goal switch from accuracy to "lets see how big crater get from dropping really high" and proceed to have everyone really far away until it lands.

Dangling heavy objects from ROPES high up under an undulating, gyrating, helicopter and expecting ANY degree of accuracy. UMMM…..

As a retired military aviation specialist, I've had firsthand experience with the complexities of dropping objects from altitude, particularly missiles. When you release something from a high altitude, it doesn't simply drop straight down. Various factors influence its trajectory. First, there's the forward momentum; whatever you're dropping is initially moving at the same speed as the aircraft. Then, wind plays a significant role; higher altitudes can have stronger and often different wind directions than at ground level. Additionally, Earth's rotation affects trajectories over long distances—a phenomenon known as the Coriolis effect. Lastly, the design of the object, such as a missile, includes aerodynamics intended to guide it towards a target, but this guidance must account for all these factors to be accurate. It's a complex interplay of physics, requiring precise calculations and adjustments for successful deployment.

The fact that they didn't seem to anticipate that a weight dangling from a helicopter on a tether would be swinging all over the place is ... odd to say the least.

Kinda surprised that nobody realized that this was never going to work. Id expect this from a Mr. Beast video but not Veritasium. Usually he simulates outcomes with equations before going into the field to test.

I still find it funny he called it Project Thor, given how he was the only "Thunder god" to NOT throw lightening bolts at people, ever.

When using GPS, there's a problem. The GPS system thinks you are on the ground because it doesn't have prior information at what altitude you are, and 500 m above te ground, the deviation would be around 20√3 m or around 35m, that is why Aerospace Station or Aircraft Stations in US use GPS systems with account to Altitude and then provide accurate directions to pilots. Add it with air rotation, and all, the target would according to my calculation assuming wind at like 7 miles/hour; would hit the ground around 56m far from the intended target. If you use proper calculation and account for wind, the target positioning would be far easier.

Genuinely shocked at the scant amount of forethought that went into something with a budget this large.

why on earth did you hire a team of pro sand castle builders, and then have them spend all their time making more accurate looking buildings, rather than just 10x the number of them so you wouldn't have to worry about missing them??

Displays the language prohibiting nuclear weapons AND any other kind of weapons of mass destruction from space, then says only nuclear weapons are prohibited. I interpret "larger than any conventional bomb ever made" to be a weapon of mass destruction. To borrow from The Princess Bride, "I do not think these words mean what you think they mean."

This was not only a terrible "test" it was horrifically planned, setup, and executed. There is a MASSIVE difference between subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic, High-Hypersonic and Re-Entry speeds. Not only dealing with projectile shape and construction but also in drag factors and Delta V. Why does Delta V matter with a "Rod from God", because they were not simply dropped from space, they were SHOT BACK AT EARTH USING ROCKETS. By having a guidance system, control surfaces, and powered flight you can control a lot of targeting variable that make a weapon like "Rods From God" not just viable but practical based on the intended use. Now lets say the intended use is to hit stationary high value targets only, well that makes the targeting considerably easier as you are not changing the flight path once calculated and input, it's literally a "solve for X" problem. Contrary to belief nukes are not designed to hit the surface and then detonate, they have a "burst height" to them to cause as much damage as possible by creating a double shockwave effect, this is all calculated based on the nuclear weapons explosive force size, target altitude, and desired blast attributes.