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GUNLOCK, Washington County — It was supposed to be just another training mission.
On Monday, April 11, 1983, a B-52G identified as LURE 75 and its companion, LURE 76, were set to depart from Robins Air Force Base, 18 miles southeast of Macon, Georgia. The scheduled takeoff time was 8:45 a.m.
Their route would take them west across the country to join combat training exercises near Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada — a vast range used for simulated war games.
On the way, they would pass over southern Utah, where the rumble of B-52s overhead was a familiar sound during the "Red Flag" and "Green Flag" exercises tied to America's broader Cold War-era military preparedness program.
In a 2021 article, St. George News reporter David Louis described the mission as multifaceted, involving a cell departure — both planes taking off together — followed by a join-up over Oklahoma City. The crews were set to practice formation flying, high-altitude contingency training, low-level navigation and terrain avoidance, simulated weapons delivery, and threat evasion.
But this was no ordinary aircraft.
