Story 1. The Blackbird of Chernobyl

When researching the numerous major catastrophes that have occurred throughout human history,

it is not uncommon to find testimony from observers who claim to have

been pre-warned about the looming tragedy by some form of vision or ominous portant.

This week we examine one such example of this, the Blackbird of Chernobyl. I'm going to be. Oh, And then A day after the disaster the scenes witnessed by the helicopter pilots as they flew over the stricken facility

were akin to something out of a horror movie.

Several hundred feet below, rubble still smoldered across the broken power plant, producing

dense plumes of acrid smoke, which they were forced to skirt around as they were

guided into the target area. On the ground below, a combination of rescue workers and military

personnel could be seen running to and fro, many of them well aware of the risks they were

exposing themselves to, but carrying on regardless

of the dangers simply because there was a job that needed to be done.

For the sake of not just hundreds, but thousands, and perhaps even millions of people.

High above, the pilots themselves were no safer from the invisible cloud of radiation that

had contaminated the area.

Without video cameras or any other form of specialist equipment, each aircraft was forced to fly

in at high speed.

Their crews blindly dumping tons of boron, sand and clay in the hope

that the fires inside the reactor itself would finally be extinguished.

Sergeant Valeri Simunov stared down impassively at the hellish landscape and reflected on the fact that no matter how much water he gulped down, the sickening metallic taste in the back of his throat refused to go away.

Like the majority of his fellow airmen, he had little faith in the safety guidelines they were working to. It was the fourth and final

sortie of the day, and as the pilot signaled that they were once again on final approach,

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