One of just 16 specialized 'Doomsday planes,' Mercury serves as a command-and-control hub for US Strategic Command, the Secretary of War and the President. It can also transmit orders to carry out nuclear strikes if necessary. Flight data showed the aircraft departed Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and followed a routine southeast path over the Chesapeake Bay, skirting the Norfolk naval complex before heading offshore.
Fisher, who was a pilot during the Second World War, makes what he describes as a "quite simple" suggestion to reduce the chances of launching a nuclear attack: "Put that needed code number in a little capsule and then implant that capsule right next to the heart of a volunteer." Like the rotation of military personnel who today trade off carrying the "nuclear football"-the briefcase that contains the nuclear launch codes-the person with the implanted capsule would be near the President constantly.
