Woman Tries to Sell the Most Rare Item from Air Force

[bentonmarcum]

For anyone wondering, this is declassified out of date technology. Your phone is more advanced than this thing is. So the government doesn't consider it a security risk.

[jamesstaggs]

What's even more amazing is that they want me to believe someone woke up one day and thought a pawn shop was the best place to take one of these.

[cpljimmyneutron]

I saw this episode when it aired, but also, I was in the Army... people don't know how common it is to load up a shipping container as storage, and then completely forget about it.
I had a commander who made a joke of tracking every single shipping container around our base, whenever he found one that wasn't recorded on any books he opened it up.
We found basketballs, heaters, an entire container of Flintstones Children's Multivitamins. lots of random things.

[UScobrason]

Expert: its worth 500k
Rick: I’ll give you 5 bucks and a half eaten bag of Doritos and I’m taking a big risk here

[petersmythe]

This is actually an IRST pod. And yes it's fairly safe. That giant IR optic though cost more than your car. And the whole thing cost as much as your house.

[simonmorris]

The germanium lens on the front is worth 50 grand in terms of materials alone

[Appachoppa]

Pulled out military hardware like she was at ammunation

[SuperfluousUserX]

Friend of mine bought the front section of a crashed F16 with a complete cockpit, avionics and radar system from auction. What he didn’t know until closer inspection was that the car sized Gatling gun was still inside. A few days later, before he got the chance to contact the defense department, a military flatbed showed up at his front door requesting the entire thing back but they paid him far more then he initially paid for it.

[WhiskeyGaming]

For those wondering, this is NOT a seeker ON an AIM-9 Sidewinder. This is actually an early Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system put on the F-4 in the early days before it was removed due to limited usefulness. In a sense it could guide an AIM-9, but not in the literal sense. Nor was it on the missile itself. The actual designation for this is the AN/AAA-4 IRST. It would tell an AIM-9 seeker where to look for a target before the AIM-9 became advanced enough to talk to the weapon system of the jet launching it to get radar angles.

You see, when this came out, the AIM-9 relied upon a relatively narrow field of view for the seeker to acquire a heat source. With the AN/AAA-4, the seeker head could be uncaged (meaning it could change where it was looking) and pointed at a target the AN/AAA-4 was tracking. Basically, you can think of the AN/AAA-4 as the "radar" equivalent to the AIM-9. It tells the AIM-9 where to look for the heat signature of the target it should launch at. Unlike a radar, there are no emissions from this unit, and the AIM-9 does not have external guidance once launched, at least not in this time frame.

WHY do I think this isn't an AIM-9 seeker? Well, a couple of reasons.
1.) SIZE: The AIM-9 body is 5" in diameter. The only variant to ever field a "round" nose like this was the AIM-9B. This is clearly larger than 5" in diameter.

2.) In the full video they show close ups of the carriage device (the light grey handle) which has markings for "F-4H-1 and F-4H-1F" which are naval designations for the F-4 PRIOR to the Tri-Service Aircraft Designation System which standardized the name as the F-4. Why would you have an AIM-9 seeker carriage device which is specific to an airframe? You wouldn't. You'd have one carriage device for the AIM-9 seeker specifically. You WOULD have one for an IRST to carry the IRST from the aircraft to the test bench to work on it though! ;)

3.) In the full video there is a scene where they show the paperwork she brought with her. If you pause it, you can read it. The paper they show is a FOIA request for the manual: "NA-16-30-AAA-4-3, Head Seeker Overhaul". Notice the AAA-4 in the manual title? Big clue. :)

[LordTrox]

This is why the DOD cant pass an audit

[flywheel]

A person can sometimes really hit the jackpot bidding on government surplus items. In the early 80s the government was auctioning box cars that had been sitting on a siding locked up since 1946. Guy bids 2500 sight unseen and wins. Flew down to Texas to take a look at his winnings, popped the lock off the door, and discovered forty three 1941 military patrol configured Indian motorcycles, all crated, wrapped, and packed in cosmoline. Maximum milage on each bike was one or two miles. Jackpot!!!

[Laqota]

"I'll give you 500 bucks and $20 store credit."

[CynicalChicken]

Everybody talkin bout the misslle but im stuck on how her dad got 400 SHIPPING CRATES OF MILITARY SURPLUS FOR 25$. I need THAT connect😂

[brianschumer]

My buddy told a story, when stationed at Twenynine Palm, they had to do "Camo" training, one group decided to bury their jeep, It was great "camo" but they got in trouble for literally losing the jeep. The staff seargent said leave it out there..somewhere out in the desert area of Twenynine palms buried is a military jeep, that no one inventoried or cared

[gogogadgetGlock]

Expert: “it’s worth around $4000”
Rick: “best I can do is $200, and im taking a big risk here”
Lady: “Fox 2”

[Edgy]

When I was undergoing training in the military years ago they had one of those in the classroom. The instructor would walk around the classroom with a lit cigarette and the seeker head would follow him throughout the room! The instructor mentioned that the seeker was so sensitive it could detect a lightbulb on Pluto. This could have been a training aid.

[cmj]

She wasn’t actually trying to sell, she just wanted the museums to see it

[tonygagey]

Guy in the Falklands bought 2 shipping containers, inside was 4 Land rovers full of ammo complete with weapons, GPMGs to be exact, Army asked for the guns and ammo back, told him to keep the landies

[ViperXdxx]

the document they show is a FOIA (freedom of information) response from the government saying they're not able to return the requested data within the proper timeline

doesn't say anything about ownership of the item

[jefftuttlejr]

EXPERT - it is Worth $1, 000, 000
RICK - I can give you $40 for it.