Military

American Pilots Were Tracking Soviet Weapons Development. They Saw Something Completely Inexplicable.
A Cold War spy plane captured something inexplicable after a Soviet missile launch—a translucent wall of light that engulfed the sky in seconds.
By Darren Orf
Jul 10, 2026
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The U.S. Army Was Walking Into a Trap. Secret Intelligence Turned It Into a Major Victory.
By Darren Orf
Jun 4, 2026

Mud Could Win the Hypersonic Arms Race
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
May 16, 2026
This Elephant Bone May Belong to Hannibal’s Army
By Michael Natale
Feb 3, 2026

The Truth Is Out There. So Is Lue Elizondo.
David Howard
Dec 3, 2025
Is the U.S. Ready to Fight a New Kind of War?
By Matt Berman
Feb 28, 2025

Pop Mech Pro Pop Mech Pro
Why the F-35 Fighter Jet Is Such a Badass Plane
By Alex Hollings
Mar 13, 2026

Everything to Know About the B-2 Bomber
By Jeff Bolton
Mar 4, 2026

Why the F-105 Thunderchief Is Such a Badass Plane
By Eric Tegler
Nov 28, 2023

Pop Mech Pro Pop Mech Pro
Why the B-52 Is Such a Badass Plane
By Alex Hollings
Oct 16, 2023
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The Engineer Who Gave B-2 Secrets to China
By Ashley Tysiac
Jun 10, 2026

Explorer Finds Crashed CIA Aircraft Near Area 51
By Kyle Mizokami
May 5, 2026

They Called It ‘Hitler’s Headache’
Apr 30, 2026

Why Did the U.S. Army Bomb a Volcano in 1935?
By Kyle Mizokami
Apr 19, 2026

Why Four Submarines Disappeared in 1968
By Darren Orf
Jul 7, 2026

A Unique WWII Submarine Loss Was Just Found
By Elizabeth Rayne
Jun 8, 2026

Why USS Cyclops Still Hasn’t Been Found
By Kyle Mizokami
Jun 1, 2026

Could This Nazi Carrier Have Changed WWII?
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
May 29, 2026

The Story of the Last American Sub Lost at Sea
By Kyle Mizokami
Jun 25, 2026

The U.S. Accidentally Dropped Four Nukes on Spain
By Darren Orf
Jun 22, 2026

Inside the Secret Bioweapons Test on San Francisco
By Darren Orf
Jun 22, 2026

China Reinvented Soviet Space Missiles
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
Jun 18, 2026
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The Physics Problem Killing America’s Giant Guns
By Sébastien Roblin
May 7, 2026

This Laser Weapon Can Decimate Drone Swarms
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
May 1, 2026

‘Cyborg Insects’ Could Be the Future of Spying
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
Apr 21, 2026

AI Is Becoming the Backbone of Drone Warfare
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
Apr 17, 2026
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More Military

How the CIA Read 100 Nations’ Secrets
By Michael Natale
Jul 8, 2026

Mysterious Fireballs Stalked Confused WWII Pilots
By Elizabeth Rayne
Jun 30, 2026

He Found a Sunken WWII Submarine Full of Gold
By Elizabeth Rayne
Jun 26, 2026

The Last Words of Flight 19 Still Don't Make Sense
By Tim Newcomb
Jun 25, 2026

1,000s of UFOs Are Spotted Near U.S. Coastlines
Popular Mechanics Editors
Jun 17, 2026

A B-17’s Sole Survivor Returned for His Crew
By Tim Newcomb
Jun 15, 2026

A Pilotless Jet Flew on Its Own for 560 Miles
By Tim Newcomb
Jun 15, 2026

This Nuclear Fire Almost Became the U.K. Chernobyl
By Darren Orf
Jun 12, 2026

This German Sub Lies off the New Jersey Coast
By Paul Smith
Jun 6, 2026

Nuclear Waste Still Haunts a St. Louis Suburb
By Ashley Tysiac
Jun 4, 2026

How the U.S. Army Stole a Soviet Superweapon
By Tim Newcomb
Jun 4, 2026

Inside the Deadliest Rocket Disaster in History
By Darren Orf
Jun 2, 2026

Humanoid Robots Are Already in Combat
By David Hambling
May 28, 2026

A Soviet System Disrupted Radio Signals for Years
By Darren Orf
May 27, 2026

America’s Worst Radiological Disaster
By Andrew Daniels
May 21, 2026

China Is Building Robot Soldiers—Is the U.S.?
By David Paone
May 13, 2026

The Deadly Crash of the USS San Francisco
By Eric Adams
May 4, 2026

A Ship Split in Half—Daring Action Saved the Crew
By Elizabeth Rayne
Apr 22, 2026

U.S. Airmen Accidentally Leak Top-Secret Nuke Info
By Kyle Mizokami
Apr 21, 2026

The Deadly Mystery of the Soviet ‘Anthrax Island’
By Darren Orf
Apr 21, 2026
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