Mystery of Utah Army base lockdown revealed; Missing VX Nerve gas located
Salt Lake City, UT, United States (AHN) – A toxic chemical used as a biological weapon is the reason an Army base in Utah was locked down overnight.
Dugway Proving Ground said in a statement a nerve agent was missing in the facility’s laboratory during a routine inventory of sensitive material.
The agent was a vial of VX, a substance developed in the 1950s for chemical warfare.
The base, the Army’s largest land mass installation at nearly 800,000 acres, was locked down Wednesday night while a search was conducted.
The vial containing less than a quarter of a teaspoon of VX was found in the same laboratory where it was reported missing, but not before more than 1,000 employees were stranded overnight.
No personnel or civilians were injured. “No one was ever in any danger,” the military said.
The base is about 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nerve agents are the most toxic and fast-acting of all chemical warfare agents, and VX is the most lethal of all nerve agents.
VX is an amber, oily liquid that is colorless and tasteless. Like other nerve agents, it impedes the body’s ability to send messages to the brain. A person who has been exposed to it will not be able to switch off the stimulation of the glands and muscles, causing the body to tire.
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