The U.S. Strategic Command released a bizarre video on Twitter Monday afternoon, linking the ball drop at Times Square with a threat of nuclear warfare. “#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball,” the group wrote in the since-deleted tweet. “If ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger.” The accompanying video shows footage of a B-2 spirit set to dramatic music, and culminates with the drop of two inert B-83 nuclear bombs that demolish an unidentified region in a roar of flames. The footage clashed sharply with the last hashtag on the post, “#PeaceIsOurProfession,” and bewildered Twitter users who struggled to understand why a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense had threatened nuclear war on New Year’s Eve. The agency later apologized for the tweet, which it said had been in "poor taste."
