# Best way to blow up the Pyramids? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469 "2017-08-23T15:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/1 "2017-08-23T15:53:27Z")
Well it had to happen eventually, the international community has decided it has finally had enough of the Pyramids sitting there, mocking them, like a giant middle-finger to the rest of the world, and by unanimous vote\* and over the objections of the Egyptians they’ve decided to blow them up. They’ve decided to make this pay per view and a bit more entertaining than just dismantling them with jackhammers and trucks or letting busloads of tourists tramp up and down them all day so they’re going to use military weapons to do so. How effective would an airstrike be against them? Or surround them by tanks and start blasting away? Basically what would be the best combination of efficiency and entertainment value? I used to think a nuclear weapon was a ‘destroy everything’ device until I read about how carbon-coated spheres were emplaced at the centre of one test and were subsquently found some distance away scorched but basically unharmed. So how effective would they be against what is basically a giant lump of rock? \*well except for Chile who doesn’t like the way everyone is now eyeing the Easter Island giant heads \*\*yes this was inspired by the current shenanigans in the USA regarding the removal of historic statues, I have my own opinions on that but its not what the thread is about ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/2 "2017-08-23T15:58:38Z")
I think the answer would be an explosion from inside. Either a well placed charge or maybe a bunker buster. This has been a WAG brought to you by Bobbitchin’:D:D ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/3 "2017-08-23T16:00:04Z")
Anything but a nuclear bomb going off underneath the Great Pyramid would take too long and be way too boring. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/4 "2017-08-23T16:21:13Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > I used to think a nuclear weapon was a ‘destroy everything’ device until I read about how carbon-coated spheres were emplaced at the centre of one test and were subsquently found some distance away scorched but basically unharmed. So how effective would they be against what is basically a giant lump of rock? > [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Anything but a nuclear bomb going off underneath the Great Pyramid would take too long and be way too boring. Finally, we get some practical use out of the [Sedan Test](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssLZ4bUTDYM). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/5 "2017-08-23T16:26:00Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > How effective would an airstrike be against them? Similar to how effective an airstrike would be against a natural mountain? > [@](#): > > Or surround them by tanks and start blasting away? Ditto. BTW, there has been at least one douchenozzle [who did attempt to destroy the pyramids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Menkaure#Attempted_demolition). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/6 "2017-08-23T16:28:46Z")
No bomb necessary - just put up a sign “Free rocks - please help yourself”. Gone within a week or two, I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/7 "2017-08-23T16:30:53Z")
Exploding sheep. Although I’m not sure if Egypt has sheep. So, exploding crocodiles. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/8 "2017-08-23T16:31:22Z")
I was going to suggest at least as a trial effort some of the intestinal gas from our Dear Leader (post mortem, of course) but I doubt it would be sufficient. Might be fun to try, though! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/9 "2017-08-23T16:37:48Z")
No offense, but these ideas are all fucking boring. Nuclear bomb? So last century. Here’s the plan: Launch a missile with a small, dense payload. The trajectory is just right so that it re-enters orbit with a dazzling white hot tail and smashes into the pyramid with enough force to obliterate the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/10 "2017-08-23T16:44:47Z")
Don’t blow them up. Re-route the Nile so it undermines them and they collapse. the Nile’s only 5 miles from the Giza complex. You’d probably say that’s too boring, though. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/11 "2017-08-23T16:45:38Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Launch a missile with a small, dense payload. The trajectory is just right so that it re-enters orbit with a dazzling white hot tail and smashes into the pyramid with enough force to obliterate the whole thing. And how big would the missile payload have to be to obliterate several million tons of rock from a sub-orbital entry? (Hint: big.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/12 "2017-08-23T16:51:34Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Finally, we get some practical use out of the [Sedan Test](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssLZ4bUTDYM). Crash cars into them? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/13 "2017-08-23T16:56:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Re-route the Nile so it undermines them and they collapse. the Nile’s only 5 miles from the Giza complex. It is interesting that most photos of the pyramids (even modern ones) are framed to make it look like they are located deep in a sweeping desert, possibly with a few Bedouin and camels in the photo to imply the long and arduous journey that you have to take to reach them. Then there is [this](https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/Egypt-and-Jordan-ERM/Egypt/i-qnpttkX/0/ca84a841/X2/IMG_0096-2-X2.jpg), showing that now, they are basically a theme park in the middle of a city. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/14 "2017-08-23T16:57:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Don’t blow them up. > > Re-route the Nile so it undermines them and they collapse. the Nile’s only 5 miles from the Giza complex. > You’d probably say that’s too boring, though. Not if we do the re-routing with a well-timed series of interwoven nuclear explosives and orbital bombardments. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/15 "2017-08-23T17:02:38Z")
Do we just want to collapse them, or turn them to dust? They would probably collapse just fine with a shit-ton of ANFO placed inside. Lots of rock fragments and giant blocks left scattered around, though. Turning them to dust would take a lot more explosive, placed a lot more carefully. You could probably do it with a few thousand tons of TNT or C4. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/16 "2017-08-23T17:13:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > No bomb necessary - just put up a sign “Free rocks - please help yourself”. Gone within a week or two, I reckon. No, no, no. Put up a sign that says “Rocks $25 each” then don’t guard it well. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Don’t blow them up. > > Re-route the Nile so it undermines them and they collapse. the Nile’s only 5 miles from the Giza complex. . . . . Or re-trigger the geysers that were used to build them. (For those that don’t know, that’s a reference to a train wreck of a thread that I refuse to go looking for.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/17 "2017-08-23T17:20:53Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > No, no, no. Put up a sign that says “Rocks $25 each” then don’t guard it well. Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/18 "2017-08-23T17:21:26Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Or re-trigger the geysers that were used to build them. (For those that don’t know, that’s a reference to a train wreck of a thread that I refuse to go looking for.) ([cough, cough](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742823)) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/19 "2017-08-23T17:23:39Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > They would probably collapse just fine with a shit-ton of ANFO placed inside. They are almost entirely solid inside. A collapse of the empty spaces wouldn’t be much of a collapse at all. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/20 "2017-08-23T17:32:14Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And how big would the missile payload have to be to obliterate several million tons of rock from a sub-orbital entry? (Hint: big.) Yes, but let’s figure out how big! Each cubic foot of tungsten traveling at fast-meteorite speed (100km/s) has a kinetic energy of roughly 2.5 terajoules. How many terajoules do you think we need? Or is it conceivable to have it traveling much faster? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469.md?page=2)