Sometimes referred to as the "Radioactive Boy Scout" or the "Nuclear Boy Scout". If I had been his friend I probably would have simply called him "glowworm". Whatever the radioactive equivalent of a pyromaniac is this guy was it. Born in 1976, David Charles Hahn was, according to Wikipedia, inspired in part by reading The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments and as an amateur chemist tried to collect samples from every element in the periodic table of chemical elements. As a Boy Scout David Hahn earned a merit badge in Atomic Energy. Not wanting to stop there Hahn decided to build a nuclear breeder reactor in his mother's backyard shed. When you think about it this does make sense. If I were collecting every element on the periodic table than a homemade nuclear reactor in the backyard is a great source of specimens. It's not like David Hahn built a large sound system and was blasting music at 3 a.m. For all I know the sound of a spinning mass centrifuge isolating strontium from caesium might be soothing.

Hahn's first breeder reactor was never to be. His experiments were discovered and the United States Environmental Protection Agency declared the property the shed was on a Superfund hazardous materials cleanup site.

After graduating hisgh school Hahn seemed to lack direction until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to a...say it with me...nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

At this point it is weird. Either:

a.) David Charles Hahn is the real life version of Homer J. Simpson.

b.) Someone thought that assigning a guy who single-handedly made his mother's property a Superfund site that rivaled multi-million dollar corporation messes on to a nuclear vessel was a good idea. or,

c.) Hahn's experiments with radiation gave him superpowers and Hahn being stationed on the U.S.S. Enterprise was a cover story while he was really using his superpowers to save the world.

In 2007 David Charles Hahn was charged with larceny. Allegedly he stole some smoke detectors to get the radioactive element americium from the detectors. Hahn's mugshot shows sores all over his face which authorities claimed was from radiation exposure. However, sores weren't reported on Hahn while he was earlier trying to build a breeder reactor. Could those sores have come from fighting terrorists as Hahn blasted some old fashion laser beams from his eyes? I don't know.

Photo Source: YouTube

David Charles Hahn is reported to have died in 2016 of alcohol poisoning at the age of 39. Of course, that is the kind of thing that would be reported about someone with hidden superpowers who had to go deep undercover.

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