Perhaps you've heard this bizarre story, and when you first read the title, you might be filled with scoffs. After all, even a small country, with an air force, is generally considered a relatively strong region, at least with a certain presence in terms of armed forces. In the face of such strength, how can it be easily destroyed by an ordinary person or even a golf ball? This seems like an incredible and bizarre thing. However, in 1987, this bizarre event did occur in Benin, a relatively economically underdeveloped country.
The story takes place in Portonova, Benin's capital, a farmer named Matthew Boya, who was over forty years old at the time. One day, after a day of farm work, he decided to take a break. Although he is usually an ordinary farmer, he is a true golf fan and often learns about golf events through television and other reports. Therefore, when he wanted to relax, he naturally thought of golf and wanted to experience this exquisite sport. However, Benin is an extremely poor country with no golf courses, and Matthew Boya, who earns less than $500 a year, simply cannot go to a real golf course for fun. Therefore, he had no choice but to find a worn-out golf club and a few old golf balls in search of an open space to satisfy his desire to swing.
However, the open space Matthew found was very close to the Benin air base. During his swing, the golf ball crossed the walls of the air base and hit a flying birdie. As a result of this attack, the bird fell onto a Benin Air Force Mirage fighter ready to take off. At that time, the canopy of the Mirage fighter had not been completely closed. The bird hit the pilot directly, catching him off guard, causing the plane to veer off the runway and hit another Mirage fighter that had not taken off, followed by an explosion and fire, resulting in the complete destruction of all five Mirage fighters. All five Mirage fighters were the workhorses of the Benin Air Force at the time. An accidental swing of an ordinary peasant turned out to destroy the main air force of an entire small country.
The Beninese Air Force immediately arrested him and demanded compensation of up to $400 million. However, for an ordinary farmer, it is impossible to accumulate such wealth for life. Faced with such punishment, he simply chose life imprisonment. This story may make people lament the plight of small countries, even if there are only a few fighters, they may be completely destroyed due to extreme accidents and special circumstances. However, it seems to me that despite the serendipity of this event, Benin, as a small country, has five Mirage fighters is not less. In today's world, very few countries really have thousands of fighters, and most countries have hundreds or even dozens of fighters. For most countries, the number of fighters does not necessarily mean more powerful, as long as it meets daily needs. The financial resources required to raise a large combat force of the Air Force are not something that ordinary countries can easily afford.