Term “Gone South.” Post WWII, Werner Von Braun and several other German scientists were moved to Ft Bliss Texas to continue research on missile warfare that they had begun under Nazi Germany. (US and Russia each took certain scientists almost like dividing the spoils of war.) Anyway, the scientists that were located at Ft Bliss continued research performing tests and launches in the vast White Sands Missile Range that lies directly north. As long as the missiles performed as designed, they could fly very high and far because the range extends northward over two hundred miles. However, as could be expected, sometimes missile tests would produce failure. The worst of which would be flying instead of north, but south. During at least 1 test, (at least 1 publicly acknowledged test), the missile flew directly south crossing the Rio Grande and landing in Juarez Mexico. To the scientists and the Army, the test went “South” instead of north. Any other failure type would create little to no damage within the bounds of the vast missile range but all involved knew that for every test, they had to make sure it didn’t go south. The term became jargon of the day when to refer to a test as having “Gone South” meant that everything was fine until that sudden moment when all went wrong; as when the missile flew south instead of north!