The Golden BB was (and remains) a bit of pilot lore. I believe it originated during the Vietnam war, but it may have sprung into being much earlier. The Golden BB is a single round or piece of shrapnel that manages to bring down an aircraft and/or pilot that has survived numerous exposures to massive anti-aircraft fire without any real damage. Pilots who become paranoid that there is, somewhere out there, a piece of shrapnel with their name on it are said to be suffering from "Fear of the Golden BB." This belief is in direct contradiction to the Big Sky theory of Navigation, in that it states no matter how big the sky and how small your plane, there is a small piece of danger waiting for you out there. In this, it is a much more fatalistic attitude.