Stevens Point, Wisconsin Local police and the Marathon County Bomb Squad responded to the Stevens Point Post Office after a suspicious device, which reportedly resembled a grenade, was discovered inside the facility.

Out of an abundance of caution, authorities immediately evacuated the building and established a protective cordon, closing surrounding roadways to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Bomb squad technicians entered the facility to evaluate the munition, safely securing the item while conducting diagnostic assessments to determine if it posed an active explosive hazard.

[More]

Tetbury, England A wedding venue in England's Cotswolds region was evacuated after construction workers uncovered five suspected WW II-era mortars while digging a trench for a solar project at Great Tythe Barn & Thythe House.

Gloucestershire Police established a 200-meter safety cordon and evacuated nearby residents, businesses, venue staff, and guests while Army EOD specialists assessed the devices.

The venue said the items were discovered on its grounds and authorities were contacted immediately. Army personnel later identified the ordnance as German WWII bombs. The devices were safely destroyed in a controlled detonation, and no injuries were reported.

Vieques, Puerto Rico U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) scientists achieved a major milestone by successfully executing the first live-site demonstration of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) sonar system designed to detect and classify submerged UXO. The operational tests took place at a complex Navy munitions response site off the coast of Vieques.

Known as "Skyfish," the technology integrates a structural acoustic active sonar payload onto a winged AUV. While conventional high-frequency sonars primarily generate images of the seabed's surface, Skyfish utilizes lower-frequency sound waves capable of penetrating the sediment. By analyzing the returning acoustic echoes, the system can process volumetric data beneath the seafloor, allowing researchers to distinguish buried or partially obscured legacy ordnance from natural rocks, coral reefs, and man-made debris.

[More]

Austin, Texas The Austin Police Department (APD) Bomb Squad responded to a residential area after a citizen discovered five suspected World War II-era grenades inside boxes purchased at a local estate sale.

According to APD officials, the buyer recognized the potential hazard and immediately contacted 911. Patrol officers established a safety perimeter around the property while awaiting specialized explosives personnel. Upon evaluation, the APD Bomb Squad confirmed that all five 80-year-old grenades were live and active. The ordnance was safely recovered from the scene and subsequently destroyed in a controlled environment.

[More]

Dolomites, Italy Melting glaciers in Italy's Dolomites are revealing dangerous remnants of WWI, including 55 unexploded munitions recently uncovered in the mountains. The cache included 18 Italian 75mm artillery shells and 37 French-made Thevetot mortar shells, weapons left behind during the White War, the brutal alpine conflict fought between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces from 1915 to 1918.

The discoveries are being linked to accelerating glacier retreat driven by rising temperatures. The Dolomites have lost more than half of their glacier coverage since the 1980s, with only 12 glaciers remaining from 33 recorded in the late 1950s. Officials say the region's record-breaking summer heat in 2026 likely contributed to the exposure of long-frozen explosives and other wartime artifacts.

[More]

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania More than 160 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, several buildings in the Pennsylvania town still bear visible scars from the fighting. One of the most striking examples is the Gettysburg Academy Bed and Breakfast, where an unexploded Civil War artillery shell remains lodged in the brick wall, exactly where it struck during the battle in 1863.

Historians believe the shell hit the building during the first day of the battle as Confederate forces shelled retreating Union troops. Similar battle damage can still be seen on eight other Gettysburg buildings, including structures where artillery shells remain embedded in the masonry.

[More]

Sheerness, United Kingdom Engineers have successfully dismantled and removed all three masts from the sunken SS Richard Montgomery, significantly mitigating the risk of a catastrophic UXO detonation in the Thames Estuary. The WWII US cargo ship sank in 1944 while carrying approximately 3 million pounds of munitions, with its submerged holds containing an estimated 300 2,000-pound blockbuster bombs alongside more than 2,000 cluster bombs.

The complex structural removal was initiated out of concern that the degrading masts could collapse directly into the UXO payload. For decades, experts have warned that a sympathetic detonation of the wreck could produce a localized tsunami, launch debris up to two miles into the air, and level the nearby coastal community.

Completed ahead of schedule and under its $12 million USD budget, the preventive engineering project successfully relieved the structural load on the decaying hull without disturbing the munitions. The salvaged masts have since been relocated to the Historic Dockyard Chatham museum.

To ensure ongoing safety, the wreck is strictly protected by a long-standing maritime exclusion zone to prevent ships from entering the area.

Paw Paw Township, Michigan Family members cleaning out their grandfather's basement found a military munition dated 1945. The discovery led to a response by the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office, the Paw Paw Fire Department and Van Buren Emergency Medical Services.

Deputies confirmed that the item was a grenade but were unsure if it was live or not. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Bomb Squad was called in to X-ray the grenade and safely remove the grenade for proper disposal.

The sheriff's office is reminding residents that old military ordnance and other potentially explosive devices can remain dangerous for decades, regardless of appearance.