UK's MOD Issues UXO Warning To Magnet Fishermen

London, United Kingdom In a recent interview, officials from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) warned the public "that if they inadvertently disturb what they believe to be live ordnance, they contact their local police force as a matter of urgency." The warning was issued due to the recent growth of magnet fishing (trawling for metal objects in the water) throughout the United Kingdom, fueled in part by social media.

As people post pictures of interesting items they have found while magnet fishing such as old knives, guns, and UXO, more and more people are taking up the hobby and upgrading the size and strengths of magnets used in the process. Reportedly, it was a strong magnet that pulled two men into the water causing them to drown. Others are lured into the hobby as way to make extra money by recycling scrap metal.

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Tennessee Cannonball Mystery

Memphis, Tennessee an alert homeowner called the police after finding cannonballs in his front yard. The police call the bomb squad who took several x-rays of the items and identified them as inert Civil War era cannonballs. Authorities are unclear how the cannonballs ended up on the property and are investigating it further.

Civilian Drives Ordnance Around For Days Before Calling Police

Frederick, Oklahoma Officers at the Tillman County Sheriff's Department called the Fort Sill EOD team to remove an ordnance item from the back of a car. Reportedly the driver brought the round to the Sheriff's office after driving it around for days. The driver told police that he found the round in a ditch and did not think it was dangerous.

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Elderly Lady "Hands" Over Live Grenade

Leverkusen, Germany A 90-year-old woman caused panic at her local police station when she brought in a live grenade. Unaware that the item was dangerous, she brought it in to ask for help in disposing of what she thought was an old military relic. She was reportedly holding the UXO in her hand explaining that her husband had brought it home as a keepsake from WWII.

Following his death, she no longer wanted to display it in her house, where it had sat on a desk for decades. Staff at the station was alarmed and called in the bomb disposal squad. The building was evacuated and traffic cleared while EOD safely deactivated the device.

Runway Temporarily Closed Due to UXO

Tokyo, Japan A runway at the Narita International Airport was temporarily closed after construction workers uncovered a UXO near runway-A. Police and a bomb disposal team responded to safely remove the UXO  reported as a WWII era ordnance (specific type not reported).

DoD To Study (Again) Open Burning of Ammunition and Explosives

Washington, D.C. DoD announced it's planning to study, yet again, DoD's compliance at Active Sites Conducting Open Burning or Open Detonation of Excess Conventional Ammunition and Explosives. The objective of this upcoming study is to determine whether the DoD is in compliance with relevant environmental laws, inter-agency and municipal agreements, and DoD policy. The study will include sites within the U.S. and its Territories.

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Navy Responds to Floating Sea Mine

Brownsville, Washington A Washington State Department of Natural Resources employee motoring a shellfish bed off Bainbridge Island reported a strange object drifting in the water between Brownsville Marina and the west shore of Bainbridge Island. Concerned that it looked dangerous, the employee called the item into the Coast Guard to investigate.

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The Coast Guard responded along with the Navy and other multiple agencies. At first, the theory was that the marine encrusted item was a WWII era sea mine. As such, the responding Navy, Coast Guard , and law enforcement officials enforced a safety zone around the drifting item while they tried to determine if it potentially contained explosives.

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Trawler Nets Unexploded Bomb

Solent, United kingdom Royal Navy Bomb Disposal was called to Motherbank (a shallow sandbar off the northeast coast of the Isle of Wight) after a trawler reported a UXO find. The experienced captain quickly realized that he had something potentially dangerous in his nets when he noticed a bomb. He ordered the crew to carefully lower the bomb in the water and proceeded to report the find to the Coast Guard.

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