Motpellier Beach, France Authorities are concerned that a 15-ton dead whale that washed ashore could explode at anytime due to gases forming inside the carcass as it decays. One option under consideration to control the threat is to conduct an "open detonation" procedure using commercial demolition explosives. In this scenario, the whale carcass would be first towed out to sea a safe distance from the beach before rigging explosives to destroy the carcass.

[More]

Chesil Beach, England A bird watcher looking for birds along the beach stumbled across a suspicious looking metal object along the shoreline. Seeing that the round disc shaped object resembled a landmine, the bird watcher quickly backed away and called the Coastguard to report the find. The Coastguard instructed the man to phone the police which he promptly did.

The police responded and cordoned off the beach area before taking pictures of the item with a digital camera. The images were then emailed to the Royal Navy bomb disposal team based in Portsmouth. EOD technicians identified the item (shown in the image below) as not being a landmine or a military munition. Instead, EOD suspected the item being an old boiler lid from the wreck of a ship. The beach was re-opened shortly afterwards. Police thanked the man for exercising caution and raising the alarm.

Burnham-on-Sea, United Kingdom When Beverley Milner Simonds was playing fetch on the beach with her puppy, she never dreamed he would return to her with a hand grenade instead of the ball she had thrown to him.

She actually feared for her and her puppy's lives until she determined that the "explosive" was actually a harmless plastic toy that only looked like a hand grenade. As a volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer, Simonds has been called to deal with actual ordnance that washes ashore on the beach, so the incident was particularly alarming to her.

Montgomery County, Alabama CSX Railroad employees called police after finding a cache of unexploded artillery projectiles stored in a wooded area a short distance away from the train tracks. The police responded with the Montgomery Police Department Bomb Squad. The artillery projectiles were identified as live unfuzed high explosive filled projectiles. From the pictures released, the munitions appear to be unused relatively new munitions.

[More]

Ottawa, Ontario The History Channel recently aired the first episode of 'Bomb Hunters', a new reality series following two bomb-disposal crews removing and disposing of UXO across Canada under the UXO Legacy Sites Program. Officials hope the new series will increase awareness of the UXO problem across Canada.

On an related note, UXOInfo.com was recently contacted by a major cable network in the States interested in developing a dynamic new series focusing on the explosive aspect of UXO industry in the U.S. The un-named cable network (they did not want us to release their name) is looking for potential candidates to interview for the show.

[More]

Augusta, Kansas Two hunters discovered suspicious white packages in a field near a road and notified the Butler County Sheriff's Office to investigate. The Sheriff's office responded and identified the contents of the packages as dynamite reportedly stolen from the Martin Marietta Materials rock quarry back in September of 2008. The Wichita BATF office that originally investigated the theft back in 2008 reported that the thieves were unable to break into the storage magazine that held the blasting caps required to initiate the explosives. The investigation has been renewed and the ATF is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons who stole the explosives.

Columbus, Texas The script of the upcoming comedic horror film "Something Evil" calls for fireballs, exploding light fixtures, a flaring bonfire, and smoldering earth. So who did the producers turn to support the development stage of the film? Answer, Bonnetti Explosives.

Explosives expert, Matt Barnett at Bonnetti Explosives came through with a bang when he orchestrated a series of controlled explosions and fireballs to create an impressive pyrotechnic display. According to Scot Allen Perry, the writer and director of Something Evil, "the tests went off without a hitch and have helped us to create an impressive presentation package. Without these tests we would be a 7 on the wow meter. Now we are a 10".

Filming for Something Evil is scheduled to begin in the Spring. Matt Barnett and Bonnetti explosives will be ready for the challenge.

Auckland International Airport, New Zealand a routine inspection of a package within the airport's mail center turned up a hand grenade. The discovery prompted an evacuation of the building and a call to the police. The local police dispatched to the scene along with an EOD unit for technical support. After further investigation, it was determined that the WWI era hand grenade was inert.

[More]

Fromelles, France Almost 92 years ago a fierce battle between the Allies and the Germans occurred in Fromelles, France where thousands of Allied troops were killed over a two day period. Following the bloody battle, the Germans reportedly dug eight pits to bury the dead Allied soldiers and battlefield debris.

[More]

Anchorage, Alaska A joint U.S. and Japanese search team has traveled to Attu Island in Alaska to search for remains of troops killed in action during WWII. It is estimated that 540 America and 2,300 Japanese soldiers were killed when the U.S. recaptured the island in 1943. The team is reportedly taking safety precautions due to concerns over the potential for encountering UXO. The team will use GPR survey equipment to help locate buried remains as well as to avoid potential UXO.