Teesdale, United Kingdom A woman working in her garden found what is believed to be an old cannonball, possibly dating from the English Civil War. Concerned that the item might be dangerous, the woman reported the find to the police.
The police responded along with the bomb squad who safely transported the cannonball off-site for further analysis. After carrying out an x-ray, the bomb squad determined it was inert.
Grissom Air Reserve Base, Indiana A new employee at the Berrien Springs County Plaza Museum in Berrien Springs, Michigan got some interesting "on-the-job" training when he came across an artifact marked with a sticky-note stating, "Danger, it may be active." The curator was sorting through old inventory when he found the Civil War cannon ball with the note attached.
He immediately notified the museum director, Rhiannon Cizon. Cizon's first thought was, "This is not good." Cizon went on to say, "He then told me that there were three more where this came from." Other munitions were also discovered that had the potential of still being active.
Grissom Air Reserve Base EOD was then notified. "We could tell from photos that the munitions had the potential of being live," said Staff Sgt. Rogerito Miravete-Disantis, 434th Civil Engineer Squadron EOD technician and team lead for the incident. "This type of cannon ball in particular often contains an internal charge that can be unstable due to the age and condition of the device."
Oulu, Finland EOD technicians responded to a Red Cross charity thrift shop in Oulu after employees discovered a grenade among donated items dropped off for sale. Oulu Police tweeted, "The building has been evacuated and police are guarding the area. The Finnish Defence Forces have begun preparations to remove the hand grenade."
Oulu Police Commissioner Juha Niemelä said that it was not immediately clear whether the grenade was functional or even genuine. "But I'd say that it looks like a real hand grenade," Niemelä said. The shop was closed while EOD safely removed the device.
Dunaegyhaza, Hungary Hungarian EOD forces were requested by police to investigate suspicious metal objects found on the property of a local potato plant. EOD reported several ordnance related items including fuzes and No. 101 Mk II type British-made World War I artillery detonators.
The potatoes reportedly came from Normandy and authorities suspect that the ordnance components likely were mixed with the potatoes during large-scale, machine-harvesting of the potatoes where objects similar in size are screened from the ground.
Mill Valley, California The Berkeley Police Department bomb squad successfully disabled what appeared to be old UXO discovered by a hiker on a popular hiking trail, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's Lt. Jesse Klinge said a hiker just outside the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, found two rusty military-green ammunition canisters, one above-ground and the second partially buried near the trail.
The nearby trails were closed off to the public while the bomb squad disposed of two devices and the area was reopened the next morning. It's unknown how the munitions ended up on the trail.
Ballacolla, Ireland A resident was digging in their garden when the discovered a hand grenade. They called the police and an Irish Army Bomb Disposal team responded to provide technical support. EOD identified the item as a 1920s era Mills grenade. An exclusion zone was setup around the item before an open detonation disposal was carried out on the item.
Cleveland, Tennessee The Cleveland Police Department Bomb Squad responded to a call of a military ordnance that discovered on the property of Industrial Valve Sales & Service. When the bomb technicians arrived, they were taken to a large projectile that was sitting on a pallet. The bomb technicians determined the item was safe to transport to a remote location for destruction.
Omaha, Nebraska A civilian landscaping in his yard came across a buried object. Thinking it was an old pipe, the man started to dig around the item to uncover the obstacle in his way of planting. When he uncovered the item, he quickly realized that the item was not an old pipe but a projectile.
Lethbridge, Canada Police responded to two separate sites for reports of live artillery rounds in Lethbridge over the course of one weekend. One 82-mm mortar round was discovered in a garbage can near a drug treatment facility, and the other was found in Galt Gardens urban park.
Charleston, South Carolina An ordnance item was discovered by a group of electrical workers who were beginning a job in an empty building on Gillion Street in Charleston. The suspect item was found in a corner of the basement.
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