Hoylake, England Merseyside Police and Army explosives experts responded to Royal Liverpool Golf Club, after a construction crew discovered an unexploded artillery shell while excavating during routine maintenance on the course.
All games were cancelled and the area cordoned off at the historic club, home to the 2023 Open Championship in Great Britain, as the Army bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion to safely dispose of the threat.
Boise, Idaho A Washington State Patrol bomb squad responded to a home after a toddler found a grenade in the front yard of his home, according to the Grant County Sheriff's Office.
In a terrifying sequence of events, the child reportedly entered his family home holding the live munition. Bomb squad technicians determined that it was indeed a live WWII-era grenade which appeared to have been outside for quite a while.
The bomb squad safely removed the device to a rural area north of town to dispose of it. No word as to how the ordnance got there or how long it had been in the family's yard.
Orange, Virginia Hunter Vap, a Marine veteran and resident of Orange, Virginia, went out to check on his animals on his small farm after his dog alerted him of a fox on the property. What he found was something much more alarming than the fox, it was a 50mm WWII French mortar.
According to Vap, he was attempting to chase off the fox in some brush when his foot hit what felt like a glass bottle. Vap said, "I picked it up, and then saw the little fins on the bottom and realized that it wasn't a glass bottle, and for a second I was like, 'There's no way this is actually what I think it is.'"
After noticing the plunger and 55mm markings on the side of the mortar he knew it definitely wasn't a glass bottle.
"I'd already picked it up," Vap said. "I went and put it in the shed, so a pig didn't touch it and turn into bacon."
Northampton, England Magnet fisherman Dave Jordan and his friends were forced to call the Northamptonshire Police after their magnet fishing hobby took a frightening turn when they pulled up a bin full of explosive devices from the River Nene.
Police responded to close the road and divert pedestrians and traffic in the area while EOD responded to collect approximately 379 railway detonators before the area could be reopened.
Maui, Hawaii Maui Police Department officers were called to Waiehu Golf Course for reports of a potential UXO on the course. The area was cordoned off as officers awaited the arrival of the Hawaii Inter-Island Bomb Squad (HIBS).
HIBS later identified the ordnance as a grenade hollowed out with an open bottom. While the grenade spoon and safety pin were intact, the front of the spoon was not connected to the fuse body, the striker pin was missing, and no explosives were discovered in the device.
Although not live, the Maui Police Department used the opportunity to remind the public to avoid handling potentially explosive devices and to contact the department for assistance if they find any suspected UXO.
Pocatello, Idaho Construction crews discovered an old military ordnance in the Bannock County Veterans Memorial Building, resulting in evacuation of the building. The artillery shell was found in a basement closet, prompting response by the Pocatello Police.
The police reportedly used a bomb-sniffing dog to scan the item for explosives. Due to the dag alerting on the item, the exclusion zone was increased for safety. The bomb squad from Mountain Home was called in to assist in the removal and disposal of the ordnance, and the area was reopened.
Jacksonville, Florida A Jacksonville man was shocked after he picked up a live military munition dug up by his dog, 'Baby', in his backyard. Mathew Sims says when he picked up the item, he quickly realized what it was that he was and slowly put it back down.
Sims said, "Okay is this live? You panic, then you drop. You couldn't tell what it was until you started pulling it up. Once I got it halfway out, I was like oh, I know what this is, let me gently put this back down."
Pula, Croatia A Dutch couple was forced to abandon their new anchor and chain off the port of Pula after they discovered it had become tangled up with an unexploded bomb.
Daniel Steenstra and his wife were forced to hire a diver once they found they could not lift anchor while preparing to leave the harbor. The diver reportedly saw a large cylindrical object rising from the seabed, approximately 2 meters in diameter, which authorities later confirmed to be an unexploded WWII Allied bomb.
An arrest of a Florida man sparked an EOD response after he threatened to blow himself up in his "run" across the Atlantic Ocean. The saga began when the U.S. Coast Guard conducting preparation operations for Hurricane Franklin, discovered Reza Ray Baluchi in a homemade "Hydro Pod vessel" 70 miles off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia. The vessel, which can only be described as a human sized floating hamster wheel, utilized wiring and buoys to stay afloat.
Flat, Texas Authorities in Coryell County have reopened State Highway 36 after an unusual UXO response. According to the Coryell County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched to the area where they confirmed the presence of an "unexploded and damaged" white phosphorous canister.
The Sheriff's Office said EOD from Fort Cavazos' 752nd Ordnance Company responded to render the canister safe. The ordnance was transported by EOD to Fort Cavazos for disposal, and the road was reopened.
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