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Fortean Flotsam: Odd Objects Washed Ashore

I no sooner post one reply, when I find this:
abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/orb020614.html
Link is dead.
See subsequent post below for the MIA webpage's content.

Here's the content from the MIA webpage ...

abc_orb_020614_nh.jpg
Mystery Orb
'Unidentified Floating Object' Washes Up on S.C. Shore
ABCNEWS.com

June 14 — It looked like something from a sci-fi flick: a mysterious silver orb, three feet in diameter, floating in the surf off the South Carolina coast.

"They thought it was a giant beach ball, they were going to bring in," said Marie Segneri, whose family found the orb floating near their rented beach house at Isle of Palms. "They swam out and said it was a very heavy ball, it was metal, had numbers on it, and there was no way they were bringing it in."

The ball eventually washed up on the shore, causing alarmed residents to call the police.

Authorities marked off an area around the orb with crime-scene tape and tried to identify it. They turned to members of the Air Force bomb squad, the Coast Guard and state officials for help, but no one could identify the strange object.

There were numbers on the surface of the orb, but no other clues that helped determine its origin.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were contacted, but even they had no answers.

A Flotation Device... Maybe

Because of its weight — several hundred pounds — there's speculation it might be a flotation device used by a dredge company. But that theory only adds to the mystery — the orb has no fasteners on it where a line or cable might have been attached.

"We're calling it a UFO — an unidentified floating object," Isle of Palms Fire Chief Ann Graham told The Associated Press.

According to The Associated Press, the orb cracked in half as it was being brought to the town's public works department.

But the inside was as revealing as the outside — only seawater spilled out.

"There was nothing green, nothing glowing," Graham told the news agency. "It will probably just go to the scrap yard."
SALVAGED FROM THE WAYBACK MACHINE:
https://web.archive.org/web/2002061...s.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/orb020614.html
 
One very like it as been sitting in our garden for a few years just a net float from a trawler.
must look if its still about not noticed it for a wile.
Yep it's still there.

IMG_1361.JPG
 
Last edited:
I reckon you've got it matched spot-on.
But....wouldn't these be totally-familiar objects, already, to the seafaring locals?

No, because the locals aren't uniformly beachcombers, much less seafarers.

In any case, average folks don't (can't) immediately recognize objects they've never seen before - especially objects that are components of large (e.g., industrial) systems they've never encountered.

This 2002 incident is similar to the October 2018 beaching of the large O-ring thingie on another South Carolina beach:

‘Foamy’ Object Washes Ashore On South Carolina Beach
https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...-washes-ashore-on-south-carolina-beach.64629/
 
Here's another spherical mystery object that's washed ashore on a Carolina beach. In this case the US Navy has taken the half-ton concrete-filled ball for inspection and identification. It's believed to be some sort of submarine training target.

90780851_3102083256468382_2619257600415367168_n.jpg

Submarine training target washes up on North Carolina beach

Officials in a North Carolina town said the Navy was called in to eject an unusual beach visitor -- a 1,000-pound ball of concrete believed to be a submarine training target.

The Kill Devil Hills Police Department said in a Facebook post the large, barnacle-covered object that washed up on the beach Monday afternoon was "not an explosive device" and did not pose any danger to the public. ...

The Town of Kill Devil Hills said the U.S. Navy removed the device Tuesday with help from the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department and Public Services Department.

The town said the Navy believes the 1,000-pound concrete ball to be a submarine training target. The Navy is planning to clean the object and attempt to determine where it came from, the town said.
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...hes-up-on-North-Carolina-beach/7871585082273/

See Also (Local authorities' Facebook pages:with additional photos):

https://www.facebook.com/KDHPD/photos/a.964293700282498/3151505318227981/?type=3&theater
 
Not a recent loss!
 

‘Mysterious mass’ found on North Carolina coast. What is this blob baffling experts?

A strange, semi-transparent blob of finger-like growths filled with white dots has baffled North Carolina wildlife experts after it was found washed up on the coast, prompting them to ask the public, “Do you know what this mysterious mass is?”

Screenshot%20(21)_fitted.png


Cape Lookout National Seashore shared a photo of the unidentified blob Tuesday afternoon. It was found months ago but despite their best efforts, experts couldn’t find a definitive answer.

Similar-looking objects — clusters of elongated segments filled with tiny eggs — have also been found at beaches on the West Coast, according to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

“So far it has escaped being identified — although it might be something like the egg sacks of a squid (but we aren’t sure),” the post said.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article251517373.html

maximus otter
 

‘Mysterious mass’ found on North Carolina coast. What is this blob baffling experts?

A strange, semi-transparent blob of finger-like growths filled with white dots has baffled North Carolina wildlife experts after it was found washed up on the coast, prompting them to ask the public, “Do you know what this mysterious mass is?”

Screenshot%20(21)_fitted.png


Cape Lookout National Seashore shared a photo of the unidentified blob Tuesday afternoon. It was found months ago but despite their best efforts, experts couldn’t find a definitive answer.

Similar-looking objects — clusters of elongated segments filled with tiny eggs — have also been found at beaches on the West Coast, according to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

“So far it has escaped being identified — although it might be something like the egg sacks of a squid (but we aren’t sure),” the post said.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article251517373.html

maximus otter
My guess would be egg sack also
 
On a summertime beach at Nantucket
The waves pushed a freezer and stuck it
Inside? No one dead,
But the ice cream instead
Is probably fouled, so best chuck it ...


Freezer Filled With Ice Cream Mysteriously Washes Up On Madequecham Beach

Just when you thought you had seen it all this summer on Nantucket, a freezer filled with ice cream treats mysteriously washes up on Madequecham Beach Thursday afternoon.

Lauren Raimy was at the beach with family ... when she spotted the freezer in the surf. ...

“We saw a big box emerge from the fog and then it quickly floated to shore and was on the beach within 15 mins. There weren't a ton of people on the beach but a crowd of 5ish people came over to look. We weren’t sure what it was at first (we were hoping we weren’t going to find a dead body or something) but then we determined it was a fridge/freezer. Someone opened it up and it was full of the ice cream."

It is unclear at this time where this freezer came from, or how it was able to float its way to the beach.
SOURCE (With Photos): https://www.nantucketcurrent.com/fr...-mysteriously-washes-ashore-madaquesham-beach
 
oOn a summertime beach at Nantucket
The waves pushed a freezer and stuck it
Inside? No one dead,
But the ice cream instead
Is probably fouled, so best chuck it ...



SOURCE (With Photos): https://www.nantucketcurrent.com/fr...-mysteriously-washes-ashore-madaquesham-beach
Turns out, that was on a Fri-day. . . maybe it would have been more appropriate if it was found on a 'Sundae,' preferably turning up on a 'Dessert,' and eat it ~ before you hear that it was previously Stollen!
 
An aptly-branded "Neverbreak" steamer trunk washed ashore on a Florida beach.
'Neverbreak' trunk from 1930s washes up on Florida beach

Officials with a national monument in Florida said an unusual object washed up on the beach this week: a vintage streamer trunk from the 1930s.

The Fort Matanzas National Monument said ... the trunk was found washed up on a park beach near St. Augustine late last week. ...

"While nothing of interest was found within this trunk, it itself is a unique piece of history" ...

The post said the trunk was from an aptly-named brand called Neverbreak Trunks.

The black trunk dates from the 1930s and was manufactured by L. Goldsmith & Son of Newark New Jersey ...

It was unclear how the trunk came to be in the water or how long it was in the ocean before washing up on the beach.
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/11/22/Neverbreak-Trunks-St-Augustine-Florida-beach/8381669142160/
 
Mysterious sphere appears on Japanese beach and is investigated by authorities

Japanese officials are perplexed after a strange object washed up onto shore, prompting the immediate closure of Enshu Beach in Hamamatsu, a southern coastal city about 250km from Tokyo.

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Local media said a "large round object" was discovered by a local resident on Tuesday morning at around 9 am before she alerted the police, who launched an investigation.

According to authorities, the suspicious object is a sphere with a diameter of about 1.5 metres, and because of some noticeable rust, it's believed to be made of iron, Asahi News reported. It also has handle-like pieces of metal which would allow it to be hooked to something, it's been reported.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/authoriti...re-washes-up-on-japanese-beach-053426637.html

maximus otter
 
Mysterious sphere appears on Japanese beach and is investigated by authorities

Japanese officials are perplexed after a strange object washed up onto shore, prompting the immediate closure of Enshu Beach in Hamamatsu, a southern coastal city about 250km from Tokyo.

170f0f10-b264-11ed-b33c-7b0a8123a341


Local media said a "large round object" was discovered by a local resident on Tuesday morning at around 9 am before she alerted the police, who launched an investigation.

According to authorities, the suspicious object is a sphere with a diameter of about 1.5 metres, and because of some noticeable rust, it's believed to be made of iron, Asahi News reported. It also has handle-like pieces of metal which would allow it to be hooked to something, it's been reported.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/authoriti...re-washes-up-on-japanese-beach-053426637.html

maximus otter
Mothra+.jpg
 
Mysterious sphere appears on Japanese beach and is investigated by authorities

Japanese officials are perplexed after a strange object washed up onto shore, prompting the immediate closure of Enshu Beach in Hamamatsu, a southern coastal city about 250km from Tokyo.

170f0f10-b264-11ed-b33c-7b0a8123a341


Local media said a "large round object" was discovered by a local resident on Tuesday morning at around 9 am before she alerted the police, who launched an investigation.

According to authorities, the suspicious object is a sphere with a diameter of about 1.5 metres, and because of some noticeable rust, it's believed to be made of iron, Asahi News reported. It also has handle-like pieces of metal which would allow it to be hooked to something, it's been reported.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/authoriti...re-washes-up-on-japanese-beach-053426637.html

maximus otter
It looks just like a metal buoy to me - they do make such things, and a beach wouldn't be an unexpected place to find one!

https://blueoceanmarineequipment.com/marine-supply-equipment/buoys-fenders/steel-buoys/
 
Least Fortean mystery ever, but it shows the level of paranoia there is after the recent spy balloon saga.

In the photos, you can clearly see the round reinforcing plate and the eye that would be used to secure this buoy to a shackle, rope or chain.

My first thought, when I heard about it on the radio, and before I saw the photos, that a metal sphere is often either to resist external pressure, or to contain internal pressure. I thought it might be some sort of pressure vessel from industry. However, it's clearly a buoy.
 
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