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Odd things found whilst fishing like:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localn...s/monday/local_news_049388ae348441d10076.html
Sooooooooooooo many unaswered questions.
Emps
Military projectile fished from lake
By Deana Poole, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 23, 2004
A fishing foursome netted quite a catch on Lake Osborne near Lake Worth Sunday.
Under the Sixth Avenue bridge, they retrieved what deputies believe is an M81 rocket-propelled grenade -- a deadly military projectile packing the punch of a dynamite stick.
The discovery prompted the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to dispatch more than 20 deputies, a mobile command unit and its bomb squad. While they investigated, county fire-rescue crews and park rangers stood by and the area was cordoned off with yellow crime-scene tape. For two hours, Sixth Avenue was shut down to motorists and boaters were kept away from the bridge.
Finally, a member of the bomb squad with great care scooped the grenade from the sidewalk and slipped it into a bombproof container. Deputies looked on in dead silence as he completed the task.
The bomb squad X-rayed the projectile, and it appeared to be empty, said Sheriff Ed Bieluch.
"They feel that it is safe," Bieluch said. "Until we actually get it apart -- detonate it -- we won't know."
Lake Worth resident Daniel Smith had been fishing with his son, stepson and one of their friends for a half-hour when they netted the 18-inch-long silver and green device.
"I thought it was some type of torpedo," Smith said of the finned, shoulder-launched projectile.
The triggering or firing mechanism on the grenade was missing, Bieluch said. Divers searched under the Sixth Avenue bridge to try to see what more they could find.
Sheriff's officials said they will seek help today from military munitions experts in Cape Canaveral. From the identification number etched on the grenade they hope to verify exactly what kind of weapon it is, as well as its age. That hopefully will help police figure out how it got into the lake.
Sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller said the grenade was not rusty, indicating it hadn't been in the water very long.
"Luckily they were smart enough to put it down and call us," Bieluch said.
The scare at John Prince Park wasn't the only one in Palm Beach County Sunday.
In Boynton Beach, law enforcement officials cordoned off two blocks and evacuated residents after a man discovered two explosive devices outside his home, said Lt. Wendy Unger, a city police spokeswoman.
The man was doing yard work in the 400 block of Southeast First Street when he noticed the 6-inch devices near trash cans along the curb. The devices were made of PVC pipe with fuses protruding from the sides, Unger said.
City police called in the county bomb squad, and by early evening sheriff's deputies had detonated the devices without causing any damage. Unger said the devices "were not sophisticated in any way" and did not appear to be placed near a specific target.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localn...s/monday/local_news_049388ae348441d10076.html
Sooooooooooooo many unaswered questions.
Emps