Authorities from California’s Santa Cruz County discovered a World War II-era Navy bomb on a beach in Pajaro Dunes, according to multiple reports.
The bomb was first spotted on New Year’s Eve after strong waves as high as 25 to 30 feet recently battered the California coast, CNN reported.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office’s (SCCSO) bomb squad described the bomb as an “inert military ordnance,” or an item without explosive materials, according to a Facebook post by the sheriff’s office.
“Every few years, we will see military ordnances wash up,” Ashley Keehn, the SCCSO’s public information officer, said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We occasionally see sea flares uncovered. This washing up on shore goes to show the intensity of the high surf we saw this past week.” (RELATED: Authorities Detonate WWII Bomb In Exeter, England)
The sheriff’s office reportedly called in personnel from the Travis Air Force Base and thanked them for their response.
“After safely performing an on-site visual inspection and x-ray scan, the item was deemed free of explosives and safe to transport to Travis AFB,” a spokesperson for the base said, Fox 2 KTVU reported. “The item was determined to be a U.S. WWII-era Navy practice bomb, model Mk 15, Mod 2. It is currently being retained with Travis [Explosive Ordnance Disposal] and will remain in place to prevent future concerns.”
A WWII-era bomb exploded in England in Feb. 2023 despite an intense four-day effort by local authorities to diffuse it, the BBC reported.
A construction worker allegedly discovered the 1-meter-long bomb near two gas pipes in Great Yarmouth, and police quickly evacuated 230 buildings nearby. No casualties were reported, according to the British outlet.