Maine lobsterman caught a five-foot LIVE military rocket – then ran errands with it
Thar she does NOT blow! Maine lobster man caught a five-foot LIVE military missile, then ran errands with explosives in the back of his truck
- Captain Cameron Pease was checking the ropes on his lobster boat in Cushing on Monday when he noticed something caught in the traps
- After towing it to shore, he and his companions discovered it was an MK29 Mod-0 missile, which had been made in the 1940s.
- The next day, after cleaning the gun’s mud and running errands, he called the police, only to learn that the missile was still active and could have exploded.
A lobsterman caught a live military missile 20 miles off the coast of Maine, then unknowingly ran errands as the explosive rolled around in the back of his truck.
Captain Cameron Pease was checking the traps on his lobster boat in Cushing on Monday when he noticed something tangled at sea.
He, his employee and his dog started to make their way back to shore as the boat swerved sideways because of the huge treasure. As they got closer to the shoreline, Pease and his companions believe the aft part of the rocket broke off as their payload lightened and the boat began to self-target.
After further investigation, Pease saw that he only had the front of the rocket, leading him to believe that the back was still rolling on the ocean floor after it broke off.
All the while, the missile — which had five pounds of explosive on its tip — slammed heavily into the side of the lobster boat. ‘I had no idea [what it was],” Pease told DailyMail.com on Thursday. “It was covered in mud from the ocean floor.”
Captain Cameron Pease (pictured) was checking the traps on his lobster boat in Cushing on Monday when he noticed something caught in the traps
He would later discover it was a MK 29 Mod-0 missile (pictured), which was made in the 1940s and are submarine-launched weapons. Pease was confused when he discovered it was a missile as there are no naval or air bases nearby
After taking a closer look, the fisherman realized he had caught a 150-pound missile that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, leaving him confused as he was unaware of any naval or air force bases nearby.
Back on land late in the evening, he reloaded the giant rocket into the back of his truck and headed home.
The next day he scrubbed it clean with a scrub brush and ran errands with it.
Unbeknownst to him, the tip of the missile contained “three to five pounds” of explosives and was quite dangerous.
“It could very well have gone off,” Pease told DailyMail.com.
He eventually called the authorities, who sent the Maine State Police bomb squad to analyze the missile.
The missile was identified as an MK29 Mod-0, which was developed in the 1940s and used in naval attacks.
State police decided to “countercharge” the missile after x-raying it and determining that explosives were still active in the tip.
Under the direction of Navy EOD Mobile Unit 12, it was safely detonated with dynamite and ‘properly disposed of’.
Maine State Police (pictured) X-rayed the tip of the missile and found live explosives – despite the weapon expiring in 2003 – and decided to detonate the bomb with dynamite and dispose of it “properly”
Police told Pease he was lucky the missile didn’t detonate, slamming into the side of the boat while transporting it back to shore and dragging it around in the back of his truck while he was running errands.
Police also said it was fortunate that no one was injured in the process of transporting the explosive to shore.
MK29 Mod-0 missiles were carried on U.S. Air Force ships, including the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, as well as attack ships and destroyers, according to ABC news.
MK29 missiles were developed in the 1940s, according to Maritime.org. The Mod-0 version is an anti-surface, passive acoustic torpedo launched by a submarine.
This rocket style was developed by the Westinghouse Electric Company in Sharon, Pennsylvania. It was designed to be faster than its predecessor – the MK28 – and could operate at different depths and could act as a straight torpedo or a homing torpedo.
The MK9 program was discontinued in April 1945.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Pentagon for comment.