Mysterious metal object on FL beach is 80-year-old war relic. What is it?

After a puzzling 100-pound object washed up on a Florida beach, a deputy with a military background recognized it for what it was: an old bomb.

The rusty piece of ordnance turned out to be an unexploded World War II era practice bomb, a spokesperson for MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa told McClatchy News on June 16.

The bomb was discovered at Englewood Beach, prompting curiosity from passersby until a deputy with a military background identified it, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.

Jim Jackson told WBBH his grandchildren spotted the item on the beach from a condo.

“I first thought, this is a scuba tank, maybe,” he told the outlet.

Then a couple days later, he said a deputy told him what it really was.

Law enforcement evacuated the area as bomb squads came in to evaluate the item, eventually determining it didn’t pose a threat.

MacDill’s explosive ordnance disposal team tried to transport it to the base to use as a training aid, but it essentially disintegrated, the spokesperson said.

The airdrop bomb could have come from air force teams practicing over the Tampa Bay area during the World War II time period, which coincides with the base’s completion in 1941, according to the spokesperson.

It’s also not the first time military ordnance has washed ashore in the area.

MacDill advises anyone who sees what they suspect could be unexploded ordnance to contact local law enforcement.

Englewood is about a 30-mile drive south from Sarasota.