Munitions experts responded to a possible unexploded device in downtown Unalaska on June 30, instead finding what appeared to be a part from an antique vehicle.
The bomb disposal team from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson traveled to Unalaska to inspect a device that a hiker had found embedded in the shore near the S-curves.
City Manager Bil Homka said there were some “tense moments,” but the explosives team determined the object was not in fact a bomb — rather, it appeared to be a car part.
But sometimes things go the other way. Brian McComas is a safety specialist with the Army Corps of Engineers and has decades of experience as an explosive ordnance master blaster.
At an unexploded munitions safety training in Unalaska last summer, McComas said he’s been fooled by explosive devices that appeared to be something else.
He said he once identified a device as a Volkswagen muffler, but upon further inspection, it turned out to be a World War I-era mortar.
In this case, the item turned out to be benign. The visiting ordnance disposal team also examined some items that had been turned into the Museum of the Aleutians, including ammunition and a training grenade, all of which were determined to be safe.
If you think you may have found unexploded munitions, do not try to remove them. Exit the direction you came from and call 911 to report it.
