Maine lobsterman catches 5-foot military rocket

A Maine lobsterman pulled up a massive military rocket while checking traps some 20 miles offshore, police said.

Capt. Cameron Pease, whose lobster boat is based out of Cushing, Maine, spotted something tangled in his trawling rope on Monday. Upon closer inspection, he discovered it was a 150-pound missile that had sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Pine Tree State. He brought it back to shore and contacted authorities the next day, according to Poland Spring, Maine, ABC affiliate WMTW.

The Maine State Police said its bomb squad analyzed the five-foot rocket on Tuesday and subsequently identified it as an MK29 Mod-0, a type of missile associated with sea-based launching systems.

"They said there was three to five pounds of explosives in the tip of it," Pease told WMTW. "It still should have been able to go off."

Multiple ships associated with the United States Armed Forces can carry the MK 29 missile launching system, including Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, Ticonderoga-class cruiser and Zumwalt-class destroyers, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

The Maine State Police said its bomb squad was unable to determine through X-ray imaging whether the rocket still contained active explosive material. So they used additional explosives to safely blow up the rocket.

"Due to it's condition, the decision was made to countercharge the item with the guidance from Navy EOD Mobile Unit 12," the Maine State Police said in a press release. "The item was rendered safe and disposed of properly."