Old 03-20-2018, 13:32   #1
Cobwebs
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What were we dealing with?

Hopefully one of you 18C's can tell me what we found on the beach yesterday. A lady was doing one of her daily searches for sea shells and showed me something that resembled a half peeled orange maybe a half inch thick. It was very light coloured orange and very lumpy. My wife thought someone discarded part of an orange peel. The lady then broke it in half and it was a light cream color on the inside. Thinking it was nothing she then tossed it on the beach.

Now the interesting part. Within about a minute one of the pieces ignited by itself and burned like a flair with about a three inch flame. The lady picked it up with a metal scoop and put it in the ocean. Then the other one ignited and I buried it in the sand. She took the one out of the ocean and when she broke it in half again it reignited again. Took mine out of the sand and same thing. The air seemed to cause them to ignite. Being an old commo guy I got to experience C-4 and grenade simulators during training but this was new to me.. Thanks for any information.
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Old 03-21-2018, 08:00   #2
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Hopefully one of you 18C's can tell me what we found on the beach yesterday. A lady was doing one of her daily searches for sea shells and showed me something that resembled a half peeled orange maybe a half inch thick. It was very light coloured orange and very lumpy. My wife thought someone discarded part of an orange peel. The lady then broke it in half and it was a light cream color on the inside. Thinking it was nothing she then tossed it on the beach.

Now the interesting part. Within about a minute one of the pieces ignited by itself and burned like a flair with about a three inch flame. The lady picked it up with a metal scoop and put it in the ocean. Then the other one ignited and I buried it in the sand. She took the one out of the ocean and when she broke it in half again it reignited again. Took mine out of the sand and same thing. The air seemed to cause them to ignite. Being an old commo guy I got to experience C-4 and grenade simulators during training but this was new to me.. Thanks for any information.
Sounds like you found some Willie Peter with a coating keeping it from contacting the oxygen in the air. If was WP would have produced a dense white smoke.
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Old 03-21-2018, 09:52   #3
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There are only a couple elements and compounds that self-ignite on exposure to air.

But this sounds like WP

Quote:
White Phosphorus - SourceWatch
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/White_Phosphorus

Examples of these items are white phosphorus (WP), white phosphorus plasticized (PWP), or other ammunition containing pyrophoric material." Group H materials may ... Water will put out white phosphorus temporarily, but as soon as the phosphorus has access to air, it will start burning again. White phosphorus wounds ...

STRONGLY SUGGEST you contact local FBI & LEO's
This could be "parts" of a larger pile of WP munitions and could become dangerous to anyone in contact.
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Old 03-21-2018, 10:11   #4
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If it was WP it would have still been burning when the lady chucked her part back in the water, wouldn't it?

All the same, I agree with contacting the cops.

Edit: Sorry I should have read JJ's post a little closer. Now I recall I was wrong above about the water....
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Old 03-21-2018, 10:55   #5
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WP store in water (better to just avoid)

You must keep Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs way from water as they actively react with the water; water is always present in the air, So metallic Sodium must be stored covered in an anhydrous solvent (aka kerosene)

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Old 03-21-2018, 13:32   #6
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Thanks for getting back to me...I had a feeling it may of been military grade. Will contact the police asap.
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Old 03-21-2018, 13:33   #7
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I would agree with JJ_BPK it was metallic sodium that had a coating on it. When exposed to moist conditions started burning, Sodium has a yellowish smoke and yellow flame, If it was bright white flame then it was most-likely something different like WP.
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Old 03-21-2018, 13:45   #8
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Thanks for getting back to me...I had a feeling it may of been military grade. Will contact the police asap.
Where did this happen?
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Old 03-21-2018, 15:00   #9
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JJ we are in Jensen Beach, Fl. just down here doing the retirement thing...fishing..drinking...fishing...drinking...t hen smoke on the horizon...thanks again to all of you...will keep you updated on our progress...
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Old 03-21-2018, 17:08   #10
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During WW II there were several Army Air Corp school/based from Jax South to Key West.

You may have found some ord that was dumped and should have landed in deep water.

I not familiar with that area, but in the South, they used tractors with field rakes to gather seaweed. One could have dug into a stash?

There were several German boats sunk along the coast. Could have had WP for signaling motars?

Here is a map, not all WWII. There are a bunch
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Old 03-21-2018, 18:50   #11
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Proximate to Jensen Beach

Interesting find and interesting article on the area below.

Had the honor of having lunch with an old frogman from this era - who trained in this area.

Florida's WWII training left untold hazards for oil speculators

Jim Waymer,
FLORIDA TODAY
Published 10:09 a.m. ET July 29, 2017 | Updated 4:04 p.m. ET July 30, 2017

Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Training Base

The Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Training Base was a 19,280.48-acre site that extended approximately 25 miles from near Vero Beach to near Jensen Beach and included North and South Hutchinson Islands. The Navy constructed more than 450 buildings at the training site.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/n...ors/505158001/
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Old 03-21-2018, 19:53   #12
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At one time it was not unusual to take outdated or surplus munitions out to sea and dump them.
Coastal charts still have warning areas marked, where sailors are directed NOT to drop anchor, bottom troll or drag.
Of course, simply dropping it overboard does not make it evaporate.
I concur with WP, but again the dense white smoke is the key indicator.
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Old 03-21-2018, 23:15   #13
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I would agree with JJ_BPK it was metallic sodium that had a coating on it. When exposed to moist conditions started burning, Sodium has a yellowish smoke and yellow flame, ...
No, if it was elemental sodium or potassium, the burning would have continued (and actually gotten worse) when she chucked it in the water. You can find videos of people doing that on *******, it's pretty impressive.
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Old 03-22-2018, 13:17   #14
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WP

Just finished meeting with our local Sheriff. Like many of you have alluded to the training site in Ft. Pierce has indeed left a plethora of unused ordnance that the local population has been dealing with lately. As shells deteriorate ordnance has increasingly appeared on our shores.

Thanks again to all of you for your timely responses. On side note sorry I failed to mention the smoke was indeed dense and white. A friend of mine has some pictures that he has that I will put on when I get them.
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Old 03-22-2018, 17:28   #15
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CW, you did the right thing reporting that find. Given your description, the find’s proximity to the old Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Training Base and the use of WP in WWII...better safe than sorry.

See 2017 article below describing a similar find on a beach in Germany.

German woman picks up WW2 white phosphorus bomb after mistaking it for amber

Walker on banks of River Elbe near Hamburg put the object in the pocket of her jacket which later burst into flames


Jeff Farrell Sunday 6 August 2017 09:38 BST

UK Independent

A woman in Germany narrowly avoided injury after she picked up a shiny object on a beach she believed to be amber, but which turned out to be part of a Second World War bomb that later burst into flames.

The 41-year-old was out walking on the banks of the Elbe river near Hamburg when she plucked the small stone-like item from wet sand and put it in the pocket of her jacket.

But the souvenir turned out to be a centimetre-long chunk of white phosphorus – which ignited just moments later in the incident near the town of Wedel.

<snip>

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a7879121.html
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