Florida fisherman hooks live missile in Gulf waters

Madeira Beach, Florida - MacDill Air Force Base officials are investigating where a live heat seeking air to air missile came from and how it ended up on a fisherman's boat in the middle of the Gulf.

Soloman Rodney, a long line commercial fisherman based out of Pinellas County says he hooked two separate missiles about 30 miles south of a known military testing area while on a several week fishing trip in the Gulf.

The first missile appeared to have a hole in it, so Rodney decided to strap it to the top of his boat to bring home as a souvenir. He shot home video of the hooked weapon moments after it was loaded onto his boat.

Rodney says a second missile found several days later was still beeping prompting him to drop it back in the water.

The fisherman arrived back to Madeira Beach Monday afternoon and alerted authorities to what he'd found.

"I couldn't find the number for the bomb squad, to I went to the fire station up the street," said Rodney who felt there was a fifty fifty chance the missile might still be active.

A nearby resident, 24 year old Daniel O'Neill says he helped carry the missile to shore but accidently dropped it when a sharp wing point gouged into his shoulder.

"I think if it was going to blow, it would have exploded when it hit the concrete," said O'Neill with a chuckle.

He said the missile had "US 1288" printed on its side.

A special ordinance disposal crew from MacDill Air Force Base was called to the scene to examine the item found.

Experts confirmed the weapon was in fact a United States AIM-9 air-to-air heat seeking missile, also known as a Sidewinder.

Even more alarming, investigators determined the missile was still active and because of salt water corrosion may have destabilized.

For that reason, Sheriff's deputies roped off a large area around the missile brought ashore just south of the Tom Stuart Causeway and began disassembling the weapon for transport back to MacDill.

Several nearby houseboat residents were evacuated from the area and were told to remain at a safe distance.

Reacting to the news, Soloman Rodney said he was disappointed to find out he would be unable to keep his souvenir, but was grateful no one was injured.

"I had it strapped to the roof of my boat as we road through lightning storms," said Rodney, noting missiles are usually activated by electrical charge.

Officials from MacDill told the fisherman not to bring future missiles back to shore, but to instead contact the Coast Guard with GPS coordinates for retrieval.

The missile was transported by police escort over to MacDill Air Force Base late Monday night without incident.

It will be carefully examined Tuesday, in hopes of determining its origins before being detonated later in the day.


Beau Zimmer, 10 Connects News