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Catch of the day: Angler hooks live missile
Unstable air-to-air weapon is picked up in Gulf of Mexico, kept for 10 days
The Associated Press
updated 7:56 a.m. CT, Tues., June 9, 2009
MADEIRA BEACH, Florida - A commercial fisherman reeled in a live missile in the Gulf of Mexico and kept it on his boat for 10 days, authorities in Florida said.
Police said the boat's captain, Rodney Soloman, hooked the air-to-air guided missile 50 miles off the coast of Panama City. The Air Force and Navy use the area for weapons training.
Soloman had the missile aboard his boat for 10 days before returning Monday to port in Madeira Beach, near St. Petersburg.
A bomb squad was called in from MacDill Air Force Base and dismantled the missile in an empty parking lot.
The bomb squad said the missile was very corroded from floating in saltwater for a long time. They said it was live and in a very unstable state.
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