TNT and plastic explosives were found buried in a remote part of a Massachusetts state forest by a man with a metal detector on Thursday, police said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the explosives were doing in the ground in Rowley, near the border with Newbury, but they appeared to have been there for years, according to Rowley police.
A state bomb squad safely destroyed the explosives — a box of TNT and plastic explosives in a metal container — with three blasts, according to police. The FBI and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also called to the scene.
Rowley police said that the explosives appeared to have been buried for so long that no further investigation was expected.
The area was far from homes or businesses, so no one was evacuated as the bomb squad dealt with the issue. Police didn’t say what brought the man with the metal detector to the heavily forested area off Route 1.
The area, north of Boston near the New Hampshire border, is close to the Parker River off the coast, with several wildlife preserves.
More on the Massachusetts bomb squad
Haverhill
Jun 28
Bomb squad called to Haverhill to investigate suspicious device at home
Feb 3
Police find mortar shell next to trash can in Massachusetts park
Waltham
Nov 27, 2023
Bomb squad investigates cannonballs found in Waltham