Catch of the day: Fla. angler hooks live missile

[cosmictraveler]

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.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31184307/

[cosmictraveler]

They said it was live and in a very unstable state

What would have happened if it were to have exploded and hurt the guy or killed people, who's responsible for such things??

[chris4355]

What would have happened if it were to have exploded and hurt the guy or killed people, who's responsible for such things??

as far as I know... no one.

I mean, I don't know. That guy is pretty dumb for not realizing those things are explosive.

[ripleofdeath]

What would have happened if it were to have exploded and hurt the guy or killed people, who's responsible for such things??

just like a returned serviceman from the middle east if he explodes and rapes kills or attacks someone...
who is responsible ?

[Cowboy]

How long does a missile have to be for the Depart of Fish & Game to consider it a "keeper"?

[Nasor]

Followup stories say that the missile was in fact NOT live, and had no explosives on it.

[cosmictraveler]

How long does a missile have to be for the Depart of Fish & Game to consider it a "keeper"?

If it don't blow, you're good to go.

[domesticated om]

I would have told them to give me the empty rocket shell so I could mount it on my wall at home.

[ripleofdeath]

littering and polluting...
surely someone should be given a ticket ?!

[codanblad]

What would have happened if it were to have exploded and hurt the guy or killed people, who's responsible for such things??

if its a training area, shouldn't that military base take responsibility?

[Cowboy]

if its a training area, shouldn't that military base take responsibility?

But would common sense be a factor? If a test missile hit the boat while in flight, that's one thing. But this guy dragged it out of the water and kept it.

[ripleofdeath]

But would common sense be a factor? If a test missile hit the boat while in flight, that's one thing. But this guy dragged it out of the water and kept it.

left a drift in international water with no human controller means it is salvageable.
if it is military property then it is trespass.

if it is non military property but government owned land then the military are littering or it is lost property.

[Zap]

An outrage. Surely an airplane wasn't allowed to return to base minus one live missile and it was shrugged off. But apparently this is what happened.

Everyone in the whole chain of command from the pilot responsible up to the Commander-in-Chief should be dismissed for this.

[Nasor]

I guess everyone missed it, so I'll say it again: contrary to what was initially reported, followup stories state that the missile was NOT live and had no explosives on it.